2008 Woodie Awards
Neo-Conservatives and the Hijacking of US Conservatism
John Ferreira
Issue date: 10/21/05 Section: Opinions
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Irving Kristol, considered by many as the godfather of neo-conservatism, coined the phrase "neo-cons are liberals who have been mugged by reality." Turns out he was right in more ways than one, in fact today it is the neo-cons that are being mugged by reality and after the apparent successes of President Bush's first term the neo-con White House is floundering. They are floundering in part because there is a fissure in the Republican party between neo-cons and traditional conservatives.
Conservatives, in the words of George F. Will, understand the scarcity of everything: money, virtue, wisdom, and competence. That is why conservatives believe in limited government and champion individual agency. Neo-conservatives on the other hand do not, they proceed as if America's strength is endless and the coercive power of the state can be used for anything they see fit.
Conservatives have reasons to be angry with this administration; the Harriet Miers was just the drop that caused the flood. It began in December of 2001 with the No Child Left Behind Act, which was a deep intrusion by the federal government in state's education rights. Then in December of 2003 the President and the Republican leadership pushed forward the Medicare prescription-drug bill which was the largest expansion of welfare benefits since the time of Lyndon Johnson, hardly a conservative. Agriculture subsidies have grown, the highway bill was jammed with pork, and the government over stepped its boundaries in the Terri Schiavo case.
Most "un-conservative" of the current Republican leadership is their constant support of nation building. In the 2000 election then candidate George W. Bush vehemently said that he would not use the American military as a worldwide police force and that he would not practice nation-building. The Iraq War is at heart a liberal war. It is an attempt to rebuild the Middle East in our own image. They hope to change the character of the Iraqi building, constructing a political culture out of the ashes of Saddam's rule. This is very different from the slow and organic change that is furthered by conservatives at home, which is why it is hypocritical. Neo-conservatives, who are the dominant force in American politics today, say incoherently that while the government isn't competent to run Amtrak it is competent enough to run the Middle East.
Conservatives, in the words of George F. Will, understand the scarcity of everything: money, virtue, wisdom, and competence. That is why conservatives believe in limited government and champion individual agency. Neo-conservatives on the other hand do not, they proceed as if America's strength is endless and the coercive power of the state can be used for anything they see fit.
Conservatives have reasons to be angry with this administration; the Harriet Miers was just the drop that caused the flood. It began in December of 2001 with the No Child Left Behind Act, which was a deep intrusion by the federal government in state's education rights. Then in December of 2003 the President and the Republican leadership pushed forward the Medicare prescription-drug bill which was the largest expansion of welfare benefits since the time of Lyndon Johnson, hardly a conservative. Agriculture subsidies have grown, the highway bill was jammed with pork, and the government over stepped its boundaries in the Terri Schiavo case.
Most "un-conservative" of the current Republican leadership is their constant support of nation building. In the 2000 election then candidate George W. Bush vehemently said that he would not use the American military as a worldwide police force and that he would not practice nation-building. The Iraq War is at heart a liberal war. It is an attempt to rebuild the Middle East in our own image. They hope to change the character of the Iraqi building, constructing a political culture out of the ashes of Saddam's rule. This is very different from the slow and organic change that is furthered by conservatives at home, which is why it is hypocritical. Neo-conservatives, who are the dominant force in American politics today, say incoherently that while the government isn't competent to run Amtrak it is competent enough to run the Middle East.