AEI: The Root of Bush’s Right-Wing Ideology
AEI: The Root of Bush’s Right-Wing Ideology
Today, President Bush delivered a speech on Afghanistan at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. AEI and the Bush administration are deeply entwined, something Bush admitted during his speech. “I admire AEI a lot,” Bush said. “After all, I have been consistently borrowing some of your best people. More than 20 AEI scholars have worked in my administration.”
Below are a few examples of the people and ideas that AEI has shared — or tried to share — with the Bush White House over recent years:
– Escalation. President Bush’s escalation plan is based on a report by AEI scholar Frederick Kagan. CNN reporter Suzanne Malveaux said of AEI’s influence on Iraq policy: “One conservative policy group that has the president’s ear and is influencing his thinking is the American Enterprise Institute.”
– The Cheneys. Dick Cheney served as AEI Senior Fellow from 1993-1995, and his wife Lynn currently serves as Senior Fellow studying education and children. “Both Lynne and I have a long history with the American Enterprise Institute, and we value the association,” Vice President Cheney said in 2005.
– Bomb Iran. “We must bomb Iran,” AEI Resident Scholar Joshua Muravchik wrote in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times. Muravchik called for an “air campaign against Tehran’s nuclear facilities”
– Richard Perle. Perle has been at AEI since 1987, and currently serves as a Resident Fellow. A leading neoconservative, Perle was a fierce proponent of regime change in Iraq. He served as Chairman of the Defense Policy Board from 2001 to 2003.
– John Bolton. Served as Senior Vice President of AEI before coming to the Bush administration. Bolton currently serves as a Senior Fellow at AEI. “There is no such thing as the United Nations,” Bolton said. “If the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.”
– Climate change inaction. AEI offered $10,000 to climate change deniers to speak out against the recent IPCC climate change study.
– Karl Zinsmeister. Worked for 12 years at the American Enterprise magazine. He became Bush’s top domestic policy adviser, but only after he admitted to padding his resume.
– Social Security privatization. AEI has long been a vocal supporter of Social Security privatization.
– Greg Mankiw. A visiting scholar at AEI, Mankiw served as Bush’s chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2003 to 2005. In 2004, Mankiw said the outsourcing of U.S. jobs overseas was “probably a plus for the economy in the long run.”
– John Yoo. Currently a visiting scholar for AEI, and a former deputy assistant attorney general in the office of legal counsel of the Department of Justice. Yoo authored the infamous torture memo that argued interrogation techniques only constituted torture if they are “equivalent in intensity to…organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death.”
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It’s the only place he can go where he won’t be asked any ‘rude questions’……..
February 15th, 2007 at 5:58 pmIs AEI a post-collegiate acronym for “Skulls and Cross Bones”?
February 15th, 2007 at 5:59 pmoff topic, worth the watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_KbwAr7sJw&eurl= Lou Dobbs - Bank of America
February 15th, 2007 at 5:59 pmGives credit cards to Illegal Aliens
#1
just what the banner ordered, they are “accomplishing” their “mission”
February 15th, 2007 at 6:01 pmTotally sleazy…..I need a shower.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:04 pmWe have met the enemy, and the enemy is AEI.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:05 pmEveryone should take a look at Fred Upton’s (R-MI) speech from the floor yesterday on his OPPOSITION to the escalation. It’s great, and it sounds like he’s catching hell for it.
Thank you Mr. Upton for your courage in this matter. Hopefully supporters from around the country will call you and give you an attaboy
February 15th, 2007 at 6:06 pmThis should be illegal. Nazi organizations in American Government.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:07 pm“I admire AEI a lot,†Bush said. “After all, I have been consistently borrowing some of your best people. More than 20 AEI scholars have worked in my administration.â€
Translation -”best people” means: most under-handed, corrupt, deceitful, conniving and ass-lickingly good, brown-nosed, yellow-bellied skanks. They’re professional Repubs, and they work hard -real hard.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:09 pmJust like we learned in school. The four branches of government: legislative, executive, judicial and AEI.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:09 pmAre supposed to believe the republican right isn’t run by a bunch of east coast elite?
