American Neocons down, but not out

Their hawkish policies and sky-high defense spending may have cost them the White House and Congress in 2008, but the neoconservatives are not done.

They gathered less than a block from the White House for a conference on “Restoring America’s Leadership of a Democratic World,” without recognizing the role their policies played in damaging America’s image internationally.Conservative leaders like John McCain joined Joseph Lieberman and Buck McKeon to express their support for continued defense spending, warning that even small cuts in the Pentagon’s budget to close the $4 trillion deficit would mean imminent attacks from America’s enemies. “My fear is that in economic tough times, the people will see the defense budget as the place to solve deficit problems, to find money for other parts of the government, I think that would be disastrous in the environment we see today and what we're likely to see in years to come,” said McKeon, a Republican Congressman from California. America's nuclear arsenal was also an unquestionable topic. “Well I hope that we have a world without nuclear weapons,” said Senator John McCain, Republican from Arizona. “I also hope that pigs fly.” Self-described liberal Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov also found a receptive audience among the neoconservatives. “Well I'm not Republican and I'm not Democrat, I'm a member of Solidarity,” Nemtsov explained. “You can do what you want, this is your country, you can do what you want, I have my own view and my own proposals. If American establishment believes that this is important, it will be great, if they don't, we will continue, so no problem.”