Is Neoconservatism a failure as a political force?

[ck4829]

Their talking tough and military actions haven't scared the people they oppose, but it has radicalized them.

Iraq
Iran
Gaza Strip
Venezuela

Iraq is a failed state, and the last three are led by people who have been scared into becoming militant by the threats by the Neoconservatives.

[Az]

1. No not in the slightest

The current players are probably burnt. But the tactic of whipping up nationalistic fervor and placing an imagined ideal of a nation before the people is as old as time. We will see it again.

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Yup, and it appears to be taking conservatives and repugs in general down with them...

:woohoo:

[David__77]

3. Not at all.

It's still the most influential political current in DC. It dominates foreign policy in one party, and has many friends in the other. The concept of "global democratic revolution" promoted by this political tendency is still official DC policy.

[Lerkfish]

4. Actually, here is the 4 step neocon foreign policy strategy

1. whack hornet's nest on someone else's property.
2. take over the neighbor's property for their own protection
3. Destroy the neighbor's house
4. start breeding more hornets.

[MessiahRp]

6. I love this!

Mind if I swipe that and use that in conversations and such? That's a perfect analogy...

Rp

[Lerkfish]

7. nope. feel free -- it just occured to me as I was typing it.

[Double T]

5. You forgot the 'United States'.

The neoconservatives oppose most of 'We the people' and THEY alone have radicalized our behavior.

[Schema Thing]

8. Wes Clark says it is.

[leftofthedial]

9. their true agenda has been a resounding success

America is much less free and is no longer a democracy

America's wealth has been siphoned out of the government and the middle class and concentrated in the hands of a small oligarchy like never before

the middle class is on the ropes and scared to death

we have huge permanent military bases in Iraq

Iraq's oil is still in the ground and having it off the market has enriched oil execs and owners beyond all imagining

"terrorism"--a grotesquely ambiguous and amorphous entity--has now been established in the minds of the public as an all-purpose boogeyman

America has been neutralized as a world economic superpower

[librechik]

10. their ideology involves pretending things are great when they aren't

they will never fail--just figure out how to paint their golden parachutes better colors.

[necso]

11. As long as they have big money

behind them, the neocons will remain a factor.

Moreover, they have accomplished (or made progress towards accomplishing) many of their objectives (the looting of this, other countries; covert class struggle (with the elite triumphing); multiple, mindless wars; societal polarization; an atmosphere of fear and paranoia; the creation of a widely-held/believed image of a powerful, threatening, pervasive enemy; the erosion of civil liberties; the growth of government power; etc); and their mindset still finds resonance here and elsewhere.

Furthermore, the strategies/tactics* that they have used (and refined, if only in the sense of the expertise built-up in various hirelings in using these strategies/tactics) will continue to be a significant factor in politics.

*: In the broadest sense (as I use it), a neocon is also defined by the (persistent, continual) use of certain strategies/tactics (smear and fear; etc), not just by having certain beliefs.

...

(Oops, that was pretty obvious... That is, if it works. When it cools down later, I'll give it a try.)