Jim Moore’s blog: Innovation, Strategy, Public Policy

Kelly Nuxoll sent me this illuminating piece on Leo Strauss and his influence over the neo-conservative movement and the Bush administration.  Excellent, if scarry!

“..Shadia Drury , professor of
political theory at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, argues
that the use of deception and manipulation in current US policy flow
directly from the doctrines of the political philosopher Leo Strauss
(1899-1973). His disciples include Paul Wolfowitz and other
neo-conservatives who have driven much of the political agenda of the
Bush administration.”

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), October 16, 2003, Congressional Record:

All the administration’s rationalizations as we prepared to go to war
now stand revealed as “double talk.” The American people were told
Saddam Hussein was building nuclear weapons. He was not. We were told
he had stockpiles of other weapons of mass destruction. He did not. We
were told he was involved in 9/11. He was not. We were told Iraq was
attracting terrorists from al Qaeda. It was not. We were told our
soldiers would be viewed as liberators. They are not. We were told Iraq
could pay for its own reconstruction. It cannot. We were told the war
would make America safer. It has not. . . .

So when the roll is called on this $87 billion legislation, which
provides no effective conditions for genuine international
participation and a clear change in policy in Iraq, I intend to vote
no. A no vote is not a vote against supporting our troops. It is a vote
to send the administration back to the drawing board. It is a vote for
a new policy — [a] policy worthy of the sacrifice our soldiers are
making, a policy that restores America as a respected member of the
family of nations, a policy that will make it easier, not far more
difficult, to win the war against terrorism.

The amount of money is huge. It is 87 times what the federal government
spends annually on after-school programs. It is seven times what
President Bush proposed to spend on education for low-income schools in
2004. It is nine times what the federal government spends on special
education each year. It is eight times what the government spends to
help middle- and low-income students go to college. It is 15 times what
the government spends on cancer research. It is 27 times what the
government spends on substance abuse and mental health treatment. . . .

Here at home, all Americans are being asked to bear the burden, too –
and they deserve more than a phony summons to support our troops by
pursuing policies that will only condemn them to greater and greater
danger. Yes, we must stay the course — but not the wrong course.

Dicky Reed, a friend of Joanne’s, had this excellent idea:  The
Red Sox and the Cubs should go ahead and play at least one game,
and perhaps a series.  Their fields are ready–the fans would love
it–and TV would find a way to cover it.  Hey, this would be in
the spirit of the people taking charge:  Why have just one World
Series?