February 15th, 2007 at 6:18 pmThe AEI should be declared a criminal organisation, just as the Nazi party in Germany was declared as such after WWII, and all its members should be either executed or given stiff prison sentences without parole.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:19 pmAsked yesterday about the fact that many of America’s allies are involved in major trade deals with Iran, the president shrugged and said, “Money trumps peace sometimes.â€
http://www.npr.org/ templates/ story/ story.php?storyId=7408301
February 15th, 2007 at 6:21 pmAEI is the enforcement arm of PNAC. Truth.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:22 pm“Money trumps peace sometimes.â€
This should be one of the first quotes history books cite regarding George W. Bush. This should be how he is remembered.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:28 pmAEI
February 15th, 2007 at 6:33 pmAmerica Explodes Iraq
All Egos Implode
Another Explanation, Idiots
A**holes Endangering Ideas
Arch Enemies Indeed
Always Enemas Instantly
Again Exact Insanity
Larry from C, you beat me to it…our jaws dropped yesterday when we heard “Money trumps….[big hesitation]… peace…” I wonder what word he was trying to think of besides “peace”?
February 15th, 2007 at 6:35 pmWell, of course, do you think Bush had ANY ideas of his own?
February 15th, 2007 at 6:37 pmthe president shrugged and said, “Money trumps peace sometimes.â€
Comment by Larry from C — February 15, 2007 @ 6:21 pm
Send his freaking kids to Iraq now.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:39 pmWell, of course, do you think Bush had ANY ideas of his own?
Comment by Juan C — February 15, 2007 @ 6:37 pm
Maybe this one:
“I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound perch in my lake.”
–George W. Bush, on his best moment in office
February 15th, 2007 at 6:41 pmcircle-jerk of academic wannabes…the guys who played “Risk” together in the lounge of the International dorm on Friday and Saturday nights. told their wives they’re “secret agents”.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:45 pmAEI and PNAC seem to be based on the beliefs of Leo Strauss. The Straussian philosophy is based on The ‘Noble Lie’:
Strauss believed that allowing citizens to govern themselves will lead, inevitably, to terror and tyranny. A ruling elite of political philosophers must make those decisions because it is the only group smart enough. It must resort to deception — Strauss’s “noble lie” — to protect citizens from themselves. The elite must hide the truth from the public by writing in code. “Using metaphors and cryptic language,” philosophers communicated one message for the elite, and another message for “the unsophisticated general population,”. “For Strauss, the art of concealment and secrecy was among the greatest legacies of antiquity.”
The recent outing of star New York Times reporter Judith Miller reveals how today’s neocons use the media to conceal the truth from the public. For Straussians, telling Americans that Saddam didn’t have WMD’s and had nothing to do with Al-Qaeda, but that we needed to take him out for geopolitical and ideological reasons you can’t comprehend, was a non-starter. The people wouldn’t get it. Time for a whopper.
http://thetyee.ca/ Mediacheck/ 2005/ 11/ 29/ HarperBush/
February 15th, 2007 at 6:47 pmWe in America do not really have a democracy any longer, we have an Oligarchy.
Oligarchy (Greek ὈλιγαÏχία, OligarkhÃa) is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small, elite segment of society (whether distinguished by wealth, family or military prowess). The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for “few” (ὀλίγον óligon) and “rule” (ἄÏχω arkho).
“We The People” need to oust these crooks, whether they be Republican or Democrat.
Frankly I think the death penalty should be in effect for anyone who abuses their elected office. Public hangings.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:51 pmBill Maher Comments on PNAC and Neocon Agenda
February 15th, 2007 at 6:52 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMLGvYIP6Kg
“Money trumps peace sometimes.â€
Comment by Larry from C — February 15, 2007 @ 6:21 pm
I’ve read the transcript, and IMO Pres Bush meant it as a smear. Take a look:
Q: A lot of our allies in Europe do a lot of business with Iran. So I wonder what your thoughts are about how you further tighten the financial pressure on Iran, in particular, if it also means economic pain for a lot of our allies.
BUSH: It’s an interesting question. One of the problems, not specifically on this issue, just in general, that - let’s put it this way: Money trumps peace, sometimes.
