Jeane Kirkpatrick

[[File:Od jeane-kirkpatrick-official-portrait 1-255x301.jpg|upright|thumb|Official portrait of Jeane Kirkpatrick.]]
{{cquote|"..more [[Hanlon's Razor|fool than fascist]]..she appears to be one of America's own-goal scorers, tactless, wrong-headed, ineffective, and a dubious tribute to the academic profession to which she [expresses] her allegiance."|||[[British]] ambassador Sir Nicholas Henderson{{efn|Henderson was antagonized when Kirkpatrick didn't want to support [[Britain]] during Argentina's invasion of the [[Falkland Islands]] because she had a "soft spot" for the Argentinian dictator.}}}} 

'''Jeane Kirkpatrick''' (1926-2006) was 
morally insane
 (or, if you're [[Noam Chomsky]], the "chief [[sadist]]-in-residence") one of the most influential [[neoconservative]]s in the [[Reagan]] administration, serving as Saint Reagan's foreign policy adviser. Today, she is most well known for unapologetically defending [[authoritarian]] governments so long as they took an anti-[[communist]] stance. Her justification for this is that they [[Not as bad as|weren't as bad as]] potential [[Marxist]] governments (this [[Vietnam War#History|failed before]], and she allowed it to happen again). The governments she supported most were [[El Salvador]], [[Guatemala]], [[Argentina]], and even the [[Philippines]]. Despite her supposedly "anti-rebel" stance (on the basis that traditional [[dictator]]ships were better than new ones), she supported the [[Iran Contra|Contras in Nicaragua]]. During the Falklands War, she favored neutrality, as she supported Argentina's Videla junta. She clashed with Secretary of State Alexander Haig's pro-British position, eventually leading to her downfall in the Reagan administration.

She usually responded to her critics by addressing them as "[[snarl word|San Francisco Democrats]]" who were part of the "blame America first crowd" ([[blowback]] never existed, you know), making her favorite defense something of a mix between a [[strawman]] and an ''[[ad hominem]]''. She also wrote an essay [[tu quoque|about how Democrats weren't much better]] about supporting dictators, so she didn't deserve criticism.<ref>[https://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/dictatorships-double-standards/ Not even ''trying'' here.]</ref> If you couldn't tell yet, her tendency to defend her policies through blatant [[logical fallacies]] doesn't make her a very endearing figure to the majority of [[Reality-based community|people who aren't hardline neocons]].<ref>[https://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa058.html Even the Cato Institute hates her guts.]</ref>

Despite all of the above, she has won the Presidential Freedom Award, which is only slightly less [[ironic]] than [[Henry Kissinger]] winning the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. 

In yet another horrifying twist, she headed the US delegation to the [[United Nations]] Commission on Human Rights, where she is best known for dying before she could convince an [[Arab]] delegation to support the [[Iraq War]]. 

==Quotes==
Kirkpatrick is known for being very quotable, though not in the way she probably wanted to be. 

{{cquote|I don't think the government (of El Salvador) was responsible. The nuns were not just nuns; [[Blaming the victim|the nuns were political activists]]. We ought to be a little more clear-cut about this than typical. They were political activists on behalf of the Frente, and somebody using violence to oppose the Frente killed them.|||Kirkpatrick on three American nuns who were [[rape]]d and [[murder]]ed on behalf of the El Salvadorian government.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/03/world/4-salvadorans-say-they-killed-us-nuns-on-orders-of-military.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm</ref>}}

{{cquote|No idea holds greater sway in the [[Dunning-Kruger effect|minds of educated Americans]] than the belief that it is possible to democratize governments anytime and anywhere under any circumstances.}}

{{cquote|Americans need to face the truth about themselves, no matter how pleasant it is.}}

==See also==
*[[Fractal wrongness]]
*[[Gunboat diplomacy]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group="note"}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|politicians}}

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[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Chickenhawks]]
[[Category:Christians]]
[[Category:Denialists]]
[[Category:Former U.S. Cabinet Members]]
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[[Category:Leftists who turned right with age]]
[[Category:Neoconservatives]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]

Categories: Authors, Chickenhawks, Christians, Denialists, Former U.S. Cabinet Members, Government incompetence, Leftists who turned right with age, Neoconservatives, Right-wing activists