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Edited on Sun Jul-13-03 12:20 PM by Capt_Nemo
I think what we are witnessing is, as a "From the Wilderness" article refered to in this forum pointed, out is an open war between distinct factions of the GOP.
The way I see it, the current republican party is made up of 3 main factions:
1. The "neo-cons". These are ideologues that have a belief in the pre-destination of the american nation. They are driven by fear.
They fear that History will lead the US down the path every other dominant nation that ever existed went - decadence. Their fear is exacerbated by the fact that the immediate post-Cold War years appear to represent the pinnacle of american power and that the slide down the slope of decadence has begun.
Thus, they defend that the US has to be pushed back to the top of the hill and maintained there indefinetly by every means available, fulfiling its historic destiny, as they believe. Since the military might is the only viable competetive advantage the US preserves, they identified it as the tool of choice to implement their vision.
These faction includes, among others, Rummsfeld, Wolfowitz and, last but not least, Dick Cheney.
2. The "pragmatists". These people are not into believing their own intelectual constructs, like the neo-cons do. They know far too much History, Sun-Tzu and Machiavelli to have delusions of a "God chosen USA".
They play the game of raw power (they are much like Vladimir Putin or the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party) and are very well aware of the limits of US power. They believe that for the US to keep its domminance, it has to act within certain boundaries that, if crossed, would precipitate the very fall of the US that they don't wish to happen.
Don't get me wrong, I know that these guys are as ruthless as the neo-cons. What I am saying is that they are not deluded by ideology and thus are better equipped for self-preservation, aware of the pitfalls of the neo-con mindset.
These faction has on their side Eagleburger, Kissinger, Scowcroft and I have a hunch that "Poppy" is with them. Also on their side are large chunks of the military and of the intelligence community.
3. The "Believers". These compose GWB core voter base. They are loose coalition of religious whackos, jingoists, bigots, and the "Team USA fans".
These last are a huge group of common people that, in an ego boosting exercise, misguidedly love to see their nation's place and actions in the world as a part of a sports event. It is the ultimate form of "my country right or wrong", and will follow unquestioningly to the end anyone who wraps him/herself in red, white and blue.
These are the Ashcrofts, Limbaughs, Robertsons, and the wider world of freepers.
So what is going on now?
GWB has rose to the presidency supported by an unholy alliance between the neo-cons and the "believers". I say "unholy" because, in reality, the neo-cons, as the good Straussians they are, utterly despise the "believer" riff-raff.
GWB is able to put together this unlikely coalition because he can seduce the "believers" into thinking his one of them, disguising as a redneck (what many here at DU mistakenly identify as stupidity), while making part consciously and solidly of the neo-con team.
The "pragmatists" having been marginalized and fearing that the neo-con plan will unwillingly lead up to the destruction of US supremacy find themselves with no other alternative than to torpedoe the "neo-con/believer coallition".
Until now they have found themselves outmanouvered by the neo-cons, so they finally decide to resort to the "mass destruction arsenal": WMD and 9/11 lies.
What then? Will they sort this out between them and re-arrange the power relations without eroding their electoral chances, or will it break out in the open and explode in a shitstorm that will wash away the repugs from power? What do you think?
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