In other words, commercial interests are very powerful interests throughout the world. And part of the issue in convincing people to put sanctions on a specific country is to convince them that it’s in the world’s interest that they forego their own financial interest.
Text of Bush’s Press Conference
What he was trying to say is that European nations are not so keen on slapping Iran with sanctions because they have economic interests in that country. He was trying to accuse them of putting profits above everything else.
Beyond the fact that it is the same exact catch phrase he used during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in order to smear the French and German governments, it is ironic in that one of the reasons behind the invasion of Iraq was its oil.
So, I guess he is right: Money does trump peace sometimes -at least in his mind.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:01 pmI agree, Gregor, I listened to the press conference, and it definitely was an intentional insult (smear) on the European countries who do business with Iran.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:10 pmAnd, Iran is not attempting to have a nuclear energy program, or a nuclear weapons program, because they feel threatened by the EU……
I am wondering at the silence of the Eurpoean countries over what was an incredibly crude and hypocritical statement by our foolish leader.
#24- I totally agree. The penalty for abuse of elected office or deliberately lying while in the service of exercising public office duties should be severe. Death should be considered an option to use, as well as confiscation of family wealth and property and/or exile to a remote area. In Bush’s case, 86 him and cut him off at the bar.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:12 pmAEI = Arrogant Erudite Incompetents
February 15th, 2007 at 7:17 pmLets go back a short while, george w bush is a moron. nothing has changed or will.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:21 pmI tried to watch this but after a few minutes my skin started to crawl (as usual) and I finally had to sign off. Did catch his digusting gloat, however, over how many people he was “killing” in Iraq. I can’t recall another world leader ever bragging publically about killing, even of enemies in time of war, and I’m old enough to remember Uncle Joe.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:22 pmI am wondering at the silence of the Eurpoean countries over what was an incredibly crude and hypocritical statement by our foolish leader.
Comment by Raven — February 15, 2007 @ 7:10 pm
You know, if European governments devoted time and effort trying to debunk, correct all the rubbish coming out of the White House nowadays, they wouldn’t get anything done.
And, quite frankly, the saber rattling against Tehran takes priority, methinks.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:26 pmWell, NO WONDER why America IS IN THE STATE IT IS IN NOW–the AEI is an integral part of Bushland Uber Allies–and should be the first rotten part of Bushland Uber Allies to be excised from this mortal plane, destroyed and flushed down the crapper, especially Torticola Cheney, that ODIOUS CREEP!!!!!
February 15th, 2007 at 7:28 pm24, Even more accurate is Corporatacracy.
The Oil Companies helped write the 2005 Energy Bill:
http://www.citizen.org/ cmep/ energy_enviro_nuclear/ electricity/ energybill/ 2005/ articles.cfm?ID=13980
The Bankruptcy Bill was written with “help†from the Financial Services Industry:
http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd0802.html
The Drug and Insurance Companies helped write the 2003 Medicare Bill:
http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0620/mossback.php
Defense Contractors, Oil Companies and Oil Services Companies were the authors for the War/Occupation in Iraq.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:30 pmYou know - Norm Ornstein works for AEI. Hmm. Go figure.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:37 pmSo, Bush needs to take some shots at the country of Haliburton, for giving them nuclear technology.
Comment by Spudge_Boy
Yeah Haliburton has been working in Iran, despite US sanctions. Yet the Bush administration has not done anything. They sold the Iranians 40million in OIL production components last april, but someof those components are suspected to have been put to use in iran’s nuclear facility.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:37 pm#33…..
February 15th, 2007 at 7:38 pmAgain, I think you are correct……
…seems like I hear another deep sigh, and see the shaking of heads…..
#30.. Spudge Boy…… re: Halliburton
February 15th, 2007 at 7:42 pm“Money trumps peace sometimes…..”
Comment by unbelievable
Im always asked:
How did this guy get into the Presidency? Really.
But, its not like we have better examples in Latinamerica.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:45 pm36 Spudge: All those PNAC’ers you listed are Straussians first and foremost. PNAC appears to have been an outgrowth of the philosophy of Leo Strauss. Paul Wolfowitz and Bill Kristol are two of the most fervent Straussians.
http://www.alternet.org/story/15935
February 15th, 2007 at 7:48 pmSomeone said he reveled in all the killings.
