Axis of Evil

Conspirators, Confederates, and Cronies was written as a blog in 2006 following the release of American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century by Kevin Phillips.

Publishing it Blogger brings the work full circle. It was started as a blog in 2006.

Cliff Potts -- June 7, 2014

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Axis of Evil

In the Axis of Evil speech, Mr. Bush ticked off three countries that posed a threat to the United States. They are Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. In the conservative mind, those three nations (along with Vietnam) are thorns in the flesh. They are irritating reminders of times when the U.S. military power was not capable of exerting Pax America into a geographical region.

North Korea 

The Korean Conflict ended in an armistice in 1953; technically, we are still at war with North Korea. It is an untenable situation as far as the Conservatives are concerned. As George Will recently said, “The North Koreans could wipe out Seoul with conventional weapons without ever crossing the border.”

Japan considers North Korea the biggest threat in the region. To the conservative mindset, it is a 53-year-old unresolved situation, one needs to be resolved.

Iran

Iran is another embarrassment to the United States in the conservative view. During the Carter administration, coming on the heels of the Vietnam Conflict, Iranian militants invaded U.S. soil when they captured the U.S. embassy. This led to a siege that was not broken until the day Reagan took office. No punitive action of substance ever was taken against Iran. The conservative view is that we failed in our national obligation to punish the Iranian nation.

Iraq


Iraq, oil and Armageddon notwithstanding, represented a failure in foreign policy and the application of the might of the U.S. military. Many conservatives saw the resolution of the Persian Gulf War as an incomplete solution.

Manifest Destiny 2.0

On September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked us, Mr. Bush’s Texas Germanic ire was raised. He sought to take punitive actions against all nations who had, in the conservative opinion, made fools of the United States for the last 50 years. This is nothing more than a modernized version of Manifest Destiny, which pushed the Anglo-Saxon culture across the West and unified the continental nation.


In my now defunct web log, I was told by some anonymous poster that the neo-conservative Right will continue to thrive because most Americans support their ideals and that all other issues are irrelevant. According to this person, Mr. Bush’s incompetence is irrelevant and, “only loud-mouthed Gays, Liberals, and Socialists” were taking issue with the neo-conservative Right. Yet, as of spring of 2006, 70% of the people of this nation disapprove of the President. They are not all “Gays, Liberals, or Socialists”, unless, of course, the behavior of Mr. Bush and his ilk are driving them to the opposite extreme.

Are There Any Progressives Out There? 

The left and progressives have underestimated, ignored, or belittled religious expression. The right and the Neo-Conservatives pay lip service to religion while living for the day and utilizing the passion of religion to cover deeds best done in dark alleys. I truly believe that both positions are severe, unwise, and leading this nation into tribulation. Both positions are excessive, both positions are militant; both positions marginalize and mock a great portion of this nation’s electorate. That is why we are polarized.

We need leaders to bring the sides together for the betterment of the nation and to build acceptance as citizens of the United States. Our leadership needs to bring us forward to a future in which we can work together as a citizen state within the world. Our neighbors are our neighbors.

No Doubt 


There is no doubt in my mind that the United States of America is in serious trouble. There is no doubt that such trouble will become a serious threat to the survival of the nation, as we know it. There is no doubt that the ideals laid out in our Declaration of Independence and the self-government of our constitutional republic are at peril. My only question is whether the threat, which is capable of toppling the U.S. constitutional republic, is external to the United States, or if it is internal to the nation. If I were a betting man, I would lay money on our becoming embroiled in some form of civil unrest before this decade is out*.

*It looks like I was only off by one year unless one counts the Tea Party takeover of the House as "civil unrest."