Read a Pacific Northwest, liberal perspective on world, national, and local politics. From majestic Redmond, Washington - the Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

End of the line for neocons?

It's always interesting to get international takes on U.S. politics, and this article from The Sunday Times headlined "Decline and fall of the neocons" is worth a look if you choose:
Wolfowitz, the cerebral neocon, and Falwell, the braying theocon, had nothing in common personally. Indeed, Falwell blamed “the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians” for provoking the 9/11 attacks, an explanation uncomfortably close to the views of the Taliban. But the unlikely alliance between their two movements provided the brains and the brawn behind Bush. Now the neocons have been ousted, one by one, from their positions of influence and trust while the Republican party base is desperately thrashing around for a successor to Bush that it can back in 2008.

The cleavage between the two marks the end of an era in which Bible Belt conservatives became the surprise champions of radical nation-building in the Middle East in the hope of crushing terrorism and halting the march of militant Islam. After Bush, such reforming zeal is unlikely to be repeated.
The article quotes Christopher Hitchens quite extensively, so make of that what you will. He's been somewhat lucid lately, so hey, whatever. The article has quite a bit of interesting detail about Wolfowitz and his girlfriend, who is quite an accomplished person in her own right.

The article also speculates that if Alberto Gonzales is finally forced out, that may take the last tiny bit of wind out of the administration's sails, as it were. It's hard to see how this administration could sink much lower, but then again, what we've endured the last six years is pretty stunning when you add it all up.

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