February 15th, 2007 at 8:35 pmNo wonder we’re fu*ked…
…these conned’self-servative racist hypocrites believe that…
…the only good world is one run by…
…right wing inbred al Crackkers…
…they’re so stupid they can’t even count…
…they can’t kill us (Progressive liberals) all…
…at least not conventionally…
February 15th, 2007 at 8:41 pmAEI and ZIONIST CONNECTION?
February 15th, 2007 at 8:41 pmIt has become really difficult to avoid the fact that the majority of brains behind the muder ongoing in Iraq are AEI Jewish-Zionists with the exception of Dick Cheney and a fraction of others.
At the repeated risk of beging labelled “anti-Semitic” can anyone explain WHY someone of the Progressive/Liberal/Democratic stripe should not be concerned with the obvious ethnic/racial slant to this source of Bush Administration and Right Wing policy?
In other words:
If one is anti-Iraq Invasion, anti-Bush, anti-”surge” escalation, and all of these policies are primarily springing from Zionist bastions such as the AEI, then why shouldn’t one be anti-Zionist?
NBA LOSER Tim Hardaway…
…with his “I hate gays” comment…
…has exhibited exactly what an al Crackkker wannabe is…
…a dumb a*s self-hater (he’s definitely fighting demons)…
… who doesn’t understand that…
…the racist, homophobic,misogynist social conned’selfservatives with whom he identifies…
…would only let him (Hardaway) carry the rope…
…and that he can’t hang anybody…
…and will eventually see THEM turn on HIM…
…with that same rope…
February 15th, 2007 at 8:49 pm“– Escalation. President Bush’s escalation plan is based on a report by AEI scholar Frederick Kagan. CNN reporter Suzanne Malveaux said of AEI’s influence on Iraq policy: “One conservative policy group that has the president’s ear and is influencing his thinking is the American Enterprise Institute.â€
This was the “Way Forward in Iraq” plan. Just to note, Frederick Kagan’s name is also signed to the PNAC 2000 report “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” as well as his brother and father.
What a surprise..
February 15th, 2007 at 9:38 pmToo bad those WMDs that were going to turn to mushroom clouds were not placed in the AEI/PNAC boiler room and set off.
February 15th, 2007 at 9:40 pmOl’ McBotchy had a farm.
February 15th, 2007 at 9:43 pmAEI Eee Ohh.
And on that farm he had morons.
AEI Eee Ohh.
With a moron here and a moron there.
Here a moron there a moron
Everywhere a moron
AEI Eee Ohh
Why is it so predictable that the same right wing nutjobs who buy into the PNAC fantasy of remaking the Middle East by military force are also global warming denialists?
February 15th, 2007 at 10:06 pmAEI:
How many of them, if they were of the age, did not dodge NAM ?
How many of them were actually on a tour of Combat ?
How many of them have children in Iraq ?
How many have relatives or close family friends in Iraq ?
How many have profited from the Oil and Defense industries ?
How many are now employed by the Oil and Defense industries ?
What percent of the organization’s budget is derived from these two industries (just take a flying f_ck of a guess, eh ?)
How many have lobbied for same ?
Who can’t take a good guess at the questions above to tell you that the organization is being run by a pack of wiesels ? Again, I would like to see George Washington or Dwight Eiesenhower give these people a real good slap with one of their leather gloves. They are everything anti-American and degradate the good name America as a cover to their greedy intentions.
February 15th, 2007 at 10:09 pmComment by Raven — February 15, 2007 @ 7:10 pm
There may be a lot of EU leaders gravely concerned about this:
They cooperated with Bush in committing crimes against humanity, in violation of many international agreements including several provisions of the European Union Convention on Human Rights:
There may be a number of high-ranking ministers who are suddenly very concerned about how their turning a blind eye to the CIA flights will come back to haunt them.
February 15th, 2007 at 10:18 pm#24 Wayne, that is a great comment.
Taking you seriously, I would not agree with the public hangings, incarceration should suffice.
February 15th, 2007 at 10:48 pmAEI needs to be SHUT DOWN for the GOOD OF THE COUNTRY!
