Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

"An Apparent End to Evil?" The Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (Through 2005) Donate to DU
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 06:59 PM
Original message
"An Apparent End to Evil?" The Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism
Edited on Sun May-23-04 07:11 PM by thebigidea
An Apparent End to Evil?
The Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism
by andre perkowski



"We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators."
- Dick Cheney

"If we just let our own vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely, and we don't try to be clever and piece together clever diplomatic solutions to this thing, but just wage a total war against these tyrants, I think we will do very well, and our children will sing great songs about us years from now."
- Richard Perle

"Perle packs an awful lot into his days. But even he has his limits."
- David Frum

Are those limits finally clear to even the most Hannitized of our citizens?

They were to spread democracy "throughout the Middle East."

They were to be greeted with flowers.

They were wrong, they were naive, they were neoconservative.

The whole Dick Tracy gallery of rogues and global hegemony villains are melting away before our very eyes... the press weasels are the first off the ship, diving into the lifeboats and displacing the women and children:

William Kristol, Weekly Standard editor and PNAC pontiff, seems to be having a hard time grinning like he used to. His Chesire smirk has become a panicked pout - for he smells his own blood in that polluted water, and the sharkish elements are indeed circling.

Tom Friedman, a man known to carry a ridiculous mustache that makes him look like an off-duty rent-a-cop, has started gagging on his own excretions. The man is mired in months of his own meandering bullshit, suffocating on his own screeds. Anonymous eyewitnesses report sad stories about Friedman found wandering somberly down the streets at 4am, looking for just the right man in the street quote to garnish his increasingly pathetic columns. But even fictitious friends are hard to find for Friedman, as each potential "small businessman" or "Expert in Middle East Affairs" he approaches tend to swat him away with a firm hand.

His starry-eyed NY Times collaborator, Judith Miller - is probably removing Ahmad Chalabi's entry in her speed-dialer at this very moment. And as for Chalabi himself, well - lets just say he's examining the trunk capacity of his sedan and looking a bit more furtive.

Christopher Hitchens can still be found intermittently on CSPAN, restraining a boozy belch and reduced to repeating a refrain that suits him well: "Pathetic... just pathetic!"

Tucker Carlson bailed out in favor of upgrading his bowtie collection, his Crossfire cohost Bob "Bile" Novak embroiled in enough controversy to cause denture malfunctions, near-fistfights, and grand juries.

"Richard Perle is a private citizen, who serves the U.S. government without pay, and is entitled to earn a living so long as he avoids conflicts of interest."
- David Frum

Richard Perle, if he already isn't ensconced in his tragically ironic villa in the South of France, is booking passage ASAP. Where has all the evil gone, long time passing? Corruption trails him, and has an easy time of it due to the viscous goo Perle leaves behind like a sickly snail. Mired in lawsuits both real and imagined, Perle will be spending more time attending to his combover than to overambitious ideas about world conquest this summer.


http://www.terminalproduct.com/pnac.rm

Paul Wolfowitz will soon be mainly inflicting his nasal drone on his ceiling fan alone, nobody left to listen to his mad ravings. Hopefully he'll get some quality time to actually find out how many people his splendid little war were sent to death by his pen.

El Snarlysneer Supremo, Dick Cheney of the Undisclosed Ambition, is pastier than ever and encased in a shroud of shameful scandal. Everywhere he goes, people whisper: "Halliburton!" - and those are just the people slipping him checks! Those that aren't in the bribing mood see him for what he is: the pinnacle of B-movie evil. Only this movie doesn't exactly intend to end without a fight.

Speaking of fights for survival, Donald Rumsfeld is putting the finishing touches on what Tweety Matthews of the Hollerin' Hardball will no doubt label a "strong resignation speech not seen since the likes of General MacArthur" whilst attempting to conceal his erection. Condi Rice is already scoping out replacements, painfully aware of the fact that she herself will be shoved out the door soon enough, ushered into a life of cushy counseling gigs and Stepford/Stanford speaking engagements. And how will her bruised boss cope, consigned to Crawford and continuous games of Tetris?



The Prime Neocon Nitwit himself, our glorious President, George W. Bush - is now showing the signs of his battered image as a "popular wartime President." How fitting that he falls off a bike. The headlines say: "Bush suffers.." - possibly not the only headlines we'll read this year that begin with those two words. For suffer he will, continuously - the accumulated crimes of his time in office have caught up with him. At the same time. In an election year. Needless to say, Karl Rove sleeps a bit less smugly.

The strategy Rove might pull in the coming months will be to try and dissociate Bush from the neocons... he was "led astray" or "given bad advice." Uh uh, Rovey-boy. Bush is part and parcel part of this Project for a New American Idiocy bullshit... he must not be allowed to escape the label: he is a neoconservative, not a compassionate anything.

