Neocons: A Closer Look at the Myths

How about "NeoCons who have been wounded in combat are rarer than hens' teeth."?

Or "As rare as a NeoCon combat casualty."?

Oh - you're looking for MYTHS.

Nevvver miiiiind.

Sent by William S. Caple | 2:41 PM | 2-11-2008

What of the influence of the Scoop Jackson Democrats and the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee on the Neo-Con movement?

Sent by Lee Purcell | 2:56 PM | 2-11-2008

Whenever I hear programs about the neo cons, particularly those who were not top level staffer under the Reagan adminstration, but have become major people in the Bush administration, I am reminded that the major officials in the Reagan administration used to call the people who now are major figures in the Bush Administration, "The Crazies"

This alone speaks volumes.

Sent by Nicholas J. | 3:01 PM | 2-11-2008

The issue of neo-conservastism is, at its core, one that is not new. I see the neo-con movement as a reaction to the moral relativism that started in the 60's. Neo-cons have tried to impose or reimpose moral absolutism into american foreign policy. it is eveident in the rhetoric that is used "evil empire" axis of evil". It leaves out the possibility for a more nuanced foreign policy. I don't believe that John McCain would stand for this blind absolutism, just look at his voting record on social issues. he is a relativist at heart.

Sent by Trevor Maylen | 3:03 PM | 2-11-2008

Does anyone have a link to the 1997 document that was mentioned by a caller?

Sent by D Baker | 3:06 PM | 2-11-2008

Ron Paul's speech before the House in 2003 (www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr071003.htm) exposed the neo-cons. Fox News has so many neo-cons:Kristol, Krautheimer, Barnes, Hume, etc., I was not surprised when Ron Paul was excluded from the Fox debates and is vilified by Shawn Hannity and others. McCain has been a Kristol favorite for many years and was even endorsed by The American Standard magazine that is run by Kristol and owned by Rupert Murdoch. Too much power in the hands of too few, in my opinion.

Sent by Diane | 3:07 PM | 2-11-2008

Wow! this interview was a breath of fresh air. Having listened for several years now to all sorts of half-truths about the neocons, both from their detractors on the left, and from the neocons themselves, it is a relief to hear someone disentangle the web around who they are, what they did, and what they believe. Thank you for sorting this all out.

Sent by Janet | 3:18 PM | 2-11-2008

A big 'thank you' to the last caller on the 02.11.2008 show who mentioned the Neo-Conservative's 1997 blueprint for foisting Jeffersonian Democracy upon the Middle East and eventually Asia, in order to install Adam Smith style capitalism, called Project for New American Century ( http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm ).

This plan for 'conquest' (often politely labeled as 'bringing Democracy') has ruled the Republican's foreign policy over the 2000 - 2008 period (after a highly-likely 'stolen' Presidential election in 2000 by the Republicans from the Democrats). Unfortunately because the Republican's domestic Energy Policy has been so sorely short-sighted--since the Mid East has reached Peak Oil (just like the US reached our Peak Oil in the mid 1970's)--and instead of engendering a clean and green renewable energy policy, these Texas oilmen PNAC signatories in current public office have supported that PNAC plan, instead. Which, 9/11 was the 'excuse' to finally put the plan into action via the US public and US Congress (who knows if the Republicans 'allowed' that event occur, even. Hmmm, why were a dozen Saudi's allowed to fly out of the country during the 09.2001 period of when all flights were grounded?...).

Yes, it would be very good to hear more in-depth NPR coverage of PNAC more thoroughly. But, unfortunately, since approximately 10% of NPR funding comes from the US government--and to finally unveil the true basis for the Iraq war on Public Radio--could put that 10% of funding into even further jeopardy. So, perhaps this is why the PNAC topic isn't covered more on NPR (the topic certainly isn't going to be covered on Network or Cable channels, of whom are supported by the fossil-fuel based energy corporations...).

