When the unimaginable happened in 1992 and the country elected William Jefferson Clinton as it's president, neocon think tanks all across the land moved into high gear. Having failed to keep their then current stooge, George Herbert Walker Bush in office they had to rethink their game plan and retool their approach to keeping the U.S. government in their hands. The principle strategy of placing a malleable figurehead in the Oval Office was still sound but they had to be careful in the selection of that person.
The neocons biggest problem is that they could never actually run one of their own for president. Mainly because all of them held such radical views on the role of government and the future of America that they wouldn't even be able to sell it to their entire base let alone a majority of the voters. Could anyone conceivably be convinced to elect a Paul Wolfowitz, a John Bolton, a William Kristol, or even a Dick Cheney, et al to that office. Not bloody likely. And anyway, being naturally drawn to the darker side of human nature, working from the shadows was their venue of choice. In fact, for the most part, the principle movers and shakers of the movement shunned the limelight.
No. They would stick to their strategy and seek yet another marionette. And they would be patient. They decided to give Bill Clinton a pass in 1996 and allowed that old Republican stalwart Bob Dole to go out and embarrass himself on the campaign trail. But as usual, they did reap some gain from that disaster. They got Dole out of the U.S. Senate and now could put one of their puppets in a leadership position. It was all part of setting the stage for the biggest and boldest attempt at seizing control of the government. And anyway, their next stooge wasn't quite ready. No, he had to play at being the Texas governor a little bit longer.
George W. Bush was a gift from the neocon gods. Uninquisitive, intellectually challenged, highly suggestible, a preening egotist, and most importantly wanting only to play the president not be one. And just to guarantee that nothing would go wrong this time around after the disastrous choice of Dan Quayle, they put one of their own, Dick Cheney, in charge of the selection process. Which of course was just another sideshow. Who would have thought the best man for the job would be the very man in charge of picking the best man for the job? Go figure.
They almost blew it though. Even with their own personal political version of Industrial Light and Magic run by Karl Rove & Co whose job was to manufacture smears, lies, distractions, and voter fraud among other products. With big brother Jeb unable to deliver Florida as promised, they had to rely on their friends in high judicial places like Anthony Scalia to finish the job. And voila, the 43rd president of the United States was George W. Bush. And with the unexpected bonus of September 11, 2001, they were off to the races. The dismantling of the government could proceed apace with not the slightest opposition from anyone.
To recount the terrible history of our country for the last seven and a half years would be pointless and quite frankly too depressing on this Sunday morning. So let's move on to the neocon game plan for 2008.
John McCain's miraculous return from the politically dead to take the Republican party's nomination for the presidency was a result they never anticipated. There patsy for this year was supposed to be Mike Huckabee. He was George Bush Redux with just a few more brain cells that actually fired but still Silly Putty (tm) in their experienced hands. Nevertheless, McCain could possibly just beat either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. So they consulted their actuarial tables and seeing that McCain had a good chance of keeling over mid-term, they decided that the Veep choice would be their ace in the hole. And wouldn't finding a woman this time just be so much icing on the cake.
Enter stage right, the unknown governor of the great state of Alaska, Sarah Palin. She was George Bush with boobs and a uterus. Golden! But first they had to strong-arm McCain into going along with their choice. McCain had proved problematic to them for many years. He was never their flavor of the month. But there was a flaw in the maverick's shining coat of armor. He wanted to be president and he knew this was his last chance. And he knew that if the neocons threatened to withhold their full-throated support he couldn't win. So ambition trumped principle and Sarah Palin became McCain's lady-in-waiting. And the neocons hoped if McCain did win in November, that wait wouldn't be too long.
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