So perhaps Rumsfeld will be the first offering. Baker will be trotted out to fill the plugs.

But the damage has already been done, the empire has come undone.
The giddy peaks of 2002-2003 already far behind them, the PNAC crowd have a humiliating fall just up ahead. Now we get to watch them squabble for the last remaining parachute... what fun!

But remember, folks: though it may be fun to wallow in their current problems, we aren't in the clear yet. Be careful, the monster might grab your leg just when you think he's dead.

"There comes a time when deceit and defiance must be seen for what they are. At that point, a gathering danger must be directly confronted."
- Dick Cheney

"I think one has to say it's not just simply a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable, but removing the sanctuaries, removing the support systems..."
- Paul Wolfowitz

So let us remove their sanctuaries, unmask their ringleaders, pull back the curtain and make sure it never happens again. Because there's always Jeb, you know.




Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
frank frankly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 07:05 PM
Response to Original message
1. thanks, brother. best post i've read in ages.
and in return, you must listen to this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1642243

go here to hear Eric Idle's "Fuck you very much mr. bush"
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 07:10 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. isn't that a great song? Idle should mount a touring show on the war
Edited on Sun May-23-04 07:12 PM by thebigidea
it would be a great topic for his musical wit, and beats rehashing Python again!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
FrankBooth Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 07:23 PM
Response to Original message
3. Smart and hilarious.
Thanks for the great post.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 07:53 PM
Response to Reply #3
9. I'd like to thank Dick Cheney's sneer for making it all possible.
that and Frappuccino.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
checks-n-balances Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 07:25 PM
Response to Original message
4. Great article - thanks for posting it!
Would you mind providing a link to it? I want to bookmark the whole thing for later in my computer "Favorites", minus the pictures. (Don't misunderstand - those are really GREAT picutes!)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 07:27 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. shield your eyes, the link has the pictures!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
checks-n-balances Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 07:39 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. Thank you for the link!
I also wanted to read more where that article came from!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 07:41 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. well, get ready for a massive headache
keep the aspirin handy, you're about to go down the rabbit hole.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
indigobusiness Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 07:41 PM
Response to Original message
7. Bravo!!!!!
What he said.


(...but don't let that monster grab your leg.)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 09:00 PM
Response to Reply #7
12. 4 out of 5 dentists agree: that monster is Charles Krauthammer
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Mayberry Machiavelli Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 08:13 PM
Response to Original message
10. They may be discredited, but they're still in office, in power. Our work
isn't even close to being done.

My basic theory is still that Bush is not a true believer in the PNAC crap, that he is a cynical opportunist who just wants to do whatever he thinks will get him reelected and get his buds their tax breaks. Rove just convinced him that this Iraq war was just the ticket, to win midterms and to shore up his "war president" standing. I realize I could be wrong and Bush could in fact be a true believer.

In either case, it doesn't really matter, the results to the country are the same, and plain enough. They ALL must go.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 08:18 PM
Response to Reply #10
11. indeed! We just need to keep dragging their names in the mud
Edited on Sun May-23-04 08:18 PM by thebigidea
and "neocon" has such a distasteful ring to it: Bush should firmly be associated with their movement, who cares what he really believes. If he plays using their plans, he's on their team.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
BurtWorm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 09:53 PM
Response to Original message
13. Andre, is that you?
Excellent report! :thumbsup: Nice art, too!

Have you heard or seen Hitchens since things went really sour for the anti-islamofascists? I haven't, but I'm really, really curious to see him eat crow flambe. ;)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 09:57 PM
Response to Reply #13
14. he was booed off the stage recently, trounced by Robert Scheer
indeed, that would be me.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-23-04 10:54 PM
Response to Original message
15. that was just a quick rough draft done in a short spurt...
Edited on Sun May-23-04 10:55 PM by thebigidea
I'm expanding it at the site, http://www.terminalproduct.com/endtoevil.htm

Now stop hating freedom!



(by morning, the damn article will look like the Talmud.)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Ms. Clio Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 12:36 AM
Response to Original message
16. great stuff as always, a big KICK and just one small correction
The source of the "If we just let our own vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely...." quote is actually Michael Ledeen. See this link, very bottom of the article.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11938

Anyway. Ledeen is especially important in the pantheon of neonazicons because he is the author of the "Ledeen Doctrine": "Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business."


http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg042302.asp
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 12:45 AM
Response to Reply #16
17. thanks! fixed, adding Perle's immedeate comment
"If we just let our own vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely, and we don't try to be clever and piece together clever diplomatic solutions to this thing, but just wage a total war against these tyrants, I think we will do very well, and our children will sing great songs about us years from now."
- Michael Ledeen

