Bolshevik Subversive Conor Friedersdorf: Innocent ‘Liberal’ Dupe or Red Agent?
Posted on | February 2, 2013 | 13 Comments
“The Communists (we must give them credit for many things) are intelligent, are well disciplined, and take their orders direct from Moscow and are proud of it. . . .
“Not only is Soviet Russia trying to wipe out all forms of religion, but it is successful in doing it.”
— Rep. Hamilton Fish (R-New York), “The Menace of Communism” (1931)
“Anyone who opposes the American communists . . . becomes the object of a systematic campaign of character assassination. This is easily understood because the basic tactics of the Communist Party are deceit and trickery. . . .
“The Communist propaganda technique is designed to promote emotional response with the hope that the victim will be attracted by what he is told the Communist way of life holds in store for him. The objective, of course, is to develop discontent and hasten the day when the Communists can gather sufficient support and following to overthrow the American way of life.
“Communist propaganda is always slanted in the hope that the Communist may be aligned with liberal progressive causes.”
— J. Edgar Hoover, testifying before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, March 26, 1947
One of the dangers of doomsaying prophecy is that if the predicted disaster does not happen immediately, and in exactly the way predicted, not only is the prophet discredited, but his failure will invariably be cited to dismiss any similar doomsday warning in the future. So if you predict that Dangerous Trend X will lead to Catastrophic Consequence Y, you can expect to be derided as a laughingstock if the actual result proves to be Unfortunate Outcome Z.
A certain modesty in regard to the future is therefore necessary when warning against potential dangers, because complex causation and the Law of Unintended Consequeces have a way of falsifying prophecies that are too detailed and specific. What sometimes happens is that a danger is foreseen, the alarm is sounded, measures are taken to prevent the danger and then — by a dishonest perversion of logic — cynics will claim that the danger successfully averted never really existed, and that those who warned against the danger were deceitful charlatans.
We ought to be wise to such tactics, especially when they are employed to rewrite history that we actually know. Barely two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Empire, liberals would have us believe that the Red Menace never existed, that communism never posed a real danger to the American way of life, and that the courageous efforts of American anti-communists were therefore a comical farce.
Such is the effect (and one must assume, the purpose) of Conor Friederdorf’s article at The Atlantic, “Pornography ‘Weakens our Resistance to the Communist Masters of Deceit.'” Friedersdorf ridicules a 1961 documentary, Perversion for Profit, that warned against the evil influence of pornography. It probably won’t surprise you that the title of Friedersdorf’s article is taken out of context from the film’s script:
“The Military Chaplains Association of the United States, practically every major fraternal, civic and religious organization, the juvenile court judges, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, innumerable psychiatrists, sociologists and psychologists, attribute the moral decay among our people in very large part to the obscene and pornographic literature so prevalent in our society. This moral decay weakens our resistance to the communist masters of deceit.”
Facts are stated: Various organizations and individuals have warned that pornography contributes to “moral decay” — would anyone argue otherwise, even today? — and in turn, it is asserted, this decay undermines “resistance” to communism. That warning doesn’t strike me as particularly far-fetched, either: A nation of wankers, perverts and degenerates would be ill-positioned to oppose the disciplined forces of a totalitarian opponent.
Perhaps Friedersdorf is too young to understand the extent to which America’s resistance to communism was based in religious faith. Given the militant atheist ideology of Marxism and the knowledge that communist governments suppressed and persecuted Christians, it was always the case that anti-communism was most fervent and determined where religious belief was most devout. If pornography was an agent of moral corruption — which it most certainly was, and still is — wasn’t pornography therefore also a threat to religious faith and, in turn, a force that could do exactly what the film warned against, weakening resistance to “the communist masters of deceit”?
That particular phrase, incidentally, is from the title of a 1958 book by J. Edgar Hoover, Masters of Deceit: The Story of Communism and How to Fight It, and the question ought to be asked: Does Conor Friedersdorf think the threat of Soviet subversion was a figment of right-wing imagination? Is he mocking anti-communism? Does Friedersdorf mean to suggest that the demoralizing influence of pornography was misunderstood or exaggerated by the producers of the documentary, Perversion for Profit?
Here is the problem: If the documentary helped inspire patriotic Americans to oppose the dissemination of pornography, and if this opposition was effective to any significant degree — so that pornography was less available than it might otherwise have been — how can we say that the danger was exaggerated? Stipulate that nearly all anti-communist messages from the Cold War era now sound quaintly obsolete, and that this documentary in particular manifests a cornball “square” mentality that doesn’t translate well to the ironic disposition of 21st-century culture. Despite all such caveats, can anyone watch this 30-minute documentary and say, as Friedersdorf does, that it is ridiculous, absurd and impossible to take seriously?
