Who Is Wrecking America? By Paul Craig Roberts

[laststeamtrain]

Who Is Wrecking America?

By Paul Craig Roberts

03/09/08 "ICH " -- - Does the liberal-left have a clue? I sometimes think not.

In his book, “What’s the Matter With Kansas?,” Thomas Frank made the excellent point that the Karl Rove Republicans take advantage of ordinary’s people’s frustrations and resentments to lead them into voting against their best interest.

Frank’s new book, “The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule,” lacks the insight that distinguished his previous book. Why does Frank think that conservatives or liberals rule?

Neither rule. America is ruled by organized interest groups with money to elect candidates who serve their interests. Frank’s book does not even mention the Israel Lobby, which bleeds Americans for the sake of Israeli territorial expansion. Check the index. Israel is not there.

Does Frank think that rapture evangelicals are conservative, that Christian Zionists are conservative? If so, where did he learn his theology?

Frank can’t tell the difference between Ronald Reagan and Cheney/Bush. He conflates the collection of opportunists and fanatics that comprise the Bush Party with the Reagan conservatives who ended stagflation and the cold war. The adventurer, Jack Abramoff, is Frank’s epitome of a conservative. Abramoff is the most mentioned person in Frank’s story. In Frank’s view, conservatives are out to ruin everyone except the rich.

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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20683.htm

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Several good points.....altho defending Reaganomics is not one of them.

[RainDog]

2. Roberts was a Reagan appointee

so naturally he doesn't consider Reagan's flirtation with fascists in the U.S. (see Chip Bartlet's book about this) a problem - though he tears apart Bush's continuation of fascist flirtation.

Reagan broke the unions... is that a problem for Roberts? Is it a problem that people cannot find jobs with healthcare, for a living wage? That's a problem for a lot of people and unions used to protect people from this situation.

Tho Roberts claims Reagan stopped the cold war, Emmanual Todd was writing, in the 1970s, about the USSR failing b/c of its own internal contradictions. Claiming that Reagan stopped the cold war is like claiming that al queda defeated the U.S. if our economy fails. is that true or not?

[BrklynLiberal]

3. There are those that say the beginning of the end of the USSR was their conflict

in Afghanistan, and its resulting economic calamities. So, perhaps, in a way, the economic turmoil resulting from the Iraqi war might serve the same purpose for the great US of A.

I guess Roberts' association with Reagan would preclude his putting any of the blame for our current situation on him.

[RainDog]

4. yes but that was more than a decade AFTER Todd noted the USSR would fail

Todd also notes the U.S. is a failing empire and our "hyper-militarism" is this expression (going after Saddam TWICE, going into Grenada (via Reagan)... in other words, Todd sees the problems in U.S. society that, he warns, needs to make the rest of the world careful b/c as the U.S. empire falls, it will become more belligerent b/c the only real money power is in military contractors, etc. He wrote this soon after Bush took office.

OBL mentioned Todd in one of the more suspect "tapes" in relation to the U.S. - which made me think the tape was faked by some conservatives to undermine any discussion of the problem of hyper-militarism.

And, yes, Roberts cannot acknowledge that Reagan was an economic shithole, no matter how good he made people feel about "morning in America." The way the U.S. acted during Reagan's prez is the point at which I began to think I no longer wanted to live here. Bush has upped that feeling beyond calculation, of course.

All I'm saying is that Roberts and Buchanan may say things liberals agree with, but it doesn't mean we agree. Buchanan is a pig, as far as I'm concerned. The only reason I care about what he thinks is the potential influence he has a a long-time republican... in both Nixon and Reagan's admins, iirc. Still a racist prick, tho.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Excellent anaysis...and I agree 100% about Buchanan.