Kerry Urges Congress to Honor Communist

Kerry, Fonda, et al, Commies to the end:

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=4580

Surely Kerry can't believe this describes today's America. But if not, why has he decided to make the late Mr. Hughes the poet laureate of his campaign?

Just a few years before "America," Hughes wrote the most controversial poem of his career called "Goodbye Christ." Here are a few lines:

"Listen Christ/You did all right in your day, I reckon--But that day's gone now. . . .

". . .Make way for a new guy with no religion at all/A real guy named Marx Communism Lenin Peasant Stalin Worker ME--I said 'ME'" So "Go ahead on now/ You're getting in the way of things, Lord, and please take Saint Ghandi [sic] with you when you go. . ..Move! Don't be so slow about movin'!"

Kerry's decision to transform the title of Hughes' "America" into his apparent campaign slogan--as well as write an introduction to a new collection of Hughes' poems (will "Goodbye Christ," which Hughes repudiated in 1954, be among them?)--suggests the Massachusetts senator is still at one with the Left.

August 23, 2004 -- WASHINGTON Disabled World War II hero and former presidential candidate Bob Dole demanded yesterday that John Kerry apologize for insulting Vietnam vets and ripped him because he collected "three Purple Hearts and never bled."

Dole's bombshell rebuke came after a group of anti-Kerry vets shot holes in his war-hero record claims in TV ads and the Kerry campaign ripped the riled vets as GOP operatives.

Dole lashed out at Kerry for disparaging Vietnam vets in 1