How words and concepts (memes) mutate . . . (” next on the Discovery Channel, brought to you by the New Hummer2.” )
Nothing here that any experienced AgitProp specialist wouldn’t know either intuitively or via conscious and deliberate application. Just consider how the concept of ‘homeland’ got introduced into the American political vernacular — it was before 9/11, btw, in the 1990s — and yes, it was a Neocon concept. Unwitting fellow travelers and stooges such as Gary Hart inadvertently lent the Neocons some limited credibility spreading it before 2001. From the non-existent to the ubiquitous and all its implications, that’s a pretty damn impressive incubation turn around.
The Movement overall and its various strands are good at this. We are trying to think tonight of a single meme or concept that the Democrats have created and introduced within living recent memory. And come up with nothing. Perhaps we’ve overlooked something that you, Dear Reader, might remind us.
And for all the flaws of the Dearborn 10, we do wonder whether any of the Democrats (a) are committed to rolling back this regime and restoring constitutional government, including deep purges; (b) whether they know what and how to do so; (c) have the political cadre and Agitprop skills necessary to sustain what would be a political Verdun if botched.
Anon says
Check this out – John J Miller is culturally perceptive by comparison. (We missed the Kurtz job, but we bet Howie is bewildered ‘why did Jon tool on me, I’m not a right..’)
Anyway – check this out:
http://www.theamericanscene.com/2007/10/4/a-recipe-for-sadness
Anon says
Homeland implies a lot.
DrLeoStrauss says
The Homeland meme predated Hart Rudman as the Neocons were using it to discuss terrorism here at home and to put heightened emphasis on attacks on our infrastructure (‘critical infrastructure’). Newt, who was on the HR Commission, ‘Jerry Bremer (who at that time was trading on his credentials as a former Ambassador at Large for Terrorism), etc.
I’d have to go back and look at the testimony, but as I recall, there were alot of Neocons (Dov Zakheim, etc.) pushing the ‘homeland’ theme before the Commission’s report was written — hence out it came out. (The E.D. there was Newt’s guy). But in the late 1990s, people weren’t as aware of the radicalism sitting across the table from them. The Neocons and the the overall traditional foreign policy establishment could still easily co-exist.
Nell says
@Dr. Strauss: Well, they’ve certainly had unkillable qualities, I’ll grant you. I thought Eliott Abrams was done for in 1990… so my track record is not good.
Any more clarification on the neocon origin of the ‘Homeland’ meme? My understanding is that the Rudman-Hart commission put the term into use. Which neocons were working on that? Or is there an earlier authorship you want to point to?
DrLeoStrauss says
re Howard Kurtz
His takedown on Daily Show even better than Tweety’s. Priceless.
Anon says
Near meme:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4GZHY_enUS239US239&q=%22recipe+for+sadness%22
Comment says
Only Lee Bolinger is tough enough to stand up toe Putin – actually Bollinegr would totally wus out in person.
A Random Quote says
“Chirac knows perfectly well the reality. His intelligence services have explained. The Arab countries are sending Chirac a clear message: Saddam Hussein must go. The problem is that Chirac thinks he’s Mister Arab and is making life impossible.”
~Gee Dubs
El Pais
A Random Quote says
Aznar: Tony [Blair] wants to wait until March 14.
Bush: I prefer the 10th. This is like a good cop, bad cop routine. I don’t care if I’m the bad cop and he’s the good cop.
~El Pais
Comment says
Dems should make a wise ass move now and mimic Bush by ruling any attacks against the *hispanic* Sanchez as racist, disgusting, and an insult to the US military.
Doc – are you gonna read Howie Kurtz new book?
Comment says
Nell – we beg to differ. We think the neocons will continue to advance on a broad front.
Nell says
Putting Daniel Pipes on the board of the existing U.S. Institute for Peace was only accomplished via recess appointment, and he’s off now. It’s hard for me to imagine the next Congress allowing the neoconification of USIP or our War Department after Jan 2009.
