Stepping Off the Platform (Reaganite-Neocons leading Repub Partry Astray)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-prestowitz10aug10,1,7929091.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

President Reagan once explained his political switch during the 1950s from the Democrats to the Republicans by saying, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me." In these days of neoconservative ascendancy among Republicans, traditional conservative Republicans like me increasingly understand how Reagan felt. But this time it's the Republicans who are leaving us.

We conservatives have historically been skeptical of ambitious campaigns abroad aimed at remaking the world. It was the great British conservative philosopher Edmund Burke who cautioned against imperialism by saying: "I dread our being too much dreaded." It was President Dwight D. Eisenhower who argued that "we must not destroy what we are attempting to defend" and who further noted that "an empire on which the sun would never set is one in which the rulers never sleep." And it was John Quincy Adams who warned that if America became "dictatress of the world" then "she would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit."

Traditional conservatives were pleased during the election campaign of 2000 when candidate George W. Bush spoke of the need for a more humble approach to U.S. foreign policy and for reducing excessive U.S. deployments abroad. It therefore came as a shock when the Bush administration seemed to go out of its way to insult and irritate longtime friends and allies.

Take, for instance, the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, a pact beloved by many of America's allies, including Britain. Traditional conservatives generally opposed it because they thought it unfair to U.S. interests. But it had not been submitted for approval to the U.S. Senate in the summer of 2001 and was not going to be because there was no way the Senate would ratify it. Since it was effectively in limbo, many conservatives wondered why the new administration felt a need to take the treaty out of hibernation and loudly reject it, thereby needlessly alienating our allies.

[ixion]

1. you know there is something wrong

when conservatives start to sound this rational. I think many moderates and 'true' conservatives are finally starting to realize what we've known all along: that this junta harbors nothing but illwill for the American Republic.

[RamboLiberal]

2. Prestowitz's book Rogue Nation is a worthwhile read

Has a lot of very good history and points on how this and other administrations have indeed turned the United States in to a rogue nation. Also saw a few minutes of him on TV last week. Would love to see him turn up as a frequent commentator on how AWOL is leading us astray.

[w4rma]

3. He has a point. Democrats are liberal mainly on civil rights, but

but on many other things, Democrats are the conservatives.

[salin]

4. read his last two paragraphs.

The irony here is that it is the supposedly liberal Democrats who are talking about fiscal responsibility, limited government, individual rights and caution on grand missions abroad. So more and more traditional conservatives have been asking the question: Who are really the liberals, and who are the conservatives? Indeed, it was Maine Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, a Republican and member of the traditionally conservative Main Street Coalition, who played a key role in capping Bush's tax cuts at $350 billion; and a large number of Republicans revolted against the neoconservative leadership to vote down new Federal Communications Commission rules allowing further mergers of large media companies. Perhaps this indicates that traditional Republicans are making an important discovery about who they are and where they belong.

There is nothing neo about imperialism. It is just as un-American today as it was in 1776. And there is nothing conservative about the giant military-industrial establishment, budget deficits or failing local and state governments. Far from conservatism, this is radicalism of the right, and it is unsustainable because it is at odds with fundamental — and truly conservative — American values.

Is he saying that some republicans are realizing they fit more with some democrats (and NOT the message of the DLC, btw), OR is he saying some traditional republicans are taking a stand against the neocons (but staying repub).

The first statement makes me go - very interesting....

The second, pardon my cynicism, makes it sound like a pro Arnie piece based on its timing (see... he isn't one of THOSE republicans).

[RamboLiberal]

5. I think this guy is way to credible and smart to be for Arnold

eom

[priller]

6. Last paragraph is a keeper

The neocons are essentially UNAMERICAN. I've been thinking that for some time now. Good to see a conservative, a *Reagan* conservative of all things, saying the same thing.

[berry]

7. Prestowitz is great--he's a member of the "Committee for the Republic"

which is a group of Republicans of like mind, including some who were very strong Bush* supporters in 2000 who apparently feel betrayed. I suppose one could consider this an internal GOP struggle for the party, but it brings up the right issues, and these are pretty powerful people. They haven't done much yet, but I think they are worth watching.

http://polemics.us/archives/000434.php

This is all I have right now--word of this group came from an Alan Murray article in the WSJ, which is posted in part here. They apparently have a "Manifesto" that nobody seems able to find on the web...

ON EDIT: OK, here's a link to the full text of the WSJ article (I don't have a subscription, and I assume most people here don't--this is from another site). It's well worth reading!:

http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/analysis/2003/0715capital.htm