anyone who thinks Eldridge Cleaver, David Horowitz and Sol Stern are reasonable, is open to some serious challenges as to his reasonableness, as well. ---- radtimes <[email protected]> wrote: > A monthly manifesto of American self-loathing > > http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=de72e42a-91bc-4c8c-bde9-966b6e250409 > > Robert Fulford > January 30, 2010 > > In the last years of the 1960s, it appeared that most American > university students, and quite a few of their Canadian > contemporaries, had suddenly converted to a passionate, angry > socialism. For leftists operating in democracies, this was a brief > but sweet moment in a mainly disappointing century. > > The reason was the Vietnam War. It aroused such horror among young > people that their rage spilled over into every corner of public life. > Those who set out to campaign for peace were caught up in a tangle of > self-righteous leftish causes. Capitalism, liberal democracy and > universities were among the forces blamed for war. Among the > students, a New Left was born, celebrated itself, then slowly expired. > > There are those who argue that we should forget the 1960s. But in > certain ways, it's with us still, the nightmare from which North > American politics has never quite escaped. It appears now in a milder > but persistent form; Naomi Klein, for example, plays like a 1960s rerun. > > For several of those remarkable years, a San Francisco-based > magazine, Ramparts, functioned as the most exuberant, effective, > foolish and hysterical expression of New Left feelings. It lasted > only 13 years and mattered for only about three, 1966 to 1968, but > its impact was unquestionable. The circulation reached 250,000, > spectacularly high for a publication of its type. > > Peter Richardson, who was seven years old in 1966, now brings that > peculiar moment alive with his bright, evocative history, A Bomb in > Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America. > > In 1967, a Ramparts article revealed that the CIA was secretly > funding liberal anti-communist organizations. Ramparts uncovered > sponsorship of the National Student Association; other journalists, > inspired by Ramparts, disclosed clandestine support of Encounter > magazine, the American Federation of Labor's international program, > and the Congress for Cultural Freedom, an organization led by > intellectuals such as Arthur Koestler and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. > Gloria Steinem proved be a recipient of CIA funds, and so did Norman > Thomas, head of the Socialist Party of America. CBS broadcast a Mike > Wallace program, In the Pay of the CIA. Most of the people involved > said they'd believed the money came from independent foundations. > > Ramparts made national celebrities out of the Black Panthers while > carefully refusing to notice that most of them were thugs who > considered Marxism a meal ticket. It published the best-known leftist > writers of the era, among them Susan Sontag, Jessica Mitford, Seymour > Hersh and Noam Chomsky. The most admired of several editors, Warren > Hinckle, never met a radical he didn't like. He published the diaries > of Che Guevara and an attack on American "barbarism" by Fidel Castro. > Anyone with a conspiracy theory, particularly if it involved John > Kennedy's assassination, was assured of a place in Ramparts. A cover > in the last years of Ramparts showed the burning of a Bank of America > branch in Southern California. The text that accompanied it said that > the radical students who set the fire "may have done more for saving > the environment than all the teach-ins put together." > > For several of its principal creators, Ramparts ended in regrets. Two > major editors, Peter Collier and David Horowitz, turned against > everything it stood for and became much-published right-wing > journalists. A third senior editor, Sol Stern, became a conservative > critic of liberal education. Recently, in City Journal, he > acknowledged that Ramparts "changed America" -- but for the worse. > > As a result of attacks against America like those in Ramparts, U.S. > liberals lost their nerve. They were left chagrined and repentant and > came to think American power could never be used for good. That > explains why liberal guilt still paralyzes America, inhibiting the > use of power when American power is needed, as it is increasingly in > the 21st century. > > Ramparts campaigned for total withdrawal of all American troops, > Stern recalls, because "we wanted the communists to win and were sure > that they would." The editors thought the communists were Vietnam's > rightful rulers. A Ramparts cover showed Ho Chi Minh as George > Washington crossing the Delaware. > > Eldridge Cleaver (1935-1998) perhaps moved farthest from the Ramparts > ideal. He was hired as a staff writer and celebrated as a charismatic > black radical in a cover story. Later, as a born-again Christian, he > briefly led a revivalist ministry. Then, under the brand name > Eldridge de Paris, he designed a line of men's clothing, featuring > pants with a codpiece, a "Cleaver Sleeve." He re-entered politics as > a conservative Republican and in 1980 and 1984 endorsed Ronald Reagan > for president. > > Like many figures in this book, Cleaver learned to reject the toxic, > self-loathing creeds of the 1960s. Others, sadly -- including many > who were not yet born during that decade -- still insist on > celebrating a time of infinite self-delusion. > -- > > [email protected] > > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Sixties-L" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en. >
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