Comment says
Imagine if Kucinic won the Presidency and got his wish for a Department of Peace? How long would it take the neocons to turn the Peace Department into a vehicle for attack.?
Comment says
DoD should be called the war department – We were more defensive when it was called “War.” This “Defense” line is not kidding anyone – Oh btw – someone should just tell Condi to be quiet – she knows nothing about Armenian history and she shows disrespect when she discusses this issue. Happened to see David Brooks on the NewsHour say that it was “foolish” to discuss the genocide, even though it happened – Brooks and Condi are examples of why people hate Americans – this kind of flippant attitude that ignores other peoples realities grates more than policy differences.
Nell says
Sorry, there’s prior art on the ‘human rights’ idea-as-phrase, as the Universal Declaration of same was made in 1948 under the stewardship of Eleanor Roosevelt.
And Warren Rudman’s no more of a neocon than Gary Hart, so if the commission that came up with the recommendation for a “Homeland Security” department is where you’re locating the meme, you’ll need to show that neocon staffers or commission members were the ones who put it forward.
I can still remember hearing from a friend about the speech in which Bush announced the formation of the DHS; my first response was, “Okay; now we can go back to calling the DoD the War Department.”
Anon says
This is pretty funny – And the history of the ten dollars is a reasonable tour of the AEI economy
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/reaganomics_finally_trickles_down?utm_source=slate_rss_1
A Random Quote says
“The effort to anathematize opposing views is the standard recourse of the ideologue; one of AEI’s highest purposes, here as in many other contentious areas, is to ensure that such efforts to do not succeed.”
~Chris DeMuth
AEI Chief
(irony unintended)
A Random Quote says
“He`s [Al Gore] become a crusader on one of the most important movements and issues of our time —climate change …”
~Katrina Vanden Heuvel
(reclaiming the word “crusader”
for progressives on the Dan Abrams
show)
Comment says
Just read a good bulk of Sanchez’s remarks – First of all, he’s a Pentagon consultant, so he is still involved in his won nightmare – But in the Times, O’Hanlon was already taking jabs – Newt could make quick work of Sanchez and then recycle whatever points Sanchez has for his own uses. Oppositionists would be foolish to look to Sanchez – It’s sad, but he offers what you said “chirps.”
Comment says
IMO – retired officers like Sanchez are politically immature even if they were good in Command. Many of them fail to grok the artificial nature of the hierarchy that they just left – They still defer to artificial lines of authority in explicit and implicit ways – They show respect to ideologues who camoflage themselvs with bogus credentials etc. It’s all so obvious – “We listened to the experts and took notes – we studied at Fort Levenworth blah blah blah”
They don’t realize that none of that means anything as soon as they enter the political world – A think tank postulate who never left the country and knows no foreign language could easily be put in a position to veto and censor anything a retired Col or General says – And all those medals are worthless to people who will swift boat them into oblivion if that it politicall uselful
Comment says
Gary Hart was used to bring ‘Homeland’ into polite company – Now no one gives a F.F.S what Hart says when he attacks Bush and the neocons – This is actually a great case study and it would be good if you could elaborate.
Anon says
It seems he will be advising Rudy on Turkish issues , but he might not pass muster with the Armenian lobby
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/055716.php
Comment says
If Sanchez doesn’t understand how the Iraq war started and how the lies were manufactured, then he has a limited understanding of the world and America – This blinkered funnelled view – manifested itself in Sanchez’s unimaginative tour as Commander. Sanchez wants to seperate the issues and put them in seperate boxes – the war box, the pr box, the Intel box, the Abu Ghraib box, etc.
These are fictional seperations – Everything is connected – A good General has to have enough self awareness and political awareness – Sanchez now says “This is not about Rick Sanchez.” We’ll see about that – won’t we Doc?
Anon says
We just tuned into c-span and saw the ending section of remarks by General Sanchez. We don’t know enough about him to really assess except to say that what we saw him say showed him to be a net negative for the anti war forces.
