Conservative Watch by Bill Berkowitz

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess of the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage." -- Sir Alex Fraser Tytler (1742-1813), Scottish jurist and historian

"An enlightened people, and an energetic public opinion... Will control and enchain the aristocratic spirit of the government." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1814

"I hope we shall... Crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." -- Thomas Jefferson

Join me for a 2003 "kiss off" in two parts.

Year-in-review columns are so, well... reviewy. Instead of a "best of" list or bestowing any year-end awards, here is a 2003 retrospective -- unedited and unexpurgated -- through the columns of this correspondent.

If looking back on the invasion of Iraq, the ongoing occupation, the missing weapons of mass destruction, the takedown of Saddam Hussein and the death of his sons, the Bush pre-emptive strike Doctrine, the long hard slog in Afghanistan, homeland security warnings and duct tape, the administration's penchant for secrecy and its assault on privacy, the Freedom of Information Act, and the environment, Bush's faith-based everything, the neoconservatives' assault on anti-war activists, or the religious right's far-reaching social and political agenda, makes you just plain nauseous, skip on over to a Tom Tomorrow cartoon, drop by a Molly Ivins piece, or shut down your computer and take a walk.

Part I: January -- June 2003

January

January 3: Reinstate the Draft -- Service to America should be a 'shared sacrifice' says NYC Congressman

The patriotic thing to do or Charlie Rangel's desperate idea?

January 8: Down goes Goldberg! Down goes Goldberg! -- Best-selling author of 'Bias' silenced on 'Donahue' by Al Franken

Former CBS newsman Bernard Goldberg can't take the heat from Franken on Phil Donohue's now-cancelled MSNBC program.

January 10: Antiabortionists ready to rumble -- Wads of anti-abortion legislation, defunding of Planned Parenthood on movement's agenda

Months before President Bush signed legislation banning so-called partial-birth abortion, anti-abortion advocates were honing their agenda.

January 15: Joe Lieberman's conservative comfort zone -Democratic senator opens presidential bid by slamming Hollywood, not Bush

The Connecticut Democrat may be even more conservative than you think!

January 17: Citizen Tipsters or Deputy Dawgs -- Americans sign up to watch neighborhoods and highways as gov't-induced climate of fear intensifies

Is this the most dangerous period in our country's history?

January 21: 'The Last Jihad' is coming to your town -- Right-wing talk radio helps 'Christ-salted' book rise on best seller lists

Conservative Joel Rosenberg's book, "The Last Jihad," becomes a resounding hit.

January 27: Whistleblower's suicide blamed on Lockheed Martin -- Defense contractor's Florida subsidiary sued for conducting 'campaign of threats and harassment'

Nasty corporate tactics by one of the nation's largest defense contractors.

January 29: Cleaving up Clooney -- Fox's Bill O'Reilly blasts George Clooney for 'un-American remarks'

Actor takes it on the chin from O'Reilly, but comes back swinging.

January 31: FOIA smackdown -- Homeland Security Act exemption threatens public's right to know

A year of Bush Administration secrecy begins with a make-over of the Freedom of Information Act.

February

February 5: The GOP's man on the Moon -- Unification Church leader and self-proclaimed Messiah builds legacy with support from the Bush administration

The Rev. Sun Myung Moon plants the seeds of his political legacy -- with a little help from the Bush Administration.

February 7: From Team Moon to VISTA -- David Caprara's journey from Moonie front group to Americorps leader

Caprara, former head of the American Family Coalition (AFC), a Moonie-front group, appointed to run Americorps.

February 12: Investigate 'Communist-style' peaceniks -- Founding father of religious right urges government crackdown against 'neo-Communist' front groups

Religious right godfather, Paul Weyrich, calls for congressional investigations of anti-war groups.

February 14: Duct tape fantasies -- Americans are ducting up and freaking out. Are you happy now, Mr. President?

Duct tape, plastic sheeting -- you know the drill!

February 19: Who you gonna call? Mythbusters -- Organizers' Collaborative aims to detect and correct government-sponsored bunkum before it takes hold

Battling government misinformation, disinformation and administration myths one lie at a time.

February 21: Michael Novak's divine mission -- Well-funded neocon aims to transform Catholic Church's social justice goals

Novak heads to the Vatican to change the Pope's opposition to looming invasion of Iraq.

February 26: Wars of domestic destruction -- Bush's homeland initiatives rolled out under cover of 'war against terrorism'

Signs that the upcoming war with Iraq will be paid for by the poor, the homeless, the elderly and working men and women.

February 28: Bush's victory sermon -- Buck-by-buck, organization-by-organization, initiative-by-initiative the right-wing movement develops

Bush's blueprint for the Middle East unveiled at the American Enterprise Institute.

March

March 5: Savaging Donahue, signing up Savage -- MSNBC dumps Donahue and hires string of right-wing ideologues

MSNBC says goodbye to Phil, and hello to the Savage Nation.

March 7: An anti-abortion league of their own -- Big leaguers go to bat for the controversial American Life League

Spring Training and the nation's attention turns to abortion...er, baseball!

March 12: Does Mel Gibson have a Jewish problem? -- Will Gibson's parents' conspiratorial musings and his new film fuel anti-Semitism?

With new film set to debut, we'll soon find out.

March 14: Onward Bush's soldiers -- War with Iraq is 'dress rehearsal for Armageddon' says head of Evangelical Israel Broadcasting Network

Christian fundamentalists find Biblical justification for smiting Saddam.

March 19: Some dare call it treason -- War with Iraq opens door for accusations that continuing protests are anti-American and un-patriotic

Clamping down on the voices of dissent.

March 21: Homeland security bonanza -- Industry gears up to profit from permanent war against terrorism

Homeland Security now; Homeland Security tomorrow; Homeland Security forever.

