As we argue, Straussians giggle

[RandiFan1290]

Their roots connect them...


http://www.alternet.org/story/15935/

Leo Strauss' Philosophy of Deception
...

Rule One: Deception

It's hardly surprising then why Strauss is so popular in an administration obsessed with secrecy, especially when it comes to matters of foreign policy. Not only did Strauss have few qualms about using deception in politics, he saw it as a necessity. While professing deep respect for American democracy, Strauss believed that societies should be hierarchical – divided between an elite who should lead, and the masses who should follow. But unlike fellow elitists like Plato, he was less concerned with the moral character of these leaders. According to Shadia Drury, who teaches politics at the University of Calgary, Strauss believed that "those who are fit to rule are those who realize there is no morality and that there is only one natural right – the right of the superior to rule over the inferior."
...

Second Principle: Power of Religion

According to Drury, Strauss had a "huge contempt" for secular democracy. Nazism, he believed, was a nihilistic reaction to the irreligious and liberal nature of the Weimar Republic. Among other neoconservatives, Irving Kristol has long argued for a much greater role for religion in the public sphere, even suggesting that the Founding Fathers of the American Republic made a major mistake by insisting on the separation of church and state. And why? Because Strauss viewed religion as absolutely essential in order to impose moral law on the masses who otherwise would be out of control.

At the same time, he stressed that religion was for the masses alone; the rulers need not be bound by it. Indeed, it would be absurd if they were, since the truths proclaimed by religion were "a pious fraud." As Ronald Bailey, science correspondent for Reason magazine points out, "Neoconservatives are pro-religion even though they themselves may not be believers."

"Secular society in their view is the worst possible thing,'' Drury says, because it leads to individualism, liberalism, and relativism, precisely those traits that may promote dissent that in turn could dangerously weaken society's ability to cope with external threats. Bailey argues that it is this firm belief in the political utility of religion as an "opiate of the masses" that helps explain why secular Jews like Kristol in 'Commentary' magazine and other neoconservative journals have allied themselves with the Christian Right and even taken on Darwin's theory of evolution.

more...

[xchrom]

1. you can also see the straussian assault on higher education

through figures like lynne cheney.

they also have an obssession with controlling history.

[annabanana]

2. absolutely essential reading!

You can put everything in it's proper framework when the policies are viewed in Straussian light. Everything makes sense.

[RandiFan1290]

5. Exactly

PNAC
9/11
A Clean Break
AIPAC espionage scandal
Iran
Iraq
Chalabi
Lebanon
Syria
etc...

Their roots connect them all!

[rucky]

3. So maybe Obama has a point...

and the Left should use charismatic religion to empower the masses and move them toward something positive, in an attempt to redirect the destructive actions of the religious pawns.

There's plenty in the Biblekorantorah that would back it up. Case in point: My fundie in-laws are slowly moving from Pat Robertson's hate to Joel Osteen's more positive approach, and in the process, are realizing how hateful Robertson really is.

I don't see how attacking religion would do anything other than muddy the waters even further & give the Neocons more ammo. Let's use it for the good it can bring.

[Minnesota Libra]

4. It definitely depends on how you "attack religion" that counts.........

......
You wrote: "I don't see how attacking religion would do anything other than muddy the waters even further & give the Neocons more ammo. Let's use it for the good it can bring."

I certainly don't think attacking religion as a whole would do any good but gently going after individual religious figures would certainly help. There are indeed very racist and narrow minded religious people that need to be exposed. That's the attacking that I think would do some good by making people rethink their devotion to such people in relation to what the Bible actually says about such practices.

[rucky]

24. Agree. Need to provide a constructive alternative

for people of faith, though. At least through examples of the good things certain people and sects have done.

[RandiFan1290]

8. "Using religion" is Straussian

The truth will set us free.

[Reckon]

20. I've been saying that all along.

Many people here actually drive lefty Christians away. Not smart.

[leveymg]

6. Orwell described these people as driven by "power for its own sake"

1984, Chapter 3. During Winston Smith's interrogation and torture, O'Brien explains the true nature and goals of the Inner Party. http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/20/

'Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just round the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?'

Keep this in mind in dealing with BushCo.

[ixion]

7. individualism, liberalism, and relativism are components of a FREE SOCIETY

what Strauss is calling for is theocratic oligarchy, which has NOTHING to do with a Democratic Republic.

[tbyg52]

11. Exactly!

And whose ideas does the cabal subscribe to, and where are we headed?! x(

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

9. K & R. This quote perfectly describes the cruel, cynical approach

of the PNAC'ers/BFEE in foreign and domestic policies.

Like Thomas Hobbes, Strauss believed that the inherently aggressive nature of human beings could only be restrained by a powerful nationalistic state. "Because mankind is intrinsically wicked, he has to be governed," he once wrote. "Such governance can only be established, however, when men are united – and they can only be united against other people."

MKJ

[RandiFan1290]

10. Thank You BHP

Before anyone gets into another Jew, Fundie, or Muslim argument. I really hope they will read about Straussians and their tactics. They are being played out right here at DU. We ignore them and play into it at our own peril.

