The Neocons are not Conservatives...

at least not in the traditional sense or one that most Americans would recognize. Moreover, calling people like Tom Delay, "W' and their fellow Republicans, "conservatives" is not only a misnomer, it is paying them an undeserved compliment. As a former, generally conservative Republican, I can tell you that there has been a radical change in the dominant credo of the Republican party --- a change that has taken the party far, far to the right of mainstream conservatism.

To paraphrase the much beloved and sorely missed Barry Goldwater: "The Republican party has been taken over by a bunch of kooks, who have nearly ruined it". (He was being too kind. These kooks have ruined the Republican Party and they are in the process of ruining the nation... which is why I became a Democrat.) More Goldwater: "Every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass, I get damn tired of those political preachers telling me what to believe in and do." (For those of you who don't know much about Barry, he was pro-choice and in favor of gay rights --- and a talked a little too bellicosely for his own good --- and perhaps the nation's.)

No less a person than Bob Dole has also said: "Barry and I, we've sort of become the liberals." Goldwater: "Can you imagine that?".

These comments put a mild face on an earth shattering change. The Republican party has left traditional, intellectual, nationalist conservatism behind in favor of something vasty different, and much scarier.

To those who haven't followed closely, I will describe just a few of the watershed changes.

Free market theories (good or bad) are being supplanted by corporate welfare, hidden protectionism, crony capitalism and other policies that effectively decrease the chance that smaller businesses have to compete with the big boys. Fiscal responsibility has been replaced with "borrow and spend", unbounded payback to cronies and core, and out of control spending. The "strong" dollar has been replaced by the "rundown" dollar and interest rates kept at artificial lows. Nationalism has been replaced by multinational corporatism, where "offshoring" (as opposed to selling offshore from the US) is accepted as smart business practice, and anybody is welcome at the "bar" as long as they "pay". Containment and a responsible foreign policy, stressing building and maintaining alliances, is replaced by some crackpot theory that resembles nothing so much as a drunk swinging blindly at friends and foes alike. Respect and support for the military has been replaced with neglect, contempt and totally inept micromanagement. Government reaches every day further and further into peoples lives and the into prerogatives of states.

I could go on, but you get the point. So don't call these guys conservatives. Call them corporatists; call them reactionaries; call them extremists; call them radicals; call them neocons (emphasizing the CON), but don't call them conservatives. They are not and you are insulting a lot of true conservatives (whatever you may feel about them, many were and are real patriots) by doing so.

We miss you Barry. I am not a conservative any more, but we need a few honest ones like you to speak out.

A corporate state (crony capitalism), combined with domestic repression and a belligerent, unilateral foreign policy that self-justifies military conquest

(Nod to Bernie Ward.)

Without those "kooks" the Republican party wouldn't have won as many elections as it has in the past. Those "kooks" are now part and parcel of what we know as Republicans. Time to pay the fiddler.

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In the leadup to the current war in Iraq, the civilian command of the military ignored the advice of professional soldiers, belittled and marginalized those who did not do along with civilian preconceptions and dictated the particulars of the campaign, without having the least competence to do so. They made no real plans for the post-war and left combat units to do work that they were not trained for. There have been many stories of poor combat supply, inadequate food, water, housing, medical care and sanitation. The number (and percentage) of non-casualty medical evacuations has been very high, a good measure of the care that the troops are given and of high stress. Everything over there is done for political reasons, troops are kept on station to keep deployment numbers up, and they feel unable to speak out without risking punishment. Again I could go on.

To me this amounts to contempt.

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I also work with local organizations to get our troops the supplies they need.

I wonder if you know what YOU'RE talking about.

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my nephew is in Iraq right now. Another just got back from Afghanistan. I NEVER said they are permitted to talk freely about campaigns, but how do you know that they don't express doubts? Do you have privy to their innermost thoughts too?

Where do you get off that you speak for the entire military? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you're not just trolling here on this board. What credentials do you have that enables you to make sweeping generalizations about our troops? Just wondering...

Perhaps if you had followed the war, you would remember unit complaints about shortages of basics like water (one liter bottle a day), food (one MRE a day) and even ammo that made it as far as tv. There are shortages of the best personal armor even now, with families buying and sending it to their sons, that have been given widespread attention. There has been much play, even on tv, of how reservists in one unit were having armor plating fabricated for their humvees because there were shortages of issue kevlar (door) equipment for that purpose.

There are a number of websites where units have placed requests for basics and I personally have sent first aid supplies, toiletries and the like to units that have requested them, because they could not get enough (or any) through channels. While the troops are most appreciative of any packages, and supply does vary (some Kuwaiti, especially, and Iraqi locations get very good supply, while others do not), there would seem to have been real problems.

The sort of speaking out that I am talking of would have been considered "bitching" in normal circumstances and soldiers have resorted to posting anonymously in many places on the web with their complaints. Perhaps it is all fake, and perhaps the letters/email thanking me that I have received from the troops were all written by posers who were selling what I have sent them on the black market.

I am sure that your "cousins" are most happy to be in Iraq and were welcomed joyously by the Iraqis.

You are of course, entitled to your opinion. Welcome to DU and my ignore list.

At least, that's what Rush keeps telling her so it MUST be true!

:eyes:

While I have communicated with (and sent stuff to) units that were happy with their supply and were just looking for extras, there have been some pretty pitiful requests too. Only a unit in Kuwait ever expressed to me anything but unhappiness with their circumstances. (Those guys were just bored.)

Hey, I feel for the troops, deploying our troops is the last resort --- and when we do we owe them the very, very best.

This is a nice internal link and I urge everyone (even antiwar types, or just anti-this-war types like me) to support the troops.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=106&topic_id=5037

Speaking out against the neocon hegemony brings negative results ---- but I am well armed for it.

Again thanks.

I actually remember hearing literally thousands of similar stories... I'm not sure if all sources were reliable but most seemed good.

I can't help thinking about the book "1984" by George Orwell everytime i hear "neocon".

Pat Buchanan???

http://www.amconmag.com/

The USA is just a few steps away from global empire, as with Rome the Republic will be dead when the Bill-of-Rights and Constitution is obsolved to protect the country from an "unseen enemy in a never ending war". Republics and empires can't survive together.

Republicans, conservatives, anybody who gives their unthinking support and loyalty to Bushco, DOOM us all to the fate and history of the Romen Republic.

One thing that really annoys me about Neo-Con propagandists, if you disagree with them, then then you, "Hate America". Why do you hate America? They ask that question over and over again. It's like if you use that proper noun, "America" it's the end of all debate. America is not only fighting against Islamo Fascism & Christo Fascism, but America is fighting a war against a hostile take over by the Neo-Cons.And I really think "General Clark" is Americas last hope. You see, theses Neo-Con are ex-new leftist from the 60's. They love that fact they can revert to the days when they hated the US military. You see the attacks against Clark is not such a stretch for them. Can you imagine is a Black Liberal Cop run for police chief, the Neo-Cons would chant, "Off the Pig!". The New Left use to call president Nixon, "Tricky Dick". Now the Neo-Cons has given Clark a nickname, they call him, "Wheezily Clark". Cute. You are right sir! Neo-Cons are no Conservatives. Neo-Conism are nothing but Hippie conservatism.

or a kind of cancer but NOT conservative.

that give me hope for America and hope that people will see the light and oust Bush from his seat of power.

Congratulations to you Nesco!

Neo Cons are plutocrats using the GOP as a tool. And if they manage to get a tighter grip on our country they'll throw the GOP party away and start turning on them. One of their goals now is to kill the Democratic party (ie. Grover Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform). Once we're gone they'll start dismantling the republicans.