A Great Definition of Harper's Ideology

Stephen Harper is a Straussian... "Nothing is more threatening to Strauss and his acolytes than the truth in general and the truth about Strauss in particular. His admirers are determined to conceal the truth about his ideas." - Canadian Professor and Strauss Expert, Shadia Drury

Straussian/Neocon "Principles" 101 - (TheraP's cliff notes version):

1. Noble Lies
2. Perpetual War (war as "virtue")
3. Fear of the masses and democracy
4. Government by an elite (covert rule of "the wise")
5. Instilling a sense of superiority in a nation
6. Stability/Unity via FEAR of an external threat
7. Exploiting moral issues/religion's hold on the people
8. National survival - supersedes the well-being of others
9. Contempt for dissenters
10. Those in power make the rules and call it justice
11. Combination of religion and nationalism
12. Fear - greatest ally of tyranny
13. Manipulate the images (media, based on idea of Plato's cave)

[Synopsis above taken from the following sources: Shadia Drury, Brad deLong, Karen Kwiatkowski, Don Swift, Jeffrey Steinberg, and Danny Postel, who includes an extensive bibliography and interview with Shadia Drury, the Strauss expert. More below.]
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/therap/2009/05/who-is-leo-strauss-and-why-sho.php

“Strauss’s hatred of liberalism is so virulent that he sees the struggle against it as a war, and in war all is fair. For this reason Straussians will use every dirty trick they can think of in the democratic arena in order to defeat liberalism. While doing so they will corrupt democracy itself. But since democracy is only a tool with which to defeat liberalism in order to institute the true Straussian hierarchical society, this is of little import. In the end they will jettison democracy if to do so is expedient..." ~ Michael Doliner