The neocons, paleocons, and the rest of them will no longer have ideologues in high places of power who support their agenda. Thinks about what that means. Soon enough, the news shows will stop having William Kristol and Bay Buchanan on the air because, really, who will care. Instead they will forgotten spokespersons for some little wacko right wing faction that is no longer a player rather than be given national attention because an extremist in the White House is a fellow traveler.
Fox news will quickly morph into something else. Rupert Murdoch may be on the right but he also likes to make money, and Fox ratings are about to nosedive.
Science will again be respected and honored in D.C. rather than being perverted or ignored to support bizarre quasi-religious views.
All of that stuff and much more will be gone soon. This was a momentous election in ways we are just beginning to understand.
From my blog: “May his tenure be marked by reconciliation at home and abroad. May he be fiscally conservative, religiously liberal, and socially moderate. And may he (and all of us) ‘live long and prosper.'”
However, reports of the demise of the neo-con agenda may be greatly exaggerated. There’s nothing they love more than someone on whom to focus the hate and rage of supporters who really have nothing to do with their agenda.
True, but their grip on power is gone. Without that, they will be just another fringe crank group.
They’re not gone yet folks… The fact that in 3 of 4 states anti-gay agenda items passed despite going for Obama should be a clear signal that lots of people were holding their nose while voting for him.
I don’t think that people have, as a whole, become Non-sucking. The polls I saw showed the majority to be most concerned about the economy — therefore, I believe they are voting their 401(k)’s, jobs, and home values — not their liberal convictions. If the economy were still doing well, nobody would be calling for reform — The neo cons would be voted back in, because voters would see no self-serving use for the rule of law and the principles of decency.
Liberal convictions? Yikes. Check out this map: it suggests that liberal convictions don’t stray very far from the coasts & waterways.
http://asymptoticlife.com/2008/11/04/how-great-is-the-divide.aspx
Well, that’s where the population is. Plot a map showing the vote by density of population and you’ll see something totally different, probably the inverse of that map.
Not exactly– and that’s exactly the problem. Only 50% of the population is in those dense blue areas. The rest of us are in the red zones. And that’s the point: we are polarized according to population density. And both zones think they represent the whole country, when in fact they represent only half.
Well, I guess *you guys* missed my point: A swing in conviction to the “benevolent left” — if there ever was such a thing — is not responsible for the election of Obama. Or, more bluntly: the country hasn’t become “left,” and hasn’t become “benevolent.” It’s just all about money, and the impending (or immediate) lack thereof. And the power of cliques. So Bob, take off those rose-colored glasses. DJ, we’re not going to de-polarize, gather in a circle and sing kumbayah any time soon.
My point was more that with the defeat of McCain, the neocons will no longer have friends in high places and thus their power and influence will be greatly diminished. Plus, the Republican Party is going to have a furious internal war, something which will damage the neocon agenda even more.
Bob, I agree with Sue: You;re overly optimistic. The neo-cons and their supporters will be waiting for their next opportunity. Which, unless Obama is able to do the impossible (clean up Bush’s mess), will probably come in four years. I’ve heard predictions of GOP collapse before, and so far it hasn’t materialized.
Sue, we may not sing Kumbayah together, but I welcome urban liberals to come out and go shooting with me! (Doing my part for reconciliation…)
Can I sing Kumbaya while shooting an AK at your ranch?
I don’t mind singing Kumbaya as long as somebody is roasting over an open fire….
Bob: Sure, you can sing Kumbaya. And your shooting the AK meanwhile will give me a good excuse to wear hearing protection!
Is that why coyotes started howling the last time I was there and started singing???
neo-cons are al-quaida
neo-cons secretly are believers in Hitler tactics and propaganda they didn,t call themseves neo-cons back in 1933 yet they trie to overthrow FDR with intents of operating the same as Hitler