The Left Suppresses Its Own History

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Lee Stranahan has an excellent article about how the Left has attempted to hide the truth about its own ideological history, so that anyone who uses the phrase “Cultural Marxism” to describe the crucial influence of the Frankfurt School (Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, et al.) is accused of being a “conspiracy theorist” or worst:

The charge that discussing the Frankfurt School is anti-Semitic gets raised a number of times by those like the Southern Poverty Law Center wishing the bury the truth, so let’s dispense with it as soon as possible. In short, the Jewish heritage of the Frankfurt school is irrelevant. It’s equally true that the major figures at the Frankfurt School were all Jewish and also that some of the major figures exposing the Frankfurt School such as Andrew Breitbart and David Horowitz are also Jewish. Anti-Semitism is a false, collectivist view that has no more place in any legitimate argument than any other form of actual racism trotted out by tribal mentalities. However, in exactly the same way that it would be invalid to criticize the ideas of the Frankfurt philosophers on the basis of them being Jewish, it’s equally invalid to exempt them from any criticism for that reason.
The SPLC throws in the charge of anti-Semitism in its attempt to hide the truth about the Frankfurt School for one reason; it’s exactly the kind of politically correct smear that is the modus operand of the SPLC throughout their work. It’s no small irony that it’s the exactly the technique made possible by the Frankfurt School ideology.

You should read the whole thing. For the contemporary Left to stigmatize its opponents as Jew-haters is the exact opposite of truth. The Left — what used to be called “the far Left,” or “the extreme Left,” or simply Commies — has always been willing to exploit anti-Semitism when it suits their purposes. And in recent decades, as the Democrat Party has increasingly fallen under control of the Left, you see more and more Democrats aligned with the enemies of Israel, and using the term “neocon” as a sort of dog-whistle code word for “Jews.”

This what I mean when I refer to the “Sirhan Sirhan wing of the Democrat Party.” The increasing dominance of the Left — ideologues who share the dangerous views of extremists like Bill Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright — shares less in common with Bobby Kennedy than they do with his assassin. But try asking anyone under 30 about who assassinated RFK (correct answer: a Palestinian nationalist) or who assassinated John F. Kennedy (correct answer: a pro-Castro communist named Lee Harvey Oswald) and you immediately discover that young people have been taught no facts about history.

The names and motives of Sirhan and Oswald are not obscure bits of trivia, but these facts are deliberately suppressed by the Left (whose control of academia, especially in the humanities and social sciences, is hegemonic) because if young people were taught the truth about history, they would oppose the Left’s worldview and oppose the Left’s policies.

Is it a “conspiracy theory” to say that the Left uses its influence within institutions to advance its own aims? Of course not. In fact, this is the exact opposite of the truth: The Left’s claims of how society works (e.g., that the rich become rich by defrauding and exploiting the poor) is itself a conspiracy theory, as are its constants charges that conservatives are secretly acting from corrupt motives or hateful beliefs.

The Left uses dishonest methods, including false accusations against its enemies, because the Left cannot win if people know the truth.

By the way, Lee Stranahan has resigned from Breitbart.com, making him all least the third person (including Dana Loesch and Mandy Nagy) to exit that organization in recent months.

People have asked me about what this means, and I honestly am unable to explain this phenomenon except to say that this is how news organizations operate. People come and people go, and disagreements between journalists are nothing unusual. I’ve witnessed many a shouting match in the newsroom, and even participated in a few myself. It is probably a mistake to interpret these events as demonstrating anything other than human nature in a stressful industry where strong personalities and strong opinions are by no means a rarity.

So I don’t know what else to say, except good luck to Lee Stranahan, and good luck also to my many friends at Bretibart.com.

 

 


65 comments

  1. I found that the Brietbart Bigs underwent significant change post Andrew. It has become 1 dimensional NeoCon-nish and has moved more towards the Commentary style. Of course I’ve been moving politically away from the Trotsky branch of the right and towards more ethno-nationalism.

  2. Stranahan’s point is a solid one. I so wish this were not such a touchy period within the conservative movement; there’s a chance that it’s going to be missed in the present internecine firefight.

    BTW, the image of you involved in a shouting match? How did that usually end? With the other party cowering under a desk, whimpering, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”?