He was asked by reporters to specify who he was talking about when he criticised decision makers and he actually told reporters to read between the lines of his comments and figure it out – In other words, he was basicially saying that he would only insinuate for now. That’s unacceptable – You can’t go into court and talk to a judge that way/
Also – he dismissed talk about blame for the war being started – He incorrectly said that everyone in the US and international community thought Saddam was a threat and it was good to invade – He dismissed as “useless” any look back.
Sanchez is a bit like Wilkerson in the sense that his criticisms are of a nature and hollowness that they reveal why the Cheney forces were able to walk all over them.
Doesn’t Sanchez realize that they will just dump on him now. Incidentally, Wilkerson is now being quote by pro war ideologues – most of his critiques have backfired.\
Some people blame Sanchez for Abu Ghraib – and you’re gonna hear more about that now.
DrLeoStrauss says
Oh definitely, Aldershot — good catch. She created the VRC (and it had, as Kissinger observed in another context, the added benefit of being true). Score one for the Clinton years.
Aldershot says
re the Mailer quote, I’ll drink to that.
Aldershot says
re Rudy’s new hire, Michael Rubin…he worked in Feith’s Office of Special Plans. Fabulous.
Aldershot says
Could we count The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy as the Clinton claim to meme-dom?
re Greta, it was just one of those mornings with some cantankerous callers and a slow first interview. She has great poise…I wonder if she’s just passing through, or if she’ll become a classic?
Anon says
Rudy’s new hire:
http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/10/scarier_than_npod.php
Comment says
It really struck us as odd that Tweety seemed saddened and shocked about Gore’s moneymaking – We know plenty of long term Gore haters and none of them ever express care or concern about Gore making money – It’s understood that pols will make what money they can make when they leave office. We wonder if Tweety cared about Reagan making 2 mil from the Japanese – Gore made a ton of money from that movie – that was not due to his former position – unlike speaking fees (or Rupe paying Rudy 2.7 million to write a book bragging about himself) Any pol can try to make a movie – even if its good, it may not get any box office.
You know it would have been funny if someone told Tweety as he was leaving Comedy Central, that they just hated Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper – Just for the reaction.
Comment says
It would be great to get some good media of Tweety when he said something against RWR in the 70s and 80s – You just know he conformed himself to fit snugly between Tip and teh Cambridge crowd. It would be good to have some of that out there –
Comment says
The more we think about – the more we agree w Stewart that Tweety promotes sadness. It’s hard to elaborate and explain, but we often feel sad when watching Tweety even thought we may disagree with O’reilly more etc.
The think about Tweety is that he defines success in a way that means he will never really be successful himself – for a sustained period of time – But he a reflects the moral view of a good slice of mainstream opinion – In other words, he is somewhat of a victim of beltway influence.
Tweety was just speechless when that meaningless 100 mil number was mentioned.
Incidentally – just tuned into the Factor – and Laura Ingraham is having a cow about Gore – Gotta love that. Instead of seeing a Gore Noble is America gaining a prize, the backstab/Bush psychology has her programmed to suggest the opposite.
We’re not too big on these awards ourself – They just never impressed ever since we read about Kellogg Briand – But hey
Dr Leo Strauss says
Here’s a video game (Flash) that sums up ‘Merikuh 2007 as best any other.
It’s called “Viva Caligula” (short ad before).
http://www.adultswim.com/games/vivacaligula/index.html
The premise? The whole Empire is corrupt anyway, so just slash through them all (Democrats, Liberals, 12 year S Chip kids) and await the End.
DrLeoStrauss says
Gore’s good fortune after 2000 has always driven Tweety askew. Just saw Hardball and that moment — agree the net worth thing just slays the Tweetster. But what can one expect of an ex-Goldwater Boy who defected to the Liberal Establishment only to see RWR cruise to National Deification. So Tweety defects BACK, fluffs DeLay et al., and THEY collapse on him. And HRC triumphant looms on the horizon.
Oh Lord, what would Thou ask of Thy servant, the Tweetster, to be tested so . . .
