Replies

A fascinating character and clearly one of the historical characters used as a model by Griffith for his hero "Killer" McCoy.

I find Carlsons flirtation with the left fascinating and worthy of exploration. Evidently, he was remarkably successful in inculcating unit cohesion by copying the Communist Chinese methods which he described as, "gung ho."

For some time I have been suggesting that there is tremendous psychological power which comes to the individual when he surrenders his ego. Understanding the power of this phenomenon imparts understanding of the power of the left over the mind of those in the cult. This is part and parcel of the evangelical Christian experience, for example. The left induces the individual to surrender himself and his own identity and submerge it into the group instead of God. When the individual accomplishes this, he is rewarded with a wave of emotions and a feeling of well-being, integrity, identity, and belonging which replace an aching unease and sense of apartness which plague so many in this world. This phenomenon has been well recorded by psychologists.

I believe this has much to offer in explaining the power of the left and and why lefties are immune to logic, why their political alignment is a matter of emotion and not of logic and therefore immune to reason. One might say that the Marine Corps, for example, strips away the ego of the recruit in boot camp and replaces it with a group a identity. "Once a Marine, always a Marine." It seems that Carlson has taken this one step further. It is interesting that he insisted that his men be indoctrinated politically.

It also might explain why the Democrats are so invested in identity politics. Why they see the world as a collection of groups rather than as individuals. Why, for example, healthcare or college admissions should be doled out not to individuals but to group recipients.

Carlson was an extraordinary Marine and an extraordinary American. I do not know much about his politics, but I do not like what I see. However, it is important to see what he is doing in the context of 1920-1947 and not in the context of what we know today about how murderous the Chinese Communists really were from the perspective of the 21st century.