Google & read Tom Wolfe’s 1970 classic, “Radical Chic and Mau Mauing the Flack Catchers”.
The Bernsteins’ reception & party for the Black Panthers was pure Stockholm Syndrome. Wealthy Manhattan liberals schmoozing with worthless hoodlums who’d have gladly slit all their throats had no parallel until the modern version of dhimmi infidels sucking up to muzzie terrorists who BTW make the Panthers look like pathetic punks.
I used to have some New York Philharmonic LPs with Lenny conducting, but as the libs like to say, the personal is the political and after reading Radical Chic I lost all respect for the once great maestro.
I found an old paperback copy of Wolfe’s ‘Radical Chic...’ ages ago at a used bookstore and still have it. One of his best works, with ‘The Right Stuff’ close behind.
Both need to be re-read every five years or so.
Never much cared for Lenny. The less said about him, the better.
The first part of the Wolfe book is linked in my initial post. I remember when Buckley quoted from it in one of his articles.
One of the popular features of every issue was one of my original social satire poems or political doggerel. Below is an article and poem of mine exactly as it was published in the May, 1970 issue.
(An interesting sidelight is that one of my subscribers was the late Thomas Ayers, president and CEO of Commonwealth Edison, based in Chicago, Illinois. I never put two and two together till many years later that I read he was the father of Obama's best bud, Bill Ayers. Young Bill was already planting bombs in 1969 with the radical Weathermen organization).
Here's the article and my poem.......
"Mrs. Leonard Bernstein, wife of the conductor, recently gave a party in her plush Manhattan apartment to raise defense money for twenty-one Black Panthers and other militants indicted on charges of plotting to kill New York policemen and to dynamite midtown department stores, police stations and railroads.
Mrs. Bernstein, who founded the womens' division of the New York Civil Liberties Union, invited a group of Panthers to the party to talk and mix with her elegant leftist society friends. The Panthers, who openly despise the wealthy socialites, nevertheless accepted their monetary contributions to aid in the revolutionary movement. During the party, Donald Cox, Panther 'Field Marshal', gave a little speech outlining his organization's goals, which include violent overthrow of the government and the imposition of a communist economic system in the U.S.
Then everyone at the party had a good time among the expensive furnishings, the elaborate flower arrangements, the cocktails and the hors d'oeuvres.
THE ELEGANT SLUMMERS
Mrs. B sat on the floor, clad in pantsuit by Dior
As she welcomed all the Panthers to her upper-crust soiree
It was a social plummet for Mrs. Sidney Lumet
But one must admit the whole affair was charmingly chi-chi
Dear Mrs. Peter Duchin learned gobs of revolution
As she nibbled pate foie gras dipped in rare imported cheese
Nouveau Riche and Broadway Star stuffed themselves with caviar
As they ooh-ed and aah-ed at all the latest Marxist theo-ries
Midst the cocktails and canapes, chandeliers and velvet drapes
The Panthers knocked the Country and the System and the Pigs
Socialistic plans were told, communism was extolled
And the ones that cheered the loudest were the wealthy New York prigs
Then somebody passed the hat, out came the wallets fat
And the guests donated to the revolutionary crew
Mrs. Lumet gave a sigh, "Oh, these fabulous Masai
I haven't had so darn much fun since the days of my debut"
They do have fun and games, these effete New York names
As they undermine the system that provides them with their dough
But there is a shining ray - if the Panthers get their way
The fortunes of these dilletantes will be the first to go"
(Note: Mrs. Sidney Lumet was Gloria Vanderbilt, mother of CNN's Anderson Cooper by another husband).
Just think, I wrote the above 42 years ago....and the "picture" painted still holds true today both in ideology and reality.
Leni/MinuteGal