All around liberal stooge Kinsley in the WaPo this morning [1] has apparently come to the conclusion (of nesessity, from his POV) that a Neoconservative is defined only as someone whom liberals such as himself disagree with.
But there are small points which Kinsley misses. For example, he tries to tie our current actions in the middle east to the actions of Jimme Carter during his misadministration.
Kirkpatrick’s article, “Dictatorship and Double Standards,” was a ferocious attack on President Jimmy Carter for trying to “impose liberalization and democratization” on other countries. She mocked “the belief that it is possible to democratize governments anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances.” Democracy, she said, depends “on complex social, cultural, and economic conditions.” It takes “decades, if not centuries.”
What Kinsley apparently doesn’t want to see, since he certainly has missed it, is that Kirkpatrick and her critics, (such as, at that time, Kinsley, himself) excluded the possibility of military action to accomplish a head start in the goal of those complex social, cultural, and economic changes. Where Carter sat on his hands insofar as military options went, Mr. Bush is willing to use the option to gain the prize.
Kinsley’s real complaint here, of course, is that what Mr. Bush did actually WORKED, and what Carter did only made the situation worse. That’s something he will never get over.
It’s interesting that Kensley wails about NeoConservatives not being able to admit error… since Kinsley has never yet been able to admit error on the part of his patron saint… Jimmy Carter.
Funny thing; Every time he opens his mouth, my original perception of him is reinforced.