Sphere of influence

An intriguing little tale was told by Michel Duffy of Time magazine, on “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” 8 March 2007. Duffy repeated the anecdote from his Time cover story this past week on Vice President Dick Cheney. LINK

Seems that when he was president Bush I put the word out to his top aides that he wanted to dump his vice president, Dan Quayle, from his re-election campaign ticket. Bush I wrote in his diary that picking Quayle as his running mate was the worst mistake he ever made. Duffy stated that Bill Kristol, then Quayle’s chief of staff, found out about it, leaked the subterfuge to the press and put the skids on Bush I’s strategy.

Duffy was making the point that the son would not follow the father in his desire to dump his veep. But, it was the mention of Bill Kristol that stopped me short.

Like the ripples from a stone thrown into an otherwise peaceful pond, the sphere of influence of neocons on this country’s policies – foreign and domestic – is ever-expanding.

I am convinced there is nothing they won't do to keep it so.

Don’t know who the neocons are and how they have wielded power in Washington? Shame on you! It’s “Google” time!

From years of studying them, I assert the neoconservatives – or neocons – are a bunch of pseudointellectual war hawks who, when the Cold War ended, decided to take U.S. military might out for a spin, force a “Pax Americana” on the Middle East and, as a result, have screwed this country for years, yea, decades to come.

Turns out, they’re just a bunch of goofballs.

No surprise then, after what Duffy reports, that Dan Quayle ended up being one of their founding fathers.

The man who kept him on the ticket is Bill Kristol. LINK Kristol is the godfather of the neocons. The neocons led us into their long-planned war with Iraq. Ripples.

There are plenty of Web sites available to tell you who these people are, what their plans for this country’s future are, and how they wield their influence on U. S. policy through their think tanks, publications and high positions in government.

One particularly informative site is the Christian Science Monitor’s “Neocon 101: Empire Builders.” LINK

Think tanks, periodicals and key documents: LINK

While the folks over at Fox News are frothing at the mouth over that “left-wing wacko” George Soros, guess who’s funding all this? You guessed it, Rupert Murdoch. “Fair and balanced,” my foot!

That’s a start!

In the meantime, here are prominent neoconservatives – the founding fathers who signed their “Statement of Principles.” LINK Recognize anyone?

Elliott Abrams
Gary Bauer
William J. Bennett
Jeb Bush
Dick Cheney
Eliot A. Cohen
Midge Decter
Paula Dobriansky
Steve Forbes
Aaron Friedberg
Francis Fukuyama*
Frank Gaffney
Fred C. Ikle
Donald Kagan
Zalmay Khalilzad
Lewis “Scooter” Libby
Norman Podhoretz
Dan Quayle
Peter W. Rodman
Stephen P. Rosen
Henry S. Rowen
Donald Rumsfeld
Vin Weber
George Weigel
Paul Wolfowitz
* Fukuyama publicly denounced the neocons for their botched Iraq policy. LINK

There are many other notable neocons, including Richard Perle, Max Boot, Fred Barnes and Charles Krauthammer to name a few.

Get to know these guys – they pretty much run your country.