[shadowman99]

It's one of those people who call Rush's show and says "I love your show and agree with you on everything BUT... "

[ned]

[rdb3]

What is a Neo-Conservative?

A "neo-conservative" is anyone identifying with conservatism who was formerly on the Left.

Also, a "neo-con" is a conservative that knuckle-dragging paleo-cons don't like.

[Nonstatist]

According to Justin Raimondo, any Jew who dares "pretend" he's a conservative, is merely a "neo-con".

[RightOnline]

"Neo-con" is not exactly a term of endearment. It is generally used to refer to someone who claims to adhere to Conservative ideaology yet moves leftward on various (usually social and/or foreign policy) issues. Paleo-cons, however (again, NOT a friendly term....) are considered to be stuck in the 1940's or '50's and would rather spit in your eye than compromise on their beliefs.

I, for example, consider myself to be a paleo-con. :)

[swarthyguy]

A group with a significant jewish compononent that used to be part of the ScoopJackson wing of the Democrats who left the dems. Anti-Soviet, Pro-Jewish emigration, pro-defense. Flexible enought to adapt republican views on domestic policy in exchange for a Strong US stand.

[Willie Green]

neocons = portfolio patriots

conservative values are jetisoned to improve the bottom line.

[freeeee]

A neo-con advocates big and ever growing government to implement their socially conservative political agenda.

Traditional conservatives advocate limited government. This is almost never the case with the neo-con. A neo-con just loves BIG government, so long as it is doing his bidding.

[=Intervention=]

Basically a neoconservative is used in two contexts. People like Norman Podpherez (sorry, can't spell his last name) have used it to indicate a conversion from leftism to conservativism. The other context I have seen it used in is to identify those people who favor an American emprire, the War party, shallow people who don't respect civil rights, nor law, nor liberty. In the second context, the neocons perspective is much like the leftist one -- the people are best beneath the feet of the ruling few.

[skeeter]

A Neo Con is a liberal who's decided (marginal)conservatism pays better.

[onedoug]

A dismissive sense of superority?

[grobdriver]

neo-
pref.

1.New; recent: Neolithic.
2. a.New and different: neoimpressionism.
b.New and abnormal: neoplasm.
3.New World: Neotropical.

[Greek, from neos, new. See newo- in Indo-European Roots.]

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

[finnman69]

I have been wondering myslef what this really means. Is a Neo-Conservative the bizarro world counterpart to a New Democrat?

[KC Burke]

Russell Kirk discussed the term in a lecture wherein he said, in part:

In the book-review media and weeklies of opinion, at the beginning of the Fifties, it was the fad to refer to these writers as "New Conservatives" or "Neo-Conservatives"-the prefix "neo" usually implying the contempt of the commentator. Recently, at the end of the Seventies, the epithet "Neo-Conservative" has been clapped to yet another set of writers and scholars. Or are these new neo-conservatives really another set? Some of them, certainly, are recruits or converts to a conservative view of American society. But a chief among them, Irving Kristol, in London as editor of Encounter at the beginning of the Fifties, actually has not changed his views in any very important respect during the intervening three decades: he was quite as prudentially conservative then as he is now, and wrote as candidly and convincingly. Or Robert Nisbet, often mentioned in conjunction with these latter-day New Conservatives, was one of the more conspicuous of us original New Conservatives, with the publication of his principal book, The Quest for Community, in 1953.

Since Kirk wrote this lecture in the early '90s, the appelation has been taken on by those assigned it, somewhat as a badge of honor. You can read the Weekly Standard, editied by Kristol's son and get a collection of the things that differentiate them.

Likewise, many will lay David Horowitz and Frontpage.mag in with Kristol, mostly due to his past history as a liberal and lack of citation of an Enduring Moral Order as his first principle of conservatism.

Its always easy to come up with distinctions that divide us...I have more admiration for those like Meyer, that tried to unify various factions.

[brothersjudddotcom]

http://www.brothersjudd.com/webpage/autiobio.htm#myloveaffairwithamerica

[The Real Eddie01]

Neo is a successful propaganda piece whereby the left started by attaching the prefix Neo to Nazi. Neo-Nazi

Stupid people now equate Neo with Nazi or even something worse than Nazi. (Neo >= Nazi)

Now to complete the two staged propaganda ploy, Neo is added to Conservative. (ever hear the left mention NeoLiberals?)

Those same stupid people now make the following logical association:

Neo = Nazi
Neo = Conservative

Conservative = Nazi

It's that simple.

[KC Burke]

Here is another overview. I think Johah glosses over the Weekly Standard brand of Neo-conservatism as being distint, and I think that his flip and glib style detracts but it is an interesting read

[Iris7]

Paleocons admire the Constitution as it was originally understood and agree with George Washington's farewell address especially about entangling foreign commitments. Neocons like the "living document" Constitution, hoping to gain control of the priesthood (the US Supreme Court and the Big Media) that interprets it, and have since the collapse of the Soviet Union been advocating attempts to conquer the world, to "make it safe for democracy."

The Neocons are an Eastern urban affair, Paleocons rural and western and mid-western. Neos admire FDR, Paleos don't. Paleos are more interested in ordered liberty and Neos in gaining power. To me Paleos are the remnant of the old Americans, those people that if Davy Crockett were alive he would recognize as countrymen.

[inkling]

Jonah Goldberg's article (linked above) explains it best, IMHO...

The term "neo-conservative" has shifted over the past few decades. It once referred to people such as William F. Buckley, Irving Kristol and other thinkers who redefined conservatism. Goldberg states, "these are the people you think of when you hear the word 'conservative.'"

These days, "neo-conservative" is more amorphous and means different things to different people. Usually it is associated with William Kristol, David Brooks and other "National Greatness" conservatives. It's a term that liberals use to label the Republicans that they can actually agree with at times. The NY Times editorial page would never support a "conservative" idea, so they rechristen it "neo-conservative."

Paleoconservatives are a nearly extinct breed; again, to quote Goldberg:
"These are the guys who have very interesting arguments about why Lincoln was a tyrant; believe that citizens should consider themselves Kentuckians or Texans first and Americans second; and revere people like Charles Lindbergh and Robert Taft... Pat Buchanan is the only nationally recognized champion of paleoconservatism."

So, it all depends on how the person using the word "neo-con" defines it. Rather Clintonian, no?

[NittanyLion]

Neoconservatives favor big government, just so long as they are the ones controlling it. Paleos advocate limited government, according to strict Constitutional interpretation.