R.I.P. Jeane Kirkpatrick ---- An Original Gangster
Feminists of the world are probably not mourning the loss of one of the most influential women the world has ever seen. But they should be.
The great Jeane Kirkpatrick is dead at 80, and since nobody knows who she is, I'm going on a rant.
Awesome Fact #1:
Jeane Kirkpatrick is the only female-starter on the neo-conservative all-star team. She was one of many disillussioned Marxists and disillussioned Democrats who jumped ship to form a powerful wing of the Republican party under Reagan and Bush II.
Without the likes of her, we may have never been involved in the current Iraq War, and if it weren't for people like her, Donald Rumsfeld and others might have never shaken hands so awkwardly with Saddam Hussein in the first place back in the 1980's. Read on:
An insane anti-communist, the "Kirkpatrick Doctrine" suggested that America support any anti-communist leader across the world, no matter how brutal and backward they were.
And of course, we all know that the 2003-to-present Iraq War was a key goal of neo-conservative/American domination scholars and lobbyists like Kirkpatrick, even for years before 9/11.
Awesome Fact #2:
She was the first female Ambassador to the U.N. back in the 1980's... so I guess you could say that the current ultra-conservative Ambassador John Bolton is the first male-Jeane Kirkpatrick.
Awesome Fact #3:
In 1984, Kirkpatrick gave a speech to the Republican National Convention that is now called the "Blame America First" speech.
In it, she complained about her old party, the Democrats, and their need to blame America for every problem in the world. For instance, when a communist dictator ascends to power in Latin America, the Democrats immediately blame America's 100-year-old policies instead of, well, the dictator.
And how dare they use history to make a point! Live in the moment, Democrats!
It doesn't need to be restated how significant this argument has been rhetorically over the past 30 years. Watch Fox News for an hour and you'll hear the term "Blame America First" at least once. Not to mention her targeting of "San Francisco Democrats".... Have you heard anything similar to that in the past two decades?
After her speech, Ronald Reagan and the Republicans went on to win every single state -- except Minnesota and its seven electoral seats. Woohoo! -- the biggest trumping in an America election since, well, 10 years earlier when Nixon did the exact same thing.
America is the world's greatest soap opera and it just lost its Susan Lucci.
The great Jeane Kirkpatrick is dead at 80, and since nobody knows who she is, I'm going on a rant.Awesome Fact #1:
Jeane Kirkpatrick is the only female-starter on the neo-conservative all-star team. She was one of many disillussioned Marxists and disillussioned Democrats who jumped ship to form a powerful wing of the Republican party under Reagan and Bush II.
Without the likes of her, we may have never been involved in the current Iraq War, and if it weren't for people like her, Donald Rumsfeld and others might have never shaken hands so awkwardly with Saddam Hussein in the first place back in the 1980's. Read on:
An insane anti-communist, the "Kirkpatrick Doctrine" suggested that America support any anti-communist leader across the world, no matter how brutal and backward they were.
And of course, we all know that the 2003-to-present Iraq War was a key goal of neo-conservative/American domination scholars and lobbyists like Kirkpatrick, even for years before 9/11.
Awesome Fact #2:
She was the first female Ambassador to the U.N. back in the 1980's... so I guess you could say that the current ultra-conservative Ambassador John Bolton is the first male-Jeane Kirkpatrick.
Awesome Fact #3:
In 1984, Kirkpatrick gave a speech to the Republican National Convention that is now called the "Blame America First" speech.
In it, she complained about her old party, the Democrats, and their need to blame America for every problem in the world. For instance, when a communist dictator ascends to power in Latin America, the Democrats immediately blame America's 100-year-old policies instead of, well, the dictator.
And how dare they use history to make a point! Live in the moment, Democrats!
It doesn't need to be restated how significant this argument has been rhetorically over the past 30 years. Watch Fox News for an hour and you'll hear the term "Blame America First" at least once. Not to mention her targeting of "San Francisco Democrats".... Have you heard anything similar to that in the past two decades?
After her speech, Ronald Reagan and the Republicans went on to win every single state -- except Minnesota and its seven electoral seats. Woohoo! -- the biggest trumping in an America election since, well, 10 years earlier when Nixon did the exact same thing.
America is the world's greatest soap opera and it just lost its Susan Lucci.
posted by Timothy Holden at
7:30 AM
2 Comments:
That's a very clever epigram. I just stole it for my MSN.
I take issue with you identifcation of the Kirpatrick Doctrine with neo-conservatism though (at least its modern ivory tower definition)
Even though she self-identifed as a neo-con in later life, the support given to non-democratic regimes (see the "freedom and democracy" lines neo-cons use at every chance) seems to be more of an articualtion of a "Balance of Power/Neo-Realist" line of thought.
After all, the US was churning out the "freedom, self-determination and democracy" line during the Vietnam War, and I'm pretty sure NO ONE calls Richard Nixon or Robert MacNamara neo-cons.
As an aside: Do you think all those "I'm-a-registered-Democrat-but-now-I'm a-fanatical-Bush-supporter-who-thinks -the-NYTimes-is-staffed-by-traitors" types just "registered Democrat" because in a fit of youthful rebellion and pop leftism they hated Richard Nixon and registered as Democrat the first time they voted?
By
Anonymous, at 11:23 AM
1)You have a point about her anti-communist views not being a specificially neo-conservative idea... It was pretty much EVERYONE'S idea until Vietnam started to drag on. She was just one of the intellectuals who stuck with it, hence, the disillussionment with the Democrats.
2) As for the "registered democrats" who turned Republican, I wouldn't say Nixon turned them off. It's precisely the opposite at the beginning of his presidency. As I said, they were Truman and Kennedy (and Scoop Jackson specifically) Democrats who were all changing sides at the time Nixon came into power, not leaving because of him.
Remember. Nixon throttled two elections by playing the Grand-America theme at the same time many Americans were becomming insulted with all the 1960's protests.
Nobody calls Nixon an idealistic Neocon, but he certainly attracted votes with the same theme (America will never lose) that the neo-cons followed from one party to the other.
By
Timothy Holden, at 7:19 PM
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