February 15th, 2007 at 11:13 pmI wouldn’t be suprised if Doug Feith was a member of AEI either.
February 15th, 2007 at 11:17 pmYou know - Norm Ornstein works for AEI. Hmm. Go figure.
You know that black kid on South Park…crap…what is his name? I know it is similar to what Norm is to the AEI. Oh, yeah, TOKEN!!!
February 15th, 2007 at 11:19 pmOh, and it is the second article down from the top.
February 15th, 2007 at 11:22 pmFrankly I think the death penalty should be in effect for anyone who abuses their elected office. Public hangings.
Comment by Wayne
As Karlx said, I dont agree with that, but damn, you know how I hate my principles when you have a bunch of thugs like these.
February 15th, 2007 at 11:27 pmWow, that list reads like a dream team roster of hacks, losers, liars, and criminals.
February 16th, 2007 at 12:04 amThe AEI is not a branch of the USA government.
It is in fact, an arm of the israeli government that has incredible control over USA politics and politicians. Look at the recent convictions of 2 AEI employees for spying for israel. Look at Perle who was fired from his job as a senate aide for spying for israel. The same is true for JINSA.
And FWIW, the PNAC plan to attack Iraq was written in israel at the behest of the israeli prime minister, netanyahu.
It pays to know who the real enemy is.
February 16th, 2007 at 1:20 amApologies :o)
Link for article reffered to above:-
http://www.aei.org/ publications/ pubID.25626,filter.all/ pub_detail.asp
February 16th, 2007 at 5:16 amOther AEI gems
Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq(sic) by Frederick Kagan
Executive Summary
http://www.aei.org/ publications/ pubID.25396/ pub_detail.asp
A Turning Point for the Iraq War: AEI Newsletter Article [Don’t worry folks, its going to come good from now on apparently!]
http://www.aei.org/ publications/ filter.all,pubID.25504/ pub_detail.asp
February 16th, 2007 at 5:29 amAEI = Association of Elitist Idiots
February 16th, 2007 at 8:43 amI think the next president should use the powers that Bush has claimed and declare all of these F*#kers enemy combatants.
Any one from AEI
All the PNACers
The FoxNews propagandists
The War Profiteers
And the entire Bush Administration
Sweep them up, confiscate all of their family assets, and then give them a choice of Gitmo or being dropped in the middle of Iraq with only the clothes on their backs.
After that pass a law where promoting unprovoked war would be a criminal offense with a punishment of a minimum of 25 years.
February 16th, 2007 at 9:58 amJohn Bolton was also a member of PNAC. Bush wants to replace him as UN Ambassador with Zalmay Khalilzad who is also a PNAC member and was one of the signers of the January 26, 1998, PNAC Letter sent to President Bill Clinton. Zalmay Khalilzad had been Ambassador to Afghanistan and before that Khalilzad was an advisor for the Unocal Corporation.
February 16th, 2007 at 10:35 amDo you suppose his selection had anything to do with the pipeline?
Among Extrme Ideologues or (my favorite) Almost Exclusively Idiots
February 16th, 2007 at 10:39 amThe influence of the Israel government on U.S. foreign policy is very significant and totally detrimental to the global interests of this country. Such influence buying on behalf of another foreign country would never be tolerated, and it should be reigned in. Israel is a grave threat to the American people and we should force our government to disengage from this very negative and counterproductive relationship. Those working on their behalf should be required to register as foreign agents, which they, in fact, are. I consider the Israeli “lobby” an insiduous threat to our people. I am not antijewish but I oppose the efforts of any foreign nation to control our foreign policy to their benefit.
February 16th, 2007 at 11:16 amPeople such as Bolton are introduced on the networks as AEI members….but there is never any description of this group given. The more tragic part of this story is that so many of the AEI people..or members of their families (as in the case of Lynn Cheney) are also members of the Project for a New American Century. This is the group that planned and orchestrated the wars we are in..and the wars to come.
This is also the group that wormed its way into high positions in the Bush White House.
And yet, no one ever connects the dots…
NEO CON ARTISTS
CLICK HERE
http://www.tvnewslies.org/ html/ pnac_neo-con_artists.html
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