Maybe among Friedersdorf and his friends, pornography is entirely commonplace and acceptable, so that any warning against it seems as ludicrous as being called a “Bolshevik subversive.” Or is it perhaps the case that, in the half-century since Perversion for Profit was produced, the Bolshevik subversives have been so diligent in undermining our nation’s morality that they have finally succeeded, even though the Soviet Union — the foreign menace that originally inspired their anti-American activities — crumbled into the ash-heap of history in 1991?
Thus is falsified the adage that the winners write the history books. The communists lost the Cold War, yet their sympathizers now dominate academia and publishing in America to such an extent that we must be lectured by Friedersdorf about the harmlessness of pornography, and about the supposed “asburdity” of moral degeneracy as a subversive weapon of the communist menace.
Friedersdorf continues to claim that he is a conservative, despite the observable fact that his entire journalistic career has been an incessant assault on the conservative movement and its leaders. It’s almost as if Friedersdorf’s “basic tactics . . . are deceit and trickery.”
Prepping The Next Conflict
Posted on | February 2, 2013 | 18 Comments
by Smitty
Hector Timerman has refused to meet representatives of the Falkland Islands government, which Argentina does not recognise as legitimate.
The islanders were expected to tell Mr Timerman that Buenos Aires should respect islanders’ rights and leave them in peace.
Fortunately for Argentina, #OccupyResoluteDesk doesn’t care about Malvinas, Melvins or the Maldives. Endives aren’t looking good, either. Are the British going to do a thing if there is another flare-up? Doubt it. The last Falklands War, back in the Thatcher era, was right at the edge the Royal Navy’s capabilities. The best the Brits can hope from from the Anglosphere is an Obama speech wherein he decries violence, regrets the mess Bush made of international relations, uses a lot of personal pronouns, and hopes the Brits don’t forget to thank him for being wonderful.
via Drudge
Daniel Hannan Quotes Our Declaration Of Independence To The Eurocrats
Posted on | February 2, 2013 | 7 Comments
by Smitty
Logophile bonus: about halfway through, he uses ‘peregrination‘, which is not what you get from the Governor of Texas when he hears a joke.
A Scandal Too Far: Steve Capus Terminated as NBC News President
Posted on | February 2, 2013 | 11 Comments
The New York Times spins it this way:
The longest-serving president of any of the three network news divisions, Steve Capus of NBC News, stepped down from his position on Friday, six months after Comcast restructured its news units in a way that diminished his authority.
Exactly how voluntary was this “stepping down”? John Nolte points to the scandal-plagued tenure of Capus at NBC News:
- During last year’s presidential election, Andrea Mitchell was caught manufacturing a Romney gaffe where none existed.
- During last year’s GOP primary, Ed Schultz edited video of Texas Governor Rick Perry to make him look racist.
- In April of last year, the “Today Show” was caught editing audio of a 9-1-1 call to make George Zimmerman look racist.
- In August of 2009, Contessa Brewer sliced and diced a photograph so it wouldn’t look like a black man attended a Tea Party carrying a firearm.
- Just this week, NBC News maliciously edited video of a town council meeting to make it look as though Second Amendment civil rights activists heckled a parent who lost his son in Newtown.
The network should place an ad on Craigslist: “NBC News is now hiring a Democrat News Executive. Ethics and objectivity optional.”
Help Wanted: Clairvoyant Police
Posted on | February 2, 2013 | 8 Comments
In Atlanta, an armed police officer in a school — y’know, like the NRA has recommended — disarmed a shooter after only one person was injured. This good news wasn’t good enough for Piers Morgan:
REVEALED: Armed guard was NOT able to stop Atlanta school shooting – sltrib.com/sltrib/world/5…
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 1, 2013
The link Piers provided goes to a story titled “Armed guard disarmed teen in Atlanta school shooting, police chief says.” Is he suggesting the officer failed because he didn’t stop the shooting before a single shot was fired? Isn’t that moving the goal posts quite a bit? No one suggested putting psychic cops in schools just cops.
We need police with ESP who can foresee events before they occur and prevent them from happening. Or we need to deport Piers Morgan.
Typical Democrat Voters™
Posted on | February 1, 2013 | 31 Comments
And by “typical Democrat voters,” of course, I mean guys named Mendoza who have sex with horses:
I then moved the horse’s tail and put my [penis], which was already hard, in the horse and started [having sexual intercourse with] the horse. The horse did not try to move or nothing, it just stood there while I was [having sexual intercourse with] it. I guess the horse was liking it.
