As I was saying, I was thinking about what Republicans might develop into given the current political and social climate.
Then I made a weird jump into just what exactly a neocon was and why that had such nasty connotations. Now I know you're not a big fan of Wikpedia but I think it's pretty useful and the definition and description of the attitude surrounding the usage rang true:
It represented a realignment in American politics and the defection of "an important and highly articulate group of liberals to the other side."[3] Because the neoconservatives were familiar with liberalism, they were able to criticize it more effectively than previous generations of conservatives, and one of their accomplishments was "to make criticism from the right acceptable in the intellectual, artistic, and journalistic circles where conservatives had long been regarded with suspicion."[3]
I thought, yes, the dark side of the force is strong......<g> and holy crap, I are one lol.....
The term neoconservative was first used derisively by democratic socialist Michael Harrington to make clear that a group, many of whom called themselves liberal, was actually a group of newly conservative ex-liberals. The name eventually stuck, both because it was reasonably accurate, and because neoconservatives came to accept that they were, in fact, conservative.[4] The idea that liberalism "no longer knew what it was talking about" became one of the central themes of neoconservatism,[5] and by the 1980s, being considered a conservative was far from an insult.[4]
I've been accused of being a neoconservative on other threads, out of ignorance about what it meant I usually felt insulted by the underlying hatred coming from the accuser, so whatever the term meant it knew it must be something hated by all....
If I knew then what I do now, I'd of worn the neocon name like a badge of honor.... I find the dates compelling too. I was well on my way to conservatism in 1980 and in 82 I joined the Navy...... |
