... the American public that needs to be immediately countered.<clip>
Thank you
for reminding everyone that this push for Iran is part and parcel of neocon ideology and not just some reflex of George W. Bush's messianic impulses.
... there's a widespread view on the American right that it's always a mistake to reach diplomatic agreements with "evil" regimes. There's also a widespread view on the American right that, contra the examples of Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, nuclear deterrence won't work against "crazy" leaders. At the intersection of those two opinions is the conclusion that we ought to be very, very, very, very willing to use unilateral preventative military force against countries that have nuclear weapons programs or that we merely vaguely suspect of having nuclear weapons programs. Both of those ideas are foolish and dangerously wrong, but they're also widespread -- not private oddball notions of Bush's. If liberals want to push this country's foreign policy in a better direction over the next five-to-ten years, we need to attack the whole network of ideas (including a non-trivial number of ideas whose origins are inside the Democratic coalition) that gave us the Iraq War and that threaten to give us the Iran War.
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The idealistic portion of the neocon fantasy has probably been discredited: creating democracy from the ground up through unilateral invasion and occupation is now seen as a non-starter by everyone but George W. Bush. But the dark side of the PNAC wet dream is alive and well. They are still convinced that there is only one way for America to maintain its hegemony (and by God it must be maintained) and that is for it to militarily dominate the world. Furthermore, they believe that they must constantly demonstrate American military might to sustain the world's belief in its overwhelming power. After out little boo-boo in Iraq, it may now be important to these people that we demonstrate our awesome, unmatched air power. Eventually a little nuke action might be necessary too. The only way to protect America from the boogeyman is to prove over and over again that we are willing and eager to use force.
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Democrats have a lot of good ideas, but until they develop a cogent narrative to counter the dominant neocon story, we are going to be in danger of this "madman" rhetoric rearing its ugly head every time the Republicans need a little boost in the polls or feel it's time to show some muscle and remind everyone who's in charge. Is there anyone besides the brunch bunch at AEI who thinks that's going to keep this country safe?
Read all of Digby's The Neocon Beast at:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_digbysblog_archive.html#114495981620320865 Yep.
Time for the Democratic leadership to embrace the
neoconster label and stick it to everyone from Kovner to Rice to Bolton to McCain to Cheney to Bush (and a bunch of others), and be unrelenting in delivering a message that:
Neoconster = Imperialist Criminal.America can begin to be secure when we do the following:
1. Stop killing innocent people - vaporizing someone's child or grandparent or ... only makes enemies, justifiably so.
2. Stop threatening people.
3. Feed, educate and care for every American citizen.
4. Spend just enough money to maintain a professional military that can obviously whack anyone should that be the only reasonable response to an attack.
5. Be humble and apologize for the arrogance and avarice that are at the basis of American crimes.
6. Prosecute, in an American Tribunal, those responsible for the totally illegal war of aggression and occupation of Iraq.
7. And never forget -
George W. Bush willfully violated National Security to cover-up his willful launch of a war of aggression and illegal occupation of Iraq. 
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