I’m not making this up. This is from a sworn affidavit, ladies and gentlemen, and I’m certain this man was a Democrat voter because, after the 2009 horse-sex charge, Mendoza was subsequently arrested on charges of indecency with a child and hanged himself in jail.
When Ace of Spades linked that article, I noticed the “related” column at the Smoking Gun had lots of stories about Typical Democrat Voters™ — for example, Sarah and Shane Walker of Arizona:
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies busted Walker, her husband Shane, a 38-year-old flight attendant, and Robert Aucker, 29, on a felony count of conspiring to commit an act of bestiality.
According to a probable cause affidavit, an undercover investigator earlier this month spotted a Craigslist ad titled “Wife looking for a K9” . . . During an exchange of e-mails with the targets, the undercover detective was told that the husband and wife “wanted a male dog to have sexual intercourse with the wife.”
At one point during the correspondence, the investigator was “offered sexual favors with the wife before the bestiality would occur,” the affidavit reports.
The Walkers and Aucker were arrested . . . when they traveled to a hotel to meet up with the undercover “for what they believed would be bestiality.” According to investigators, Sarah said she and her husband were “swingers.” She also copped to telling her husband and Aucker that she “wanted a dog to have sex with her.”
Again, I’m not making this up — sworn affidavit.
Typical Democrat Voters™ are not only non-judgmental “swingers,” they’re also occasionally dog-sex porn video producers:
Diane Whalen, 55, and her boyfriend were arrested in late-June after Whalen’s son discovered explicit videos in his mother’s home and turned them over to Tulsa cops. . . .
Donald Seigfried, 55, allegedly filmed Whalen during these acts.
Once again — sworn affidavit by Detective Jeremy Yerton, who viewed the DVD “Mama’s Loving Boys” and described the contents:
The video shows the same white female nude from the waist down. . . . The canine is observed licking the female’s vagina as the female is bent over the couch. The video further shows the female coaxing the canine in between her legs and she inserted the canine’s erect penis and the canine proceed to engage in sexual intercourse with her until the canine ejaculates on her. The female is telling the canine to ‘F–k me.’
The female later gets down on the floor with the canine and the female takes the canine’s penis and puts it in her mouth and performs oral sex with the canine.
You can read the entire affidavit, which reports that investigators confiscated 193 DVDs and 67 VHS tapes of this stuff produced by Typical Democrat Voters™ Diane Whalen and Donald Siegfried.
Many readers are probably saying that this is sick and disgusting, because our readers are mostly Republicans. However, it’s important to remember that (a) Obama was re-elected, and (b) the HBO series Girls starring Lena Dunham is reportedly very popular. Clearly, Republican voters are “out of touch” with the cultural trends that led to Obama’s victory, Dunham’s popularity and people having sex with animals.
Kurt Schlicter says conservatives must try to understand these kind of trends, “acquaint yourself with pop culture sufficiently to participate in the discussion it sparks.” Typical Democrat Voters™ are the future of America. And frankly, that’s why the country’s going to the dogs.
Ancient Rock’n’Roll Factoid Of The Day
Posted on | February 1, 2013 | 8 Comments
by Smitty
Did not know this:
The name of Claude Nobs will be forever enshrined in Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water, the song with perhaps the most famous riff in rock history. Nobs was a co-founder of the Montreaux Jazz Festival, which by the early 1970s had grown to embrace rock artists such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. In 1971, the Montreaux casino caught fire during a performance by Frank Zappa after an audience member fired a flare gun at the ceiling. Nobs dragged a number of concert goers to safety earning himself the title Funky Claude in Deep Purple’s song.
Related lyric:
They burned down the gambling house,
It died with an awful sound.
(Uh) Funky Claude was running in and out,
Pulling kids out the ground.
When it all was over,
We had to find another place.
But Swiss time was running out,
It seemed that we would lose the race.
Smoke on the water and fire in the sky.
Smoke on the water…
Rest in peace, Funky Claude.
via Dan Collins
Bad News: Low-End Plan Costs $20 Large.
Good News: We Know What It Says
Posted on | February 1, 2013 | 6 Comments
by Smitty
In a final regulation issued Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year.
$20 large is rather dear for “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning,” isn’t it? Especially at an outfit with such an illustrious history.
A credible political platform could be built upon the idea of taking a wrecking ball to the tax code and just letting it go. And ObamaCare with it.