[Marxism] Neoconned Again: Latest Reincarnation of the Neocons

[David Thorstad <binesi@xxxxxxxxx>]

Obama and the neocons unite.

David
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The American Conservative
April 20, 2009
Neoconned Again

*Discredited under Bush, the superhawks reunite for Obama.*
/By /**/Michael Brendan Dougherty/ 
<http://www.amconmag.com/searchr.php?m=3&start=0&end=25&v&author=Michael+Brendan+Dougherty>*/
 


After successive elections unseated the Republican majority and sent 
John McCain to defeat, neoconservatism seemed like a spent force. 
Francis Fukuyama wrote wistfully about life "After Neoconservatism" in 
2006. Ian Buruma described the McCain campaign as the neocons’ "last 
stand" and harrumphed that they "will not be missed."
One would expect neoconservatives to be friendless and circumspect, 
grumbling about Obama’s inevitable failure as they slump away from 
Washington. Instead, they are jubilant, palling around with liberals 
again, enjoying renewed respect. Obama is their hero.
On March 31, /Weekly Standard /editor Bill Kristol, /Washington Post 
/columnist Robert Kagan, and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign 
Relations Dan Senor launched the *Foreign Policy Initiative*, the latest 
neoconservative think tank. Its first conference, dedicated to "Planning 
for Success" in Afghanistan, had the spirit of a family reunion. Sounds 
of backslapping and gossip filled the hall at the Mayflower Hotel. The 
only interruption was a slight hush as Scooter Libby passed through. The 
man indicted for perjury while protecting Dick Cheney deserved a special 
kind of respect.
Nearly every attendee, it seemed, was president of another grandly named 
neoconservative outfit. In one corner was Clifford May, head of the 
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. In another stood John Nagl, 
who leads the Center for a New American Security. Near him, Randy 
Scheunemann, the disgraced lobbyist and—bear with me—former president of 
the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, a program of the Project for 
the New American Century (PNAC). Around these figures revolved a 
constellation of young neocon wordslingers, including blogger David 
Adesnik, the /New Republic/’s Jamie Kirchick, and the /Standard/’s 
Michael Goldfarb.
In 2004, /New York Times/ columnist and /Weekly Standard /alum David 
Brooks laughed at those who were fixated on PNAC as "full-mooners" who 
believe in a "Yiddish Trilateral Commission." Brooks said the 
organization "has a staff of five and issues memos on foreign policy" 
and that the "people called neoconservatives travel in widely different 
circles and don’t actually have much contact with one another." Nothing 
to see here.

Full text here: http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/apr/20/00014/


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