Comment says
Tweety was positively crestfallen when he heard Gore was worth 100 million dollars.
Comment says
How come Marke Steyn is not defending ol’ Joe Nacchio?
Comment says
Meant to add an LOL after that comment
Comment says
Sanchez is risking reprisals.
Comment says
Another reason we gave the credit to JFK was the attacks against the Apollo program from many conservatives at the time – esp Bob Dole. So he was against to current on that aspect. Had Cheney been President, the Moon landing never would have occured – the money would have been diverted into extra throw weight bombs and brainwashing experiments on foreigners and liberals.
Comment says
We agree that Ike started the space program, but we credited JFK with memeification because of his exciting speeches (esp the one at Rice) captured the spirit of adventure. Just compare it to Bush’s laughable Mars speech – which no one remembers. It’s clear Bush doesn’t care about space, about adventure.
Dr Leo Strauss says
In a sweeping indictment of the four-year effort in Iraq, the former top American commander [General Sanchez] called the Bush administration’s handling of the war incompetent and warned that the United States was “living a nightmare with no end in sight.”
http://tinyurl.com/2ejrwj
[chirp . . . chirp . . . chirp]
Dr Leo Strauss says
Curiouser and curiouser:
“Did the NSA’s massive call records database program pre-date the terrorist attacks of 9/11?
That startling allegation is in court documents released this week which show that former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio — the head of the only company known to have turned down the NSA’s requests for Americans’ phone records — tried, unsuccessfully, to argue just that in his defense against insider trading charges.”
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/nsa-asked-for-p.html
DrLeoStrauss says
Aldershot, missed Greta — can you share any highlights?
DrLeoStrauss says
The “space program” fed off the “Space Age” which already began under Eisnehower and the post-Sputnik era. LBJ might get the ‘Great Society’ more than civil rights given his absence from the marches, 1963, etc.
‘Human Rights’, however, definitely came in new. Give that to the peanut farmer. Bubba’s time was overshadowed by the Friedmans and Gates of the moments. ‘Midnight basketball’ won’t even get a guffaw from the Daily Show audience — the reference too obscure.
A Random Quote says
“In 1976 I coined the word meme (rhymes with cream) for these self-replicating units of culture that have a life of their own. – Since then, like any good meme, it has infected the culture. To quantify this “metamemetic” statement, I did a quick search of the World Wide Web. The adjectival “memetic” clocked up 5,042 mentions. To put this into perspective, I compared a few other recently coined or fashionable expressions. Spin Doctor (or spin-doctor) got 1,412 mentions, dumbing down 3,905, docudrama (or docu-drama) 2,848, sociobiology 6,679, zippergate 1,752, studmuffin 776, post-structural (or poststructural) 577.”
~Richard Dawkins
Time 4-19-99
A Random Quote says
“Progressivism has yet to prove itself. We live in a more diffuse state of general anxiety than people did in 1900. I don’t want to be a bore about this, but nuclear warfare also came along. The argument: Did we really improve anything spiritually? For instance, were people better off when they had to squat over a hole in the ground and so could smell their own product? Maybe they were a little closer to themselves than they are now.”
~Norman Mailer
New York Mag.
Aldershot says
re Washington Journal, Greta earned her keep today.
A Random Quote says
“Do not joke about differences related to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, ability, socioeconomic background, etc.”
~Ohio St. University Speech Code
Comment says
The concept of ‘Homeland’ was totally ridiculous just a few years ago – In fact, we recall a rightist friend deploring it when he heard in the 90s (back when Reno was spiriting Cubans, at gun point, back to Castro-land). Now, he uses it unironically and regards lingusitic skeptics as seditious.
Comment says
Broadly speaking – the ‘Space Program’ was a Kennedy concept and ‘Civil Rights’ was an LBJ concept and Carter deserves some credit for meme-ifing ‘human rights.’
Now all these concepts belong to others as well, but these Presidents managed to establish the idea as being connected with them