Lastly, if the US Government and private energy-producing industries truly revamped themselves to be primarily based upon clean, renewable bio-based energies (not nuclear, not coal...); our country would no longer have to deal with Arabs. Period. There's simply no need; we could end that relationship started 1948 for only one reason: oil. And therefore we would not need to be Imperialistically invading and militarily-occupying Mid East countries to secure fossil-fuel based energy sources for our nation's use.

Project for New American Century's Statement of Principles, research it; it explains the last decade quite thoroughly.

Sent by nick iacona | 3:25 PM | 2-11-2008

Myth 2) What also has to be appreciated is that fact that Evangelicals have co-opted the GOP. Looking at our adventure in Iraq from the perspective of a Millenialist, the US is helping to fulfill prophecy by clearing the way for an Antichrist to set up shop in Babylon. Meanwhile, Israel must resurrect the Temple on the Mount before Christ's return on a winged horse. Remember, Bush claimed that God personally speaks to him and that he was on a mission in '98 to win the White House. With a foreign policy strategy like that, it's a wonder we haven't invaded more countries in the Middle East.

Sent by Joe | 5:28 PM | 2-11-2008

What was the name of Jacob's book?

Sent by Mary Anne | 5:31 PM | 2-11-2008

Why didn't Ashley Grashaw discuss the popular belief that Neo Cons plan to force smaller government on America by bankrupting us?
Because it's not a myth or too absurd?

Sent by GregE | 6:10 PM | 2-11-2008

To Nick, who posted earlier: In fact, Bill Moyers did a story on the neocons on his show NOW early in the Bush Administration (probably available for re-viewing via archives). I don't remember whether it was before or after 9.11.2001; it may have been after the first big assignment of the Bush Administration: the closed-door meeting of Cheney and the oil industry to write new US energy legislation. Moyers showed printed copies of some of the PNAC "internal" documents (of course, he was dumped from NOW). His show inspired me to look up their web site and read some of their incredible paranoid rantings that had a thin veneer of "policy advising". A couple of years ago Charlie Rose interviewed Richard Perl, who claimed (with a straight face) that we went into Iraq to liberate Iraqi women. This was around the time Condoleeza Rice claimed that we went into Iraq "because they asked us to."

Sent by ACarroll | 5:54 PM | 2-12-2008

To ACarroll: If I remember right, there were some voices trying to alert us to the PNAC during the '00 election. Bill Moyers may have been one. I remember hearing of it from him early on. When I had chance to explore more, sadly after the election, "Orwellian nightmare" describes what I discovered as it was now in the context of then current events "unfolding before my eyes." Even with only a superficial awareness of PNAC I was worried that the mobilization for OBL and Afghanistan would be commandeered for an invasion of Iraq. The chilling lesson is that all of this was foreshadowed and available for public review on the Internet before the 2000 election. I still find that most friends and colleagues are unaware of PNAC. But something tells me most foreign officials, friend and foe, are.

Sent by Bruce Foster | 7:44 PM | 2-15-2008

I looked through Jacob's book (They Knew They Were Right) at Borders and it looks like a very interesting read, which refers to the Gerald Sorin biography of Irving Howe that I'm currently reading. So I was surprised at this:

City College was seen as the poor man's Harvard. Situated on the Lower East Side, where the children of poor immigrants lived, it was supposed to open the portals of American society to the young Jews whose parents slaved away in the garment industry. [33]

The group that would later become counted as the New York Intellectuals, including Howe, Alfred Kazin, Irving Kristol, and Daniel Bell, were mostly children of Eastern European Jewish immigrants who had arrived around the turn of the century. Most of them, like Howe, were born around 1920 and graduated from City College (CCNY) around 1940. Although it was called the "poor man's Harvard," it was also a poor man's alternative to Columbia University and Howe was less stimulated by the faculty as he was by the discussion of radical politics among his peers in the cafeteria.

For purposes of this discussion, City College has been at its current location in Hamilton Heights (uptown near Harlem) since the 1890s, although an Internet search reveals that prior to that it was located on the Lower East Side.

It does look like a good book though, which I'm hoping the local library will acquire sometime soon.

I had to look up the history of City

Sent by Dave | 1:54 PM | 2-18-2008