Getting a Democrat into the White House is only the first step. Once Bush & Co. (in other words, the PNAC'ers) are out they must be exposed for what they are and held accountable for what they have done.
In 1992 DLC hero Bill Clinton beat George HW Bush. Clinton reversed a lot of the damage done by years and years of Republican rule. Most Americans would be satisfied with having that happen again. Not me.
Clinton never held the Bush/Regan administrations accountable for what they did - and there was plenty to investigate. Not only that, but he took a lot of counsel and advice from Bush/Regan insiders, especially in national security and military issues. Those insiders include Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Cheney, Perle, etc. In other words, the PNAC rat pack.
I am afraid if another DLC Democrat is elected the PNAC'ers will get away with it - again - and come back to finish destroying our country - again. Here is why.
Will Marshall was the policy director for the DLC and is the president and founder of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), which was formed to create policy for the DLC. The DLC and PPI are very intertwined. Al From, DLC founder, is the chairman of PPI. The DLC website shows joint contact info for both organizations and the same person answers the phone for both (202-547-0001 PPI, 202-546-0007 DLC). The press e-mail for both DLC and PPI is press@dlcppi.org
Will Marshall was one of the select people who actually signed the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) statements on post war Iraq, along with a few frequent Blueprint authors (the DLC magazine).
PNAC has been issuing official statements since it's inception, each signed by about 1-3 dozen select people including Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush, Richard Perle, William Kristol
and Frank Carlucci (of the Carlyle Group). Mr. Marshall doesn't just agree with them, he is intimately involved with them.
Mr. Marshall is also an advisor to the Committee to Liberate Iraq (CLI), who's mission is to "engage in educational and advocacy efforts" in support of liberating the Iraqi people. Translation: it serves as another "authority" to support the PNAC agenda, which it does very well. CLI is loaded with PNAC'ers, including 3 of the board of directors.
Although Will Marshall (and the rest of the DLC/PPI) has been pushing a slightly sanitized, politically correct neo-con-lite agenda for years, it is just recently that he came out of the closet with his official PNAC/CLI affiliations. The PNAC statements were released in March 2003 and CLI was formed in the fall of 2002. Like many of the neo-cons, he seems to be more brazen and open than ever before.
The neo-cons have been putting their cabal together for many, many years and they have covered a lot of bases. They developed unholy alliances in the media, military, foreign governments, corporate world and have taken the Republican party to a place many traditional Republicans find uncomfortable. And, through the DLC, have infiltrated the Democratic party as well.
I'm sure at least some of the New Democrats (what DLC members are called) joined on for funding support and without really appreciating what the DLC's agenda and affiliations really are. Most of the DLC's message is spun to sound like it challenges Bush, but look at the core messages and you find them more closely aligned with the neo-cons than it appears on the surface.
When you realize this, Congressional Democratic support for the Bush administration's policies (out of control military budget, tax cuts, rampant privatization and corporatization and war, war, war) makes more sense. Btw, membership in the New Democrat Network (what the DLC membership is called) is cheap (about $50.00) but not easy. Prospective members are thoroughly screened. Here is a description of their process from Robert Dreyfuss in the 4/23/01 issue of The American Prospect (link below):
"To ensure that liberals don't slip through the cracks, NDN requires each politician who seeks entree to its largesse and contacts to fill out a questionnaire that asks his or her views on trade, economics, education, welfare reform, and other issues. The questions are detailed, forcing candidates to state clearly whether or not they support views associated with the New Democrat Coalition, and it concludes by asking, "Will you join the NDC when you come to Congress?" Next, (Simon) Rosenberg interviews each candidate, and then NDN determines which candidacies are viable before providing financial support."
Four of the Democratic candidates are currently members of the New Democrat Network - Edwards, Gephardt, Kerry and Lieberman. All four addressed the DLC Convention in July 2003. I have sent my concerns about their DLC/PNAC affiliations to all of their campaign offices, as well as to the Dean and Clark campaigns. Please don't dismiss this as a slam toward any particular candidate in favor of another. Whoever the Democratic nominee is, I will fight like mad to get him in office.
We must also expose the New Democrats in Congress, as well as state and local government, for what they are - carefully selected puppets, chosen for their willingness to support the neo-con agenda in exchange for financial support. As I said, some of the New Democrats may not be aware of the PNAC influence and/or the real nature of the DLC agenda. Check the New Democrat Network Directory and see if any of your elected officials are on it. Make them declare their allegiance either to the powers that fund them or the voters who elect them.
DLC website:
http://www.ndol.org/PPI website:
http://www.ppionline.org/CLI website:
http://209.50.252.70/index.shtmlPNAC Iraq statements:
http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqstatement-031903.htmhttp://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqstatement-032803.htmHow the DLC Does It
By Robert Dreyfuss The American Prospect 4/23/01
http://www.prospect.org/print/V12/7/dreyfuss-r.htmlNew Democrat Network directory
http://www.ndol.org/new_dem_dir_action.cfm?viewAll=1
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