1948 Redux: Was the Left Right?

Recently I have written a couple of times (here and here) about the controversy stirred up by Peter Beinart of The New Republic when he argued that liberals today should emulate the Americans for Democratic Action’s 1948 purge of the “soft” Henry Wallace Progressives and purge MoveOn.org, Michael Moore, et. al.

Now comes Joshua Zeitz, a lecturer in history at the University of Cambridge, who maintains that, sure, the Progressives were wrong about Stalin and the Soviet Union, but…. “But they were right about the biggest question facing America domestically during the late ’40s: the issue of race.”

The Wallacites may have underestimated the foreign menace, but they fully appreciated the domestic threat to democracy in a way that many mainstream liberals who would expunge the Wallacites from their ranks emphatically did not. As a result, while the purge of the Wallacites may have strengthened liberalism vis-

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  1. Stephen December 31, 2004 at 8:26 am | | Reply

    The “progressive” (i.e., communist) focus on civil rights was a diversionary move from the beginning. The focus was not really on civil rights. Exaggerating and exacerbating racial and sexual conflict has always been the goal of progressives. It is no accident that almost every radical leftist group in the U.S. (such as the Weathermen) ultimate decides that fomenting racial warfare should be their goal. Breaking eggs in order to make an omelet has always been the real purpose of progressives.

    As time passes, the reality of racial conflict in the U.S. will assert itself. Currently, it is completely taboo to discuss the extent and impact of black gangsterism on whites. We are instructed endlessly in our schools that racial violence in the pre-civil rights era was entirely the fault of whites. This is a lie. Black gang violence against whites has always exceeded white racial violence against blacks. (This is not intended as an endorsement of Jim Crow, although every respondent to this will undoubtedly pretend that it is.) My father and grandfather both related the truth about this to me. Black gang violence has always (way back to the turn of the century and beyond) been explained away by leftists as a justified response, while white gang violence is always presented as evil incarnate.

    Nothing has changed in a century. An Irish guy who is knifed to death in the alley by a black gang is just an random victim of crime. A black guy who is hung from a tree by a white guy is a victim of political oppression. It’s a crock.

    The left has always been lying about its intentions in regard to racial politics, just as it has always lied about its intentions in regard to sexual politics. Betty Friedan lied through her teeth in portraying herself as a suburban housewife, when in fact she was the rich domestic pet of a wealthy publisher. The “progressive” intent has always been to exaggerate and inflame racial and sexual conflict in order to bring about the revolution that will bring heaven on earth. That is still the progressive agenda. It is an agenda built on a lie. The pretense is pacifism and social justice. The reality is inciting racial and sexual hatred in the pursuit of Utopia.

  2. James C. Hess December 31, 2004 at 12:13 pm | | Reply

    The Democratic Party could purge itself of everything up to and including the Clintons and it still wouldn’t save itself.

  3. notherbob2 December 31, 2004 at 1:49 pm | | Reply

    My, my the righties are testy today. I have always thought of AA as the equivalent to picking up a dirty stick to drive off an attacking dog. While the stick was needed at the time, as soon as the dog is gone one drops the stick in disgust. Perhaps it is time to drop the disgusting racist AA?

  4. Cobra January 1, 2005 at 11:39 am | | Reply

    Notherbob writes:

    >>>While the stick was needed at the time, as soon as the dog is gone one drops the stick in disgust. Perhaps it is time to drop the disgusting racist AA?”

    After reading Stephen’s posts, as well as others on this blog, do you really believe “the dog is gone?”

    –Cobra

  5. notherbob2 January 1, 2005 at 3:23 pm | | Reply

    Doggonit, I do. We can still find ladies who will swear that a woman is not dressed to appear in public unless she has on a hat and gloves. Society has passed them by. Now that Berry is gone (USCRC)we may all find out that we are in pretty good shape, race-wise. As Sidney Poitier said, referring to the over-the-hill folks: “You’ve got to get off our backs!” Then “our” had a limited meaning. Now it means all of us.

  6. Cobra January 1, 2005 at 7:06 pm | | Reply

    Notherbob writes:

    >>>Now that Berry is gone (USCRC)we may all find out that we are in pretty good shape, race-wise.”

    What is your definition of “pretty good shape”, and who would it apply to? It all goes back to PERSPECTIVE, if you ask me. There are many tourism officials in India right now who feel that the devastating Tsunamis were a GOOD thing for their business.

    http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId=CqDolueidAw5KAweTDg91CMLZBs10C3vUyw0

    Likewise, I’m sure that those who discriminate against minorities would celebrate the elimination of programs aimed at countering their efforts.

    It only makes sense, right?

    –Cobra

  7. notherbob2 January 1, 2005 at 8:25 pm | | Reply

    “I’m sure that those who discriminate against minorities would celebrate the elimination of programs aimed at countering their efforts.

    It only makes sense, right?”

    Yeah, right. We agree on that. So? Why wouldn’t EVERYONE celebrate the elimination of a racist program, whatever its “aim”? Only the racists would not celebrate. Does one of us have something backwards here? Does AA fit the definition of a racist program? Eliminating racism in America is a laudable goal. Worth speakiing up for.

  8. actus January 3, 2005 at 10:38 am | | Reply

    “It is no accident that almost every radical leftist group in the U.S. (such as the Weathermen) ultimate decides that fomenting racial warfare should be their goal.”

    You could call it their ‘southern strategy’.

  9. Vessel of Honour January 5, 2005 at 12:03 am | | Reply

    120th Edition of the Carnival of the Vanities!

    My brain is bwoken. In my swelling arrogance I thought I could breeze through 57 Carnival entries with nary a sweat, a testament to my endless mental endurance and superior grasp of the inner working complexities of what we’ve all…

  10. notherbob2 January 5, 2005 at 12:52 pm | | Reply

    Or, you could call it your trolling post.

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