Funny how for a certain flavor of commenter, “intervene abroad” always means “send in the Marines and cruise missiles.”

I also detect more than a whiff of the old trope that Stalin didn’t disprove Communism, it’s just that those Russians (or, umm, Georgians) can’t get it right!  Sure, Bush screwed everything up, but THIS TIME it’ll be different, with (whoever) in charge!

Another worrying cliche is” regime change”
We heard this endlessly from the tedious Tony Blair,who thankfully has gone..and now takes up some spiritual cause!!
“regime Change” means “we will invade you and remove your leaders and occupy you ..and stay there too”
“our freedom crusade” is all you need to justify your armed intervention anywhere at any time!!!!

I am continually astonished by the profundity of Justin Raimondo’s genius.

Justin, I thought the article was great except for the quip about the Bourbons.  They were a much more complicated, subtle lot than revolutionaries claimed.  It damages conservatism to use the propaganda of the radicals to buttress one’s point.

The most depressing and debilitating aspect of the current ritual disembowelment of the lapsed Republic is that the “if only it would have been done better” crowd is carrying the day. Those who correctly focus on the abuses and mistakes of big government..... to largely deaf ears.... are confronted now with a choice between a “Change Big Government Liberal” and a “Change Big Government Conservative”, neither of whom will elicit any productive change or reformation of our bloated souk of thieves, mercenaries and opportunists on the Potomac.

We have been given the most profound and crystal clear demonstration of the self-destructive mistakes possible within both our government and business and still, the general sentiment is that “anyone different” along with a little tinkering will address the hazards we face. The addiction to a militant and voracious Nanny State is complete. Sentimentalism is the new pragmatic. The voting victims seek only a methadone now, oblivious to the sordid condition of the sequined and mortgaged gutter they inhabit. Communist Chinese Oligarchs lecturing us on our improper choices in our capitalistic system are swallowed politely with virtually no awareness of the real changes required.

“Conservative” and “Liberal” indeed. Who needs literacy when such willful foolishness is the coin of the realm?  We have not simply stopped with a mere fiat economy, we are now the proud owners of a fiat Republic whose shiny Potemkin False Fronts are losing the ability to hide the destabilizing rot that will burst forth sooner or later.

Despite the current state of affairs, we should take heart that such staggering idiocy and venal incompetence cannot destroy the lapsed-Republic completely. We have survived, so far, a normally fatal brush with ineptness wed to ideology. The world still admires the older truths the Republic once represented. Their hopes not quite dashed, people still look toward this election as returning the United States to it’s old bearings.

If only Reason and Faith were not at odds. If only we had a government that was not so enthralled by it’s own image as presented daily on a propaganda wing known as broadcast and print “journalism”. If only we still possessed a people who implicitly understood that they were the leadership in a Nation of Laws and that their government was their servant. This coming election, by all reckoning will not provide “change”, it will only create a course correction to the prevailing trajectory. Perhaps this is the good news. At this juncture, it would appear that wreckage must be overcome if we are to be jolted back to the reality of our situation.

My suspicion is Ross Douthat has sold his soul to Podhoretz and company. After Atlantic began carrying his blog, he started to fawn upon and link to John Podhoretz’s articles. He also began to defend the disastrouz Iraq war.

But what if the plan from the beginning was to destabilize the Middle East almost entirely, to bring America to its knees (in conjunction with a suicidal financial policy), to melt government and media, to bring the dollar to the level of the peso- then success is success.

Let’s not forget that these folks are disciples of Leo Strauss. Their exoteric works are just the propaganda to appease the people. Do you think that the bizarro-cons amongst themselves feel disattisfied with their accomplishments because of the disaster in Iraq. Accomplishing failure where failure was intended is indeed success (I guess). Things are going according to plan…

Let’s be a little bit careful about pasting labels on those with whom we disagree, especially when the labels themselves are dubious and perhaps disingenuous. 

Conservative and neoconservative are two which have almost lost all meaning.  John Bolton vehemently denies being a neocon; he claims he’s just a good old Goldwater conservative.  Exactly what the late Senator from Arizona would have to say on this topic would be delightful to hear.  Ollie North is even more interesting; he is perhaps just a good gung-ho patriot or something.  He still blames the chicken-gutted cheapskate Democrats in Congress for turning off the money when we were almost at the point of victory in Viet Nam.  Had things gone his way, we’d still be winning the hearts and minds of the backwards little slopes.

The one thing Justin et al. have right is the notion of Bizarro World.  One needn’t be liberal, conservative, Marxist, religious dogmatist,or fundamentalist of any other stripe to occupy it.  Let us remember that Woodrow Wilson was a nut and act accordingly.

Yet one more piece of evidence that the elitist Neocons, Neolibs and internationalists of both the left-liberal and conservative stripe are all on the same team, essentially pursuing the same agenda, and are the enemies of average Americans.

A conspiracy? Yes, of venal dunces. How did such a hodge-podge of ungrounded, childishly utopian flakes and war profiteers ever take over the American Establishment? By taking over government, mass media and the two-party system.

And now that they are in control, we are in real trouble, because even though most members of this coalition are as morally clueless as teenagers, they believe themselves to be the font of wisdom, and most Americans are just blundering along behind them.

How did such a hodge-podge of ungrounded, childishly utopian flakes and war profiteers ever take over the American Establishment? By taking over government, mass media and the two-party system.

...And attracting suspiciously good press.

Great post here and comments here - especially Jack Rich.

Like anonymous above, I, too, am continually astonished by the profundity of Justin Raimondo’s genius. One might almost say his *super-genius*.

I mean, the repeated dismissive misspelling of Douthat’s name - it doesn’t get much cleverer than that, does it?

I can haz Mccheezberger!!

Ross Douthat is not a nihilist, he is a Roman Catholic.

Chris, WHAT “two party system”?
The Demopublicans are indistinguishable from the Republicrats. Both are the party of USrael, both embrace the welfare-warfare state, and neither
side of this monoparty actually works for America`s best interests.