Neocons embrace McCain — because he’s to Bush’s right

February 12, 2008

I noted last week that the neocons, who had largely followed Norman Podhoretz’s and Michael Rubin’s lead in lining up behind Rudy Giuliani, didn’t need too much convincing to gravitate towards John McCain. Given that McCain was a neocon favorite as far back as 2000, the shift was predictable.

And why is the neocon crowd so excited about the Arizona senator? Max Boot, an unpaid foreign policy advisor to the McCain campaign, explains.

Personally, I am less interested in what Rush Limbaugh, Tom DeLay or Ann Coulter think than I am in the views of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bashar Assad and Kim Jong Il.

This trio — dare we dub them the new “axis of evil”? — has been challenging American interests with growing impudence…. Clearly, these rogue regimes do not fear the consequences of waging a proxy war on America and our allies. They think they can get away with killing and maiming American soldiers — and so far they have been right.

President Bush has not done enough to back up his threats against Iran and Syria, beyond pushing for economic sanctions of limited value…. This is part of a larger trend of Bush combining strong words with weak actions…. This disconnect has done serious damage to American standing and credibility.

It is hard to see how Bush could reverse this decline in America’s “fear factor” during the remaining year of his presidency. That will be the job of the next president. And who would be the most up to the task?

Boot concludes that Americans have to back McCain because he, more so than Bush, would “scare the snot out of our enemies.” He would promote our interests because rivals would be “afraid to mess with him.” And best of all, Boot argues, McCain would be more effective in following through with the international “fear factor” than Bush, because McCain is less reluctant than Bush to force confrontations with our enemies.

It’s like living in a Kafka novel.

Kevin makes quick work of Boot’s painful perspective.

There you have it. If you think the most important aspect of a president is the ability to “scare the snot out of our enemies,” then McCain’s your guy.

Now, you might think that after seven years of trying exactly this, with only the current collapse in our fortunes to show for it, the neocon establishment might at least pause for a moment to wonder if there’s more to foreign policy than scaring the snot out of our enemies. But no. The real problem, apparently, is simply that the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld administration wasn’t good enough at it. Not bellicose enough. Not unilateral enough. Not warlike enough. What America needs is someone even more bloodthirsty than the crew that got us into this mess. Time to double down, folks.

This, in a nutshell, is what McCain is offering by way of a foreign policy, and not surprisingly, the neocons love it.

I’d just add that Boot is hardly the only one. John Bolton told the CPAC crowd last week that he’s an enthusiastic McCain backer because the senator is “stronger” on Iran, and more conservative than Bush, whom Bolton described as too “moderate.”

McCain, in other words, has convinced a lot of people that he’d govern to Bush’s right when it comes to foreign policy.

Ladies and gentleman, your presumptive Republican Party nominee — the one the media argues is a moderate, and who independents are supposed to love.

I guess they’ll be playing advertisements with McCain singing “Bomb Iran”.

Kafka wasn’t this crazy.

  • Ladies and gentleman, your presumptive Republican Party nominee — the one the media argues is a moderate, and who independents are supposed to love.

    You’re making the assumption that the word “moderate” means something politically.

    As far as I can tell, the word “moderate” refers to how John McCain is a great guy who tells funny jokes to reporters. And that he occasionally tells members of his own party that they’re wrong.

    A “macaca moment” of McCain screaming a blue streak at someone caught on tape would quash his reputation for being a “moderate” faster than a detailed explanation of how his policies are more extreme that Bush’s.

  • So we’re back to the Nixonian strategy: “Don’t fuck with me, I absolutely am bat-shit crazy enough to push the button.”

  • A “macaca moment” of McCain screaming a blue streak at someone caught on tape would quash his reputation for being a “moderate” faster than a detailed explanation of how his policies are more extreme that Bush’s.

    Yep. He’s incredibly gaffe-prone — in the sense that a political gaffe means revealing your true feelings.

    His comments on the stump, from “Bomb Iran” to “Make it 100 years” to “Thanks for the question, you jerk” are steadily building up. The DNC should have a camera at every event he does, especially now when he’s still tacking to the right.

  • This trio — dare we dub them the new “axis of evil”?

    I think it’s long over due that we correctly label Rush Limbaugh, Tom DeLay and Ann Coulter.

  • Hey Cleaver,

    Great stuff today! Thanks.

    By the way, when I click on your name, the link doesn’t work.