  3. Seems like the yobs hate Stranahan at Politico, and evidently the HotAir types hate him too. I don’t understand the axis of mush that accretes around some newsy-blog orgs. Other than the same thing that’s true of all organizations: they rot from the head down.

    Every time I’ve ventured into that roots of the left argument with a leftist they always get to Godwin faster than a flame thread on usenet.

    People gravitate to the left for the same reason people join gangs. They want personal protection, and to be part of the power structure. This even happens within certain circles that claim to be on the right, which explains Lindsey Graham and John McCain.

  4. Chomsky’s “theory” of language development is not a conservative doctrine. Hence, your use of Chomskyspeak in this post is, shall we say, HIGHLY suspect of your true motivations in posting that psychobabble.

  5. I would note also, the Left has done a marvelous job promoting the idea that Leftism = Intelligence. As a consequence, people are willing to abandon their own common sense in order to be one of the cool kids. I wonder whether the increasing displeasure with O-Care is evidence of the beginning of shift in momentum. That is, people will sacrifice somethings to be seen as part of the “in” group, but when it’s costing them a lot of money which they can see themselves, suddenly self-preservation takes over and cool kids be damned.

  6. What is “ethno-nationalism”? If it’s what I think it is, I’m flagging you and throwing a flare up.

    On second thought, I’m just going to flag you and let the moderators sort it out.

  7. The re-writing of American History and the whitewashing of the Left’s crimes against humanity is only possible because people fail to read what’s being taught to our children as history. The whitewash and the lies have been circulated now for at least two generations of students, so we’re left with parents who don’t know enough to bitch about the lies even if they do take an interest.

  11. “My intentions were always practical, to be converted to honorable as soon as possible.” – “Scar” Gordon, The Glory Road

  12. Of course, if you’re a leftist, there is no need to understand the root of thought. It’s all about feeeeelings.

    Yeah. That’s a great idea for long-term stability.

  17. I have, and always will, declare I am a NeoCon…because I understand the historical aspect of the term…I have studied it, I get it, and I get that it is STILL our last best hope for this country. While others think they are voicing opinions based on “conservative ideals” while forgetting the roots (no, I’m not talking about Barrry Goldwater here) of Conservatism, while they espouse policies devoid of any form of moral foundation, while they cloak themselves in a Constitution they claim to adhere to while ignoring the lives of the very men that wrote it…I gladly stand apart. I gladly take on the mantle of NeoConservatism…because it was out of THAT philosophy that men came who threw off progressivism, who KNEW that this was a country founded on moral and high principles…that the Constitution was not a document to be used for your convenience, but that this document, this rule of law, this declaration of rights, was in and of itself, nothing more than another piece of paper if the people did not guard it with mind, soul, and spirit, and understand that at it’s roots. Knowing, without it having to be written or spoken, there is a Moral basis for it, higher than Man, and that without that Moral basis, it will fade away into oblivion and be yet nothing more than another failed experiment in the history of mankind.

  18. Very interesting rant, particularly given what the Neocons actually are. Neocons are actually Wilsonian crusaders. Wilson thought it was jusdt peachy to get us in to WW1 (the primary cause of WW2 in Europe) and to spread his brand of democracy far and wide. All it got us was better than half a million young men killed and trillions of treasure wasted.

    In the final analysis, Wilson gave us WW2, Korea and Vietnam. He also gave us the Krystals and the Podhoretzes. A lot we could have done without. IT also gave us the the strong leftist infiltration we have seen in the GOP for the last 30 years.

    You wanna be a Neocon, by all means, be my guest. Forgive me, however, when I hold you in contempt.

  19. Stacy wrote:

    The Left — what used to be called “the far Left,” or “the extreme Left,” or simply Commies — has always been willing to exploit anti-Semitism when it suits their purposes.

    One of the greatest victories that the Left has ever achieved is convincing the mass of people that there are extreme or far Leftists – a fringe who take Leftism too far – but that most on the Left are moderate people. A Leftist is a Leftist is a Leftist. Some are smart enough to wear the mask of moderation, but underneath it you will find the same kind of Evil.

    BTW: This is exactly the same tactic employed by the Mohammedins [ex: ‘moderate Muslism’].

  21. Learn something new everyday — like, that the Left’s attempt to destroy Western civilisation by subversion of its bedrock cultural foundations has an actual name and a “school”! This stuff is heavy…

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