Republicans new political model to control all levers of American power

[Q]

Conservative Hegemony: Are Democrats ready to rumble in the 'war of ideas'?

Bush's 'Transformational' Democracy

By Robert Parry
September 22, 2004

--- "Republicans do envision the nation undergoing a transformation into a new political model that would ensure their party’s control of all levers of American power for a generation or more." ---


George W. Bush’s advisers call him “a transformational president,” meaning that they believe his election to a second term on Nov. 2 will cement Republican political control for the foreseeable future. Some outsiders might consider the boast hyperbole, but this prediction of conservative hegemony should not be underestimated.

The conservatives have been building toward this objective for at least the past 30 years. Indeed, if one views the emerging conservative dominance from the perspective of the past three decades, it is an impressive – and, to many, a chilling – vista. Combined with the rise of Bush family dynasty, this historical development suggests that the United States may be moving toward a significantly different form of government, far less open to disagreement and debate, a process where even mainstream Democrats, such as Al Gore and John Kerry, can expect to be turned into caricatures of themselves and made effectively unelectable.

‘War of Ideas’

The Republican strategy centered on building a political/media infrastructure to fight what conservatives call “the war of ideas,” a concept that they do not mean in a metaphorical sense. Their goal has been to “win” this “war” by crushing their enemies. The conservatives began building their “war” machine in the 1970s mostly for defensive reasons, to protect a future Republican president from “another Watergate” and to neutralize anti-war protests against some future Vietnam. But this well-funded network of think tanks, media outlets and attack groups also had an offensive capability that George H.W. Bush exploited in the 1988 and 1992 campaigns and that George W. Bush used effectively in the 2000 and 2004 campaigns – as well as during the run-up to war in Iraq to silence political objections to his planned course of action.

Indeed, the younger George Bush – with his thin appreciation for the value of free-and-open debate – may be the perfect vessel for transforming the U.S. political process into a more authoritarian system envisioned by some hard-line conservatives. After Election 2000, Bush joked that “If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier – so long as I’m the dictator.” While the United States is not headed toward a traditional dictatorship nor even a tightly controlled “democracy” on the model of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Republicans do envision the nation undergoing a transformation into a new political model that would ensure their party’s control of all levers of American power for a generation or more.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/092204.html

[Ruffhowse]

1. Very interesting article. God damn Bush familiy-up to it's ears in

un-American activity. Way worse than Nixon ever was. We must defeat them this election!

[Q]

3. Not to sound partisan...

...but the future of our nation depends upon getting the Bush Family out of our government. There's a fair chance that we can take back the senate and later on the house. But we can't stop there. We MUST purge the anti-democracy forces striving to create an authoritarian government with the Crime Family in control.

[CarolynEC]

6. Go ahead... sound partisan!

Never feel compelled to apologize for stating the truth: Bush and all the cronies who've propped him in place are destroying America.

[Q]

8. Look what the Bushies have done in four years...

...can you imagine what they could do with another four?

- But the issue is much larger than what the Bushies are doing to our country. Just as important is their intent to destroy any and all opposition...specifically the Democratic party. What they did to Clinton and Gore (and now Kerry) is no accident. Nor can it simply be dismissed as dirty politics. They can't win on ideas and policy because few Americans want what they have to sell. They have no intention of competing with Democrats in a fair race...they have to destroy them in order to 'win'.

[CarolynEC]

11. Totally agree. This is not "politics as usual"...

... and hasn't been for quite some time.

[ladjf]

17. Nixon was a choir boy compared to the Bush mafia.

[amber dog democrat]

2. This is likely to backfire

and its because an imbalance of this nature will create an even larger disparity in wealth. What the GOP wants to create is something not unlike Mexico before the 1910 revolution.

[Q]

4. It may backfire...but they've already created the infrastructure...

...needed to go on to the next step. While Democrats were busy working to strengthen democracy over the last thirty years...the GOPers were building a political/media empire that used scapegoats and perception management to make the whole truth impossible to understand.

- Kerry won't have the power to make necessary changes unless the entire Democratic party gets behind him to fight in the 'war of ideas'.

[Hello_Kitty]

16. They don't care though

These people have no concept of history. They just want to get theirs. They, or their descendents will be made to pay in the end. Like the czars in Russia.

[gumby]

5. Total control of all levers of power IS the definition

of totalitarianism, whatever you want to call it (communism, fascism, "controlled democracy").

"Conservatives" seek to control everything, and every part of citizen's lives will suffer. Public education, scientific research, jobs, access to the courts, and the media (to name a few) will all be controlled by a small-minded, bigoted, insanely ideological minority.

Everyone else (the majority) will have no place in such a society.

[amber dog democrat]

10. At what point does it break?

This is very much what happend to monarchies that become too powerful.
If there is no social contract, and if things get bad enough, then conditions are set for
drastic social changes. If you look at what happened in France, Russia and Mexico
there are elements in common derived from an excessive ammount of repression.

Depostism can come in all shapes and forms.

[ladjf]

18. The Inquistion lasted for over 800 years.

[coloradodem2005]

7. This is scary.

Let's hope it stops on November 2, 2004.

[DeepModem Mom]

9. Thanks for posting, Q -- nt

[Karenina]

12. Kick!

:kick:

[Beam Me Up]

13. TOTALITARIANISM = One Party Rule

THEY HATE US FOR OUR FREEDOM.

[Q]

14. The Neocons are coming! The Neocons are coming!

- What will it take to finally wake up the Democratic party to this danger?

[Jade Fox]

15. Boy, this lays it all out, what we're up against, doesn't it?

Its not gonna work, but we can look forward to a hell of a fight for a long
time, even if Kerry wins.

[Disturbed]

19. Govt. and Corporate Control...

is Fascism. This is why I have been naming the Admin. in power Neo Fascists. They are not exactly the same as Nazis or Musolini's Fascists because the ingrediant of the anti-Christ Right Wing faction.

Their goals are in part:

Abolish

Social Security
Medicare
Employer supplied health insurance
Unemployment Benefits
Welfare
Abortion Rights
Collective Bargaining
EPA
Public Education
Public Housing
IRS

[ladjf]

21. With all of those things gone, their dream of retrogressing to

feudal times of the Middle Ages will have become a reality. All we need then will be for the Church to take over and we can re-institute the Inquisition. (We sort of have it now.)

[Q]

23. Iraq has become a model of what they want for America...

...a puppet, military government and 'mock' elections. They despise democracy because it's counterproductive for their agenda. Warm forced poverty and slave labor are the center pieces of their strategy.

[ladjf]

20. It is discouraging to see how much momentum they seem to have.

However, natural logic is their enemy and ultimately, natural logic or you might say reality always prevails. If we want to shorten the natural cycle, we'll have to as you say "fight like hell" to hasten their demise.

If you real DU daily, you can see that thousands of posters are "on to their game". Nationwide there are millions who haven't been taken in by the con. If Bush gets elected in November, I'm afraid that there is going to be some very nasty things happening in opposition to the tyranny of the Republican right-wing.

[Q]

22. Well...they call it Democratic UNDERGROUND

...for a reason. DU is a collection of people with a keen interest in politics and they go out of their way to pay attention.

- But a majority of Americans are too busy paying the bills and trying to keep their jobs to get as involved in politics. They don't have time to look past the headlines to get to the truth.