March 26: Prisoner plagues -- Thousands of untreated seriously ill prisoners are being released into communities across the US according to National Institute for Justice report

Billions to Iraq; pennies for health care for prisoners.

March 28: Coalition of the chilling -- Bennett, Falwell, Frum, Kennedy & hate-radio's shock troops blast anti-war activists

Anti-war activists aren't exactly traitors, say some right wing hotshots but, they are Saddam collaborators.

April

April 2: Traffic jam on the road to 'Pax Americana' -- Listen closely and you'll hear Bush's neocons beating the drums for war in Iran and Syria

In the wake of what looks like easy pickings in Iraq, Bush neocons ramp up the volume against Iran and Syria.

April 4: The new Christian crusades -- Religious right Islam-bashers target postwar Iraq

Franklin Graham and the boys lay plans for an old-fashioned post-war tent revival.

April 9: Embedded, enthusiastic and un-encumbered by truth -- Torie Clarke, former Hill and Knowlton exec, manages vast Pentagon spin machine

Pentagon's embedded media plan works.

April 11: R. James Woolsey: War-hungry non-combatant -- Former CIA Director beats the drums for World War IV

Former CIA Director spent months drumming up support for the invasion, and now talks of World War IV.

April 16: Report card Afghanistan -- Heroin production soars, women remain in danger, violence abounds

Yes Virginia, there is an Afghanistan.

April 18: http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=14858 Operation info-scrub -- Team Bush reviews, rewrites and/or removes information from the public domain

Scrub a dub dub; public access to information restricted by Bush Administration.

April 23: Al-Jazeera rocks, rolls and reports -- Qatar-based satellite network stays the course despite U.S. bombs, Pentagon attacks and Wall Street eviction

They really report, and you'll have to decide.

April 25: Painting homeland terrorism black -- Right-wingers claim African American converts to Islam are a clear and present danger

ChuckColson, Daniel Pipes and Roy Innis warn Bush Administration that convicts converting to Islam could be terrorist threat.

April 30: Supersizing Santorum's bigotry -- President's faith-based point man has big-time plan to institutionalize discrimination

Not your typical fire-breathing right-wing homo-basher; a powerful politician with big-time political plans and an even bigger anti-gay legislative agenda.

May

May 2: It's the permanent war on terrorism, stupid -- Administration counting on climate of fear to pave way for re-election

The war on terrorism will become the centerpiece of the Bush presidency.

May 7: Operation Neil Bush's Freedom -- Kyboshing book will keep Bush family secrets buried

Sexually permissive president's bro going through messy divorce.

May 9: Bremer of Iraq -- Counter-terrorism and corporate crisis management specialist heads Iraq's reconstruction

Washington insider comes out of the Bush-pen to take reins from retire Lt. Gen. Jay Garner.

May 14: The Bible is their 'Road Map' -- Christian Zionists meet to plan strategy to spoil Bush's peace plan

Religious right launches assault on president's "Road Map" to peace in the Middle East.

May 16: Gays and lesbians need not apply -- Fine print of GOP-sponsored job-training bill conceals discriminatory religious exemption

Workforce Reinvestment and Adult Education Act allows faith-based organizations to receive government grants while sidestepping civil rights laws.

May 21: Bush's China syndrome -- China scholar Aaron Friedberg joins Team Cheney as deputy national security advisor and director of policy planning

Team Bush weighs China threat.

May 23: Anti-factory farm activists under fire -- State legislatures launch ALEC-backed attack on anti-factory farm and animal rights campaigners

Eco-terrorism legislation could make it illegal for animal rights activists to uncover, and protest, animal abuse at corporate-run factory farms.

May 28: In chatter we trust -- As the 'tide turns' in the war against terrorism will the real al Qaeda please stand up?

Catching up with al Qaeda...or not.

May 30: Band-aids, beans & conversion for Iraqis -- For evangelical Christians, 'the question is not whether, but how and when, they should convey their faith'

Christian aid workers/missionaries plan to enter post-war Iraq.

June

June 4: Weapons of mass disappearance -- Deceitful about Iraq's WMDs, is Bush's claim that military action in Iran is 'pure speculation' believable?

No weapons of mass destruction have yet been discovered -- so why the ruckus?

June 6: Bush's faith-based finagling -- Legislation weakens but doesn't slow down president's faith-based initiative

Despite languishing in Congress, Bush's faith-based initiative moves ahead.

June 11: National snoops network -- Jay Walker's US HomeGuard will have you grabbing your mouse and protecting the homeland, from home

New ideas for snooping on your neighbors.

June 13: Conflating protests with terrorism -- Police departments across the country are spying and compiling dossiers on political activists

Shades of Hoover's FBI.

June 18: Promise Keepers revival? -- Christian evangelical men's group sets sights on teenage boys for comeback

Does PK have one more revival left?

June 20: Strange bedfellows -- Afghanistan quagmire triggers confab between US & Pakistani intelligence officials and the Taliban

Yes Virginia, there is an Afghanistan.

June 25: Dan Amstutz: Iraq's agriculture czar -- Well-connected corporate and political operative aims to revamp Iraq's agricultural sector

Agricultural industrialist named to lead U.S. government's agriculture reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

June 27: Head Start flim-flam -- Thousands of Head Start workers and volunteers could be displaced as Bush Administration claims faith-based organizations have 'religious hiring rights'

Team Bush tucks "religious hiring rights" into Head Start reauthorization bill.

For more please see the Bill Berkowitz archive . Bill Berkowitz is a longtime observer of the conservative movement. His WorkingForChange column Conservative Watch documents the strategies, players, institutions, victories and defeats of the American Right.