[smacky44]

12. Religion: the opiate of the masses. Strange how the so-called "chosen"

really feel about religion. And the majority do not really practice it in Israel but use those who do to put the religious face on a nation that lost its soul and its way back in 1967.

[annabanana]

13. kick!. . . . . . . n/t

[unpossibles]

14. so (according to Strauss) to avoid such things as Nazism

which was a response to a liberal and secular society, we should bypass the liberal, secular society and set up a Fasicst state?

No wonder the NeoCons love this guy so much. And Orwell - I think they believe 1984 was a playbook, not a warning.

[Finder]

15. Strauss is essential in understanding what is happening today...

and his views on the need to keep the masses in line with religion may seem sinister but it is true from observation. Marx said essentially the same.

[tex-wyo-dem]

16. This should be DU required reading...

pay attention, because this forms the basis for everything that is going on right now. The PNAC playbook feeds directly from this Straussian foundation.

Being disciples of Strauss, I'm sure, is a prerequisite for being part of the neocon inner circle. You wonder why * is such a crony? Because the cronies he keeps close have sworn allegiance to the Strauss/neocon philosophy...any dissenters are purged or relegated to lower profile positions.

But members of this small, elite Straussian group are not just politicos, but anyone in the media, religious and corporate structure who is in a position to affect public opinion. You can be assured that these people are very well compensated.

[Finder]

18. It is essentially a "mutual society" with many branches...

but the core group(roots)are not as numerous as many think. A pruning is taking place as we can see from the many indictments the past couple of years.

Although the "Gardeners" are doing a good job, we should form a "Lumberjack" society to cut it down to size.

[Blue_Tires]

17. ttt

[GeorgeGist]

19. I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush.

"I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend - but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do." - Ron Suskind

[Odin2005]

22. "We create our own Reality" OMFG, these people are insane!

I smell Postmodernist influence ("there is no objective reality")... :puke:

[chill_wind]

23. Scooter Libby, if I'm not mistaken. Cheney's Cheney. nt

[Reckon]

21. I also believe when the LeoCons speak publicly

they talk in code. IE. When Rove gave his "cut and run" speech. He was actually telling their ranks to stand fast, don't retreat "We don't cut and run". Their ranks had been taking heat (investigations) and coming unglued.

That's how the LeoCons disseminate info to the masses without making 10,000 phone calls. They're also aware calls can be/are being tapped.

I've also seen this coming from an allied country, so I know they're marching to the beat of the same drummer.

[eridani]

25. "Opiate" of the masses?

With all the internecine sectarian rage, including our own sick fucks who are fans of Left Behind, I'd say it was more like the methamphetamine of the masses.

[Emit]

26. Is Ledeen foreshadowing something here?

A CASUAL OBSERVER might be excused for believing that nearly all of the recent violence in Israel has been part of the usual cycle of Arab-Israeli conflict. The observer would be wrong. Though some of the recent acts ... seem to be the work of extremist Israeli nationalists, much of the destructive intent is fueled by a mixture of nationalist politics, messianic longing, and the search for roots. In fact, some of the current extremism is a direct outgrowth of the ancient forecast of the Apocalypse... The targets of the most spectacular incidents over the past months have been Muslim authorities and the area they control in Jerusalem, but for the most part the people who planned or participated in the attacks are the violent fringe of an informal movement that stretches from the United States to the Middle East, and encompasses millions of evangelical Christians as well as some Israeli Jews. This unlikely coalition rests upon a common belief that the Final Days are upon us. For the Christians, this means that the Second Coming of Christ is imminent; for the Jews, the Messiah is about to arrive. Both believe that the crucial spot for the fulfillment of the Biblical prophecies is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, because that is where the Temple of Solomon is to be rebuilt. According to the fundamentalist understanding of Christian prophecy, three great events are required for the Second Coming: Israel must be a Jewish nation; Jerusalem must be a Jewish city; and the Temple must be rebuilt...

~snip~

Historically, messianic movements tend to be strongest in periods of intense internal turmoil and external threat. Both of these elements are present in contemporary Israel, and the Israelis' anxieties are largely shared by the American "Christian Zionists." All we know about the Temple Mount suggests that it will grow in interest and become a source of conflict, with international consequences that are hard to predict. Up until the arrests of the twenty-five extremists, the Israeli government either ignored the Temple Mount movement or attempted to co-opt it, but neither approach was successful. It remains to be seen whether the arrests will dampen the ardor of the zealots. With the redemption of mankind and the fulfillment of prophecy at stake, arrests are transformed into temporary setbacks, extremism becomes righteous action, and political considerations pale into such insignificance that even conservative Christians and radical Jewish nationalists can become allies.

Source Citation: Ledeen, Michael, and Barbara Ledeen. "The Temple Mount plot: what do Christian and Jewish fundamentalists have in common?." The New Republic 190 (June 18, 1984): 20(4). Lexis-Nexis

More excerpted here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1716530&mesg_id=1718718