Dwight sure had bush pegged.

[LynnTheDem]

“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor law and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are…Texas millionaires and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”
-1954 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Stupid" fits.

[Cabcere]

1. Their number may be negligible

but their influence is not, unfortunately. :( Stupid is right, though.

[illinoisprogressive]

2. Because their numbers have grown

[GeneCosta]

3. Ah, Ike

If only the GOP followed in your footsteps.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

4. Frightening prescience.

K&R

[neoblues]

5. Hope he's right... about the "not hear of that party again"...

and the sooner the better.

[Fovea]

6. I am not sure Ike could see the rise of the Straussians

and the cooersive power of global capitalism.

But if anyone SHOULD have, it should have been the conservative movement.
Sadly, they were too busy gorging at the trough, and placating the snake handlers.

[Fovea]

7. in addition

But perhaps ironically, it was the progressives who locked on the radical neocon agenda.
Or maybe not. Neocons are the fascist/corporatists we on the left always end up fighting.
Even now, progressives have been like Cassandra, predicting right on down teh line the shrub's intransigence
and his plan to forge ahead into Iran.

Finally Ms. Pelosi is coming to the point where she is addressing the Dubya's march to armageddon.
But I hope we as a party get ahead of the curve, because around it is shrubs gottendammerung.

[TheModernTerrorist]

10. he did

he warned against it. He warned us of the Military Industrial Complex, along with, well, it seems he warned us of everything else as well, for the most part.

[Fovea]

13. Well perhaps he did

Certainly by the end of WWII certain corporations had
far more governmental influence than anything suggested by
Adam Smith, the framers of the constitution, or Teddy Roosevelt.

And in his era the rise of very closely linked military industrial
groups like SAC/Rand etc. were already unassailable quasi governmental
entities.

What I was thinking of was the Universities of Chicago, and Santa Barbara
which had small, but important academic cells of proto neo conservatism.
I don't know if Ike was concerned about them. Do you know where I might look
regarding this?

[TheModernTerrorist]

14. Ike's Wiki article

has some good stuff in it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower

Also, I believe the Eisenhower Archives might have some stuff on it at http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/guild.htm

I wrote a paper on the election of '54, with regards to Congress, essentially because I feel like it was a similar period in history to what we're experiencing right now. The two are only comparable in certain respects, of course, but I did a bit of research on Ike and his presidency. With everything that is going on right now, I'd love to find some good info on what the motives were behind Ike warning the nation of the MIC and the neoconservative movement; what were the forces that pushed him to think this was going to be a problem.

[cool user name]

16. So very fuckin' true ...

Conservatives and Liberals have ignored the neo-liberals/neo-conservatives, or Straussians as you so aptly put it, at this nation's peril.

Not that I agree with traditional Conservatives but I believe they've been had as much as the left has.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

8. Eisenhower continues to grow in esteem in my view. He lived it all and had a

pretty accurate take on things around him. MKJ

[Cleita]

9. Their numbers are no longer negligible. It makes you wonder

what was put in the water between then and now.

[pnorman]

11. I had heard it several times before, but just to be sure,

I "Snopesed" it: http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/ike.asp

It's not only correct, but it's totally IN context!
pnorman

[Morgana LaFey]

15. Fabulous -- very helpful to have the larger context

He actually named H.L. Hunt who has been implicated by some in the Kennedy assassination too.

[bonito]

12. Dam good post, recommended.

[uberllama42]

17. Ike gets my vote for best post-War president

If for his prescience if nothing else. He's not great; he was still a president, and that much power always entails some unsavory activity. But his farewell address alone wins him massive points in my book.

It's sad that he was the first President effected by the 22nd amendment.