Neocons Panting for President 'Mad Dog' Mattis

By Daniel McAdams

The neocons have been in a panic this election season. One by one, their preferred choice for the Republican presidential nomination has been soundly rejected by the uncooperative American voting public. Sen. Lindsey Graham made a run for the nomination saying, "If you’re tired of war, don’t vote for me," and nobody did. Perhaps the idea of perpetual war to the very last US dollar is beginning to wear thin among Republican voters. 

Though the two Republicans left standing, Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, have endorsed sending thousands of troops into the Middle East and even turning the sand into glass with a nuclear weapon, they are viewed as not reliably neoconservative enough for the Beltway bombardiers. William Kristol, absolutely forlorn over the American voter's rejection of the reliable Republican neocons in the race, has thrown his hat in with a very reliable Democrat neocon, Hillary Clinton. "I would rather see Hillary than Trump," said Kristol.

But such a move comes not without risk for the Kristol-ites. The neocons migrated from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party like a virus to a new host and one promising candidate does not a happy return necessarily make.

What to do? Again from Kristol: "We'll have to start a new party if it's Trump." And that's what they're doing. With the help of the compliant media, of course.

Thanks to Target Liberty for its diligence in "Mad Dog" spotting, we see the (former) house organ of the CIA, Time Magazine, joining the neocon cheering section behind the notion of a third party run by retired Major General James "Mad Dog" Mattis, former Commander of the US Central Command.

In an article with the fallacious title, Why Americans Want a Military General in the White House, Time wonders:

What is it about military leaders that has led so many voters to champion them for the Presidency? After all, it’s not like the nation has emerged victorious from its recent wars. ... Retired Marine general James “Mad Dog” Mattis, who hung up his uniform three years ago, has fervent supporters who want him to run for President.

The very title of the article is a fraud. Who are these "Americans" who are clamoring for a General to become president? Neocons! What percentage to neocons make up of the US electorate? Re-read the first paragraph for an indication.

Why are the neocons panting like a dog in heat for "Mad Dog" Mattis? His speech today at the military-industrial complex funded Center for Strategic and International Studies tells the tale of the tape. What gets the Mad Dog all hot and bothered? War with Iran!

Barked the "Dog" today:

The Iranian regime, in my mind, is the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East...For all the talk of ISIS and Al Qaida everywhere right now… they’re a very serious threat. But nothing is as serious in the long term enduring ramifications, in terms of stability and prosperity and some hope for a better future for the young people out there, than Iran.

And, in what must be music to the ears of all those inside the Beltway who have become rich robbing the rest of us to pay for their wars, Mattis spells out his foreign policy. In a word: War!

We know that vacuums left in the Middle East seem to be filled by either terrorists or by Iran or their surrogates or Russia … In order to restore deterrence, we have to show capability, capacity and resolve.

Using our special neocon-speak translator, we see that "capability, capacity and resolve" actually means "weapons, deployments, and wars." No wonder Kristol and company are touting this man as their savior. 

General George Washington was a reluctant political leader. He accepted the office of president only at the insistence of others. His preference after the battle was won was to hang up his guns and retire to  hemp-growing and whiskey-distilling. In these days of increasingly political military officers, it seems the notion of civilian control of the military is, like the Constitution itself, just another anachronism. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you President Mattis:

The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event. That said, there are some a**holes in the world that just need to be shot.
(Business Insider)

I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f*ck with me, I’ll kill you all.
(San Diego Union Tribune)

Find the enemy that wants to end this experiment (in American democracy) and kill every one of them until they’re so sick of the killing that they leave us and our freedoms intact.
(San Diego Union Tribune)

Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.
(San Diego Union Tribune)

You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot. It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up there with you. I like brawling.
(CNN)

I’m going to plead with you, do not cross us. Because if you do, the survivors will write about what we do here for 10,000 years.
(San Diego Union Tribune)

Woof woof!

This article was originally published at The Ron Paul Institute.