  • First let me note that, while I’ve been a McCain fan in the past, I voted for Obama in the primary and am increasingly likely to vote for Obama in the general election, if he makes it that far. So I’m not a blindly loyal McCain enthusiast. On the other hand, McCain’s contribution to the Foreign Affairs series of candidate essays suggests a mind that’s much less hawkish than the “neocons” might like to believe.

  • When I’ve had the misfortune to talk with a good number of wingnuts they all seem to be singing that Beach Boys parody as well. I recall on 9/11 most of my coworkers (who I had mistakenly presumed were sane) were screaming “bomb em”. They couldn’t tell me specifically who (them ragheads) or where (them arabs). At that point I decided not to push my luck and quickly found another job. I’m afraid there are a growing number of people out there who just want to hit somebody. Laugh at them at your own peril because I fear our progressive majority may be imaginary. H.L. Menken is still emminently quotable. These people scare the bejuzus out of me and I seem to be taking too much for granted lately.

  • Well every serious site needs a song parody. And since no one good is doing it, I’ll try it.

    With apologies to Bob Dylan:

    Here comes the story of Herr McCain
    The one Republicans came to claim
    For something that he once had done
    Put in a prison cell he was brave and true
    But now there’s no one he won’t screw
    to be
    The President of the world

  • Racer X said:

    I guess they’ll be playing advertisements with McCain singing “Bomb Iran”.

    Kafka wasn’t this crazy.

    Yeah when the bombing starts in iran the song will be played over the scene like the song in Dr. Strangelove. “We’ll Meet Again” I think.

  • The real problem, apparently, is simply that the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld administration wasn’t good enough at it.

    This sort of Procrustean Bed characterizes all three legs of the infamous GOP “three-legged stool”: If your prayers aren’t answered, you need to pray harder. If tax cuts don’t stimulate the economy, you need deeper tax cuts. If you haven’t scared your enemies into crying “uncle”, you need to rattle the saber harder.

    Somehow, the answers come so much more easily if you don’t bother to think!

  • I guess this is what that hack meant all those years ago when he talked about making their own (or was it new) reality. In this reality what was wasn’t (all evidence to the contrary), black is white, up is down, what is is only that when they say it is, etc.

    I am not exactly sure that was clear, but then neither are the neocons.

  • “Dare we dub them the new ‘axis of evil’?” No we don’t. The speechwriter who coined the phrase wrote it because he thought it sounded cool at the time and that’s no reason to repeat his mistake again.

    Second, Mr. Boot, saber rattling only works when the saber is sheathed and ready to be pulled out at a moments notice. Our saber is currently stuck in a quagmire, tired out, worn down and stretched to its limits. No rattling sound coming from there.

    Third, we will not “scare the snot out of” the three petty dictators you mention. They’re nose pickers. No snot to scare out of them. They are best kept marginalized by the international community and not put on the pedestal you appoint them to.

    Go back to playing epic games of Risk Mr. boot to satisfy your ego’s need for conquest. Nobody else has to die for that.

  • The problem for Repubs is that Theocons don’t care much about McCain’s Neocon foreign policy – the question is whether he hates non-white-skinned people as much as they do.

    Bush ‘Messianic Militarism’ was the perfect marriage between Theocons & Neocon. Right now the marriage doesn’t look very good.

  • petorado said:

    “Dare we dub them the new ‘axis of evil’?” No we don’t. The speechwriter who coined the phrase wrote it because he thought it sounded cool at the time and that’s no reason to repeat his mistake again.

    True. That speechwriter had axis to grind.

  • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bashar Assad and Kim Jong Il. They think they can get away with killing and maiming American soldiers — and so far they have been right.

    Could anyone tell me when, exactly, one of the three mentioned above have actually killed American soldiers? That sorta got lost on me.

  • I find it hard to believe McCain is to the right of anyone. He’s a Kennedy RINO, pure and simple. And he will lose to Obama or Clinton because, for conservatives like me, there will be no lesser of two evils to vote for this coming November.

    Also, the neocon moniker is getting a little worn thin, guy. Left-wing moonbats are a FAR more monolithic voting bloc on talking points than so-called “neocons.” I find it highly ironic that it is Democrat Obama and Clinton supporters who have been tossing back and forth the kind of racist and sexist invective “neocons” are supposedly renowned for. But it’s OK when you all do it, right?

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