Instead of calling ourselves Neo Cons lets resurrect the "The Radical Republicans."
Wikipedia:
The Radical Republicans were an influential faction of American politicians in the Republican party during the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras, 1860-1877. They took a hard line against the Confederacy during the war and opposed Lincoln's "too easy" terms for reuniting the nation. By 1866 they supported federal civil rights for freedmen, and by 1867 set terms that allowed free slaves the right to vote in the South but not ex-Confederates. They fought with moderate Republicans, especially president Abraham Lincoln, as well as with his successor Andrew Johnson. Using as a base the Joint Committee on Reconstruction the Radicals demanded a more aggressive prosecution of the war and the faster destruction of slavery and Confederate nationalism. After their victory in the Congressional elections of 1866 they finally had enough votes to enact their legislation over Johnson's vetoes. They replaced ex-Confederates with a Republican coalition of Freedmen, Carpetbaggers and Scalawags. They impeached Johnson in the House but failed by one vote to remove him from office.
During the war and the first part of Reconstruction, the leading Radicals were Thaddeus Stevens in the House and Charles Sumner in the Senate. After his election as president in 1868 Ulysses Grant became the leading Radical. ...
Richie at HHR adds:
-I say its about time we take back our name and use it more often. We have a proud history. Neo Con sounds to much like Neo Nazi and I am not too fond of it.
The Radical Republicans have come back they were resurrected on September 11th just as they arose during the fight against slavery. It was The Radical Republicans who pushed for the Civil Rights Act of 1866 which made African Americans American citizens and forbade discrimination against them, with enforcement in federal courts. It was also these same Radical Republicans who with courage and faith passed the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution of 1868, (with its equal protection clause) It was The Radical Republicans led the Reconstruction of the South and the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.
Today the Radical Republicans fight for justice and equal rights not just in America but also in the Middle East and around the world. As president Bush so eloquently stated I believe freedom is not America's gift to the world; I believe freedom is the almighty God's gift to each man and women in this world.
It was another Radical Republican who while fighting a war ignored the pundits and said "In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just - a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless." Lincoln's Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.
The Radical Republicans who so long ago fought for equal rights and freedom for blacks against the racist segregationist who justified his acts by quoting holy scripture, today fight against Arab Islamist supremacist which is a racist ideology that holds the belief that Arab Muslims are superior to other races and religions.
Some Radical Republican quotes:
"The war will not end until the government shall more fully recognize the magnitude of the crisis; until they have discovered that this is an internecine war in which one party or the other must be reduced to hopeless feebleness and the power of further effort shall be utterly annihilated. It is a sad but true alternative. ... How, then, can the war be carried on so as to save the Union and constitutional liberty? Prejudices may be shocked, weak minds startled, weak nerves may tremble, but they must hear and adopt it. Universal emancipation must be proclaimed to all." - Thadeus Stevens
"The question is thus presented between Barbarism and Civilization; not merely between two different forms of Civilization, but between Barbarism on the one side and Civilization on the other side. If you are for Barbarism, join the Rebellion, or, if you can not join it, give it your sympathies. If you are for Civilization, stand by the Government of your country with mind, soul, heart, and might! ... Therefore, the battle which is now waged by the Union is for Civilization itself, and it must have aid and God-speed from all who are not openly for Barbarism. There is no word of peace, no tone of gentleness, no whisper of humanity, which does not become trumpet-tongued against the Rebellion. War itself seems to "smooth its wrinkled front" as it undertakes the championship of such a cause. The armed soldier becomes a minister of mercy." - Charles Sumner
"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just - a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless." - Abraham Lincoln
"I believe freedom is not America's gift to the world; I believe freedom is the almighty God's gift to each man and women in this world." - George W. Bush