"Thank you, Michael."
- Richard Perle

"Perle packs an awful lot into his days. But even he has his limits."
- David Frum
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
playahata1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-04 01:15 AM
Response to Reply #16
39. I believe that Ledeen's daughter was one of those spoiled-brat
yuppie trash wannabes who went to Iraq to fatten their resumes by standing on the necks of the conquered.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Ms. Clio Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-04 02:45 AM
Response to Reply #39
42. Twould not surprise me
Neonazicon family values, and whatnot.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Guaranteed Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 01:54 AM
Response to Original message
18. Great post, very impressive!
Good morale booster. :)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 10:19 AM
Response to Reply #18
19. and leaves no embarassing stains!
Well, maybe a few.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
frank frankly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 12:34 PM
Response to Original message
20. kick
:kick:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 01:42 PM
Response to Reply #20
21. and if you pledge just 4 kicks, you'll get this free tote bag
emblazoned with the lovely motto: "What a Dick Cheney"

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Classical_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 01:57 PM
Response to Original message
22. The stuff on Tom Friedman was really revealing
I guess I am not the only person who thinks the Arabs and Iranians that want us to invade their countries are actually made up.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 01:59 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. I would love to have a few words with Tom Friedman... and his moustache


of all the neocons and neokindacons, Friedman is the most wretched, as we're to believe he's somehow "liberal" or something.

For years he took Bush and Cheney (!) at their words... what a fucking dolt.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
IrateCitizen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 02:38 PM
Response to Reply #23
27. Is that Tom Friedman or Freddy Mercury? (nt)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 09:47 PM
Response to Reply #27
36. it can be all these things and more!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
burythehatchet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 02:04 PM
Response to Original message
24. I'm sorry
Edited on Mon May-24-04 02:11 PM by burythehatchet
but this one line has me laughing and vomiting:

Judith Miller - is probably removing Ahmad Chalabi's entry in her speed-dialer at this very moment

Is that what they're calling it these days?

Very good piece of writing btw.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DoYouEverWonder Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 02:25 PM
Response to Reply #24
25. And she purging all of his emails
She must be so distraught, losing so many good friends this year.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
burythehatchet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 02:29 PM
Response to Reply #25
26. Be glad your mind is not in the gutter.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
NewJeffCT Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 02:42 PM
Response to Original message
28. I hope you're right, but...
I think W is just the warm-up act for the NeoCons - "... look, if we can get somebody as shallow and blatantly corrupt as George W Bush into office, a man that mangles the English language in his phony Texas accent, imagine what can we do if we get a person who is at least competent intellectually and a decent communicator in office?"

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 02:55 PM
Response to Reply #28
29. either that or they'll just use Arnold as Reagan/Bush Mark III
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
NewJeffCT Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 03:06 PM
Response to Reply #29
30. Arnold, or Jeb or Frist
I'm sure there are a few others out there that can pull off an air of competence and at least a mediocre ability to communicate.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 03:08 PM
Response to Reply #30
31. Frist will hopefully be the Dole of Kerry's presidency
The whole kitten-killing thing!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
NewJeffCT Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 03:29 PM
Response to Reply #31
33. fill me in on that?
I never heard the story...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 08:57 PM
Response to Reply #33
35. oh, just hoping Kerry wins, they try Frist, he loses BIG
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
nothingshocksmeanymore Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 03:28 PM
Response to Original message
32. Are you home with the flu again?
FUCKING PHENOMENAL POST! :D
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 04:09 PM
Response to Reply #32
34. could be a case of cerebral malaria
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
belle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon May-24-04 11:02 PM
Response to Original message
37. Jeb, not so much. Ultimately, i think the neocons are toast. However...
the fundies are in it for the long haul. And while they're currently in an uneasy alliance with this gang, they will part ways eventually--namely, as soon as this ship *really* starts to go down.

Not to rain on anyone's parade: I'm really enjoying the optimism, and yes, there's hope that FINALLY the rest of us will have woken up enough so that we don't let this happen again; and can start working on the roots of the problem. I'm saying that the bigger/more longterm problem is the radical religious right. and no, they won't necessarily get sunk if these guys do. first of all, we have *really* short memories. second, they can differentiate themselves from the neocons by going isolationist (at first, anyway) and throwing in a certain populist appeal. that's how the nazis did it. watch out for the puritans.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
thebigidea Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-04 12:52 AM
Response to Reply #37
38. ah, those endearing fundamentalists


I wonder how John Ashcroft is taking all this bad news... he's probably slipping into Armageddon overdrive.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Elidor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-04 01:16 AM
Response to Original message
40. Holy shit, that was good.
You're on fire. His combover, yeah. FUCK. :thumbsup:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
FlemingsGhost Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue May-25-04 01:38 AM
Response to Original message
41. Nicely done.
"Baker will be trotted out to fill the plugs."

Yup... Baker's driving the get-away car. When he's trotted out, I know they're desperate to flee the scene of the crime. With a shitload of our money, mind you.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Thu May 02nd 2024, 06:03 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (Through 2005) Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC