I was talking with my elderly grandmother today (don't tell her I called her elderly), about politics. My grandparents are life long democrats, mainly from the old days when democrat was synonymous with labor. There's no love for Bush in the conversation. She's a sweet lady whose main beef with Bush is, "Does he really think I'm that dumb?".
She follows the news, stays up to date on the relevant stories, and is very concerned that this world, the world George Bush is creating, is the one that her grandchildren will have to live in. However, she was astonished when I told her GW may not be solely to blame. I explained to here that Bushs policies were largely a combination of the moral majority folks and the PNAC.
Of course she knew about the moral majority folks, "I pray my way, and let them pray theirs" she says, "but anymore, it seems they don't hold up their end of the bargain" My grandparents are from a more simple time.
But, getting to the point, she, and I feel, most Americans have no idea what on earth the PNAC is. I told her that the preemptive war doctrine was their idea. They have a plan for a new American power, where we give peace to the world, by waging unprovoked war on countries we deem to be a threat. "That doesn't make sense", she said. At which point my grandfather, a WWII vet who served under General Patton on his end run around Europe after D-day, spoke up, "that's what the God Damned Nazis did!". I guess that's the latitude you have when you fought in a war when 2000+ people died in a matter of a day or mere hours. I sure couldn't voice that comment. Just another "lefty loony" comment coming from me. But from my grandfather, by all measures, a true American patriot, it was completly justified.
That's when it struck me. It's not the Republicans that are necessarily to be demonized. While I probably do sit left of center, there are some points I agree with. Responsible spending, government no larger than it needs to be, all reasonable ideas, and balance quite well with a progressive liberal stance of helping those who can't help themselves, and moving society forward. You see, I think a dichotomy is a healthy thing. But what has gone wrong. Well Helen Thomas yesterday answered that question dead on.
After asking the President why he wanted war in Iraq, he danced around better than Charles Durning in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. When Helen Thomas was asked by Wolf "there goes another scud" Blitzer her reaction, she was much more straight forward
BLITZER: And you asked him a tough question. Did you accept his answer? Namely that he didn't come into the presidency believing he was going to go to war against Saddam Hussein. But after 9/11, his world view changed?
THOMAS: It doesn't parse. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. It was secular, it was not tied to al Qaeda. I think he wanted to go into Iraq. He had all the neoconservatives advising at the top of their agenda for project for new American century. First Iraq then Iran then Syria. And so forth.
transcript CNN 3-21-06
There it is folks, when the women who has been interviewing and following presidential administrations was asked why did the US invade Iraq, her answer PNAC. Yet somehow I think less than 5% of the viewers know what in the hell PNAC is. I think they have even less of an idea that among its members you'll find
Richard (Dick) Cheney - Vice President - PNAC Founder
Elliott Abrams - National Security Council
Richard Armitage - Department of State (2001-2005)
John R. Bolton - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Paula Dobriansky - Department of State
Francis Fukuyama - President's Council on Bioethics (scary thought)
Zalmay Khalilzad - U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq
Lewis Libby - Bush Administration - Indicted by Grand Jury on charges of Obstruction of Justice, False Statements and Perjury and resigned October 28, 2005.
Peter W. Rodman - Department of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld - Secretary of Defense - PNAC founder and previously Chairman of the Board of Gilead Sciences Developer of Tamiflu (things that make you go, hmm..
Paul Wolfowitz - World Bank President - Deputy Secretary of Defense, 2001-2005
Dov S. Zakheim Department of Defense
Robert B. Zoellick - Deputy Secretary of State
And even presuming they new about this cabal (or sorry, what cabal? Lefty Loony again) They probably don't know about
this letter
to President Clinton in 1998 that contains all to familiar phrasing as
...That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power...in the not-too-distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons...that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do...the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world's supply of oil will all be put at hazard...We urge you to articulate this aim, and to turn your Administration's attention to implementing a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power
Now I know this is old news for some/most kossacks. Just your average every day tin-foliery. But most folks (voters) don't know these details. Tell them!
And you want a strategy for Dems? Call 'em like you see 'em and outwardly draw attention to the cause/causes of this war in Iraq, the PNAC. Put that all over the media. Make it a household word, replace WMD, with PNAC. Who know where you might find support. I think that a large number of Republicans are finally waking up and realizing, "Hmm. what 's happened to our party?" It's been high jacked Jack. By the PNAC.