Podhoretz
Norman Podhoretz, from the first generation of neo-conservatives (when the term literally referred to what the prefix “neo” suggests) author of the oh-so-prescient 1980 book The Present Danger regarding the rapidly deteroiating American military and the mighty and rapidly building Soviet military, was on Chris Matthew’s Hardball a couple months or so ago.
I digress on that point about his oh-so-prescient book, though. Y’see, the line of thinking with regards to the Soviet threat is that Reagan’s rapid expanse of the military budget (after Carter’s late-term military expansion, but forget that ever happened), most notably his “Star Wars” Defense Shield budget priority, forced the Soviet Union to expand its military budget and bankrupt itself. (Which, inadvertedly, feeds into my general take on the Cold War: it was a contest to see which side could bankrupt itself first, and in the end we simply traded a Vietnam for an Afghanistan.)
But, back to Podhoretz. I wish I could find some trasncripts quickly and search for exact quotes, but his comment left a sour taste in my mouth. To paraphrase: it is the job of the Democratic leadership to keep their rank and file from thinking of George W. Bush as an extreme president (se– he’s really aligned with the great majority of the country), and they have failed to do so.
Or, to put another way: a top-down approach to politics. The Political Parties are in charge of regulating the thought patterns of those that are, nominally or less nominally, aligned with whichever political party.
OK.
BTW: Podhertz’s newest book is Bush Country. Place it alongside The Present Danger, I guess it belongs on the bookshelf before it when you alphabetize the titles.