Pejmanesque: INACCURATE HISTORY is a great post in response to Kevin Drum's assertion that the neocons overestimated the power of the Soviet Union and that their strategy in dealing with the cold war was delusional and unrealistic because of the strategy's effect on various third world regions and countries.
First of all before I can really understand what Kevin Drum is saying I have to check the definition of "neoconservative". According to dictionary.com and yourdictionary.com a neocon is:
n. An intellectual and political movement in favor of political, economic, and social conservatism that arose in opposition to the perceived liberalism of the 1960s: “The neo-conservatism of the 1980s is a replay of the New Conservatism of the 1950s, which was itself a replay of the New Era philosophy of the 1920s” (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.).
According to Merriam-Webster a neocon is:
n. a former liberal espousing political conservatism
I don't believe any of the above definitions accurately describe the beliefs of a person who is supposedly a "neocon", but that's neither here nor there. I have to disagree with Kevin based on Pejmanesque's post.
I don't believe Reagan was ever a true "conservative". I believe instead he followed the liberal, enlightened political philosophy espoused by Hubert Humphrey, among others. Reagan probably wanted to turn back some of the excesses of the New Deal and probably wanted a little less government but he seemed not to try very hard to turn America back to the pre-New Deal Era.
I believe Paul Wolfowitz is a liberal in the true, original meaning of the word and I like him.
Posted by John at December 24, 2003 10:35 PMNOTE: I've got better things to do than erase the childish, immature, psychotic, obscene comments from looney Roger Weidner and his gang of illiterate morons, so just put your opinions at the Johnhays.net Forum.