Dysfunction Management + Reaganism

Reprinted from The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel:
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/
newssentinel/7041286.htm

My favorite quotes....

"Bureaucratic infighting in foreign policy is nothing
new. During George Washington's administration, Thomas
Jefferson and John Adams battled, often viciously,
over whether the United States should tilt toward
England or France. Secretary of State George Shultz
and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger squabbled in
the Reagan administration. National security adviser
Henry Kissinger overpowered Secretary of State William
Rogers in the Nixon administration, and Jimmy Carter's
secretary of state, Cyrus Vance, quit after the failed
1980 attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran,
which he'd opposed.

But the Weinberger-Shultz fights and those between
Vance and Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew
Brzezinski "look like Sunday school picnics" compared
with the present fights "in terms of freezing the
administration's ability to act," said a former U.S.
official, who requested anonymity because he still
deals with the U.S. government regularly.

The conflict pits so-called neo-conservatives led by
Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense
Rumsfeld against so-called pragmatists led by
Secretary of State Powell and is fueled by a major
difference in world outlook, say knowledgeable
officials.

"This time it's not about tactics; it's about
ideology," said one senior official who served in
several Republican administrations. "There's no
compromise possible between two opposing views of how
this country should deal with the rest of the world."

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

regime change in Iran.

Frank does say that invading Iran to have regime change is on his list AFTER giving a bit a of time for an internal regime change effort.

Frank feels that the EU accord with Iran just gives them cover - and access to more "peaceful atomic use knowledge that can also be used for weapons" while we pretend they do not have weapons program - because we know weapons inspectors can not do the job.

The only solution is regime change.

Great Article - all very true - all the more reason the Dem MUST WIN IN 04!

:-)

Per DU rules, please do not post more than four paragraphs of copyrighted material.

Thank you
AnnabelLee
DU Moderator

Sorry...could you have edited to just the website and retained my "review"?....which was....

Review:

This is really quite simple when one understands the core problem.
The inspiration behind all these dysfunctional people who rule today in conservative think tanks, and who have spread this cancer through Limbaugh and others is Reaganism.

Reaganism combines a lust for capitalistic gains for those who think they "deserve it", a blind eye for all economic indicators other than growth, a movieland view of America righteousness, and the ultimate projection of US strength and influence around the world through decisive military might.

Great for the military.
Great for those who are rich.
Great stuff to embellish for simple minds that have a problem dealing with complex issues....who need a simple ideology.....that carries them through this troubled world (sound a bit like religion?)
And of course great stuff for 1950s vintage movies.

But ultimately impractical and dysfunctional in today's real world. After reading this article I remind myself once again who these people are, how sick their ideology is, and how difficult it is inherently for these people to solve problems. Other than being able to revel with each other in AM radio grade infantile conservative/Reagan ideology, they are extremely taxed when it comes to generating practical solutions. For them, creative thinking is only something to attempt to manage and exploit.

These are the quintessential dysfunctional stuffed suits of the modern American management world....carrying around a magical, mystical belief in Reaganism. It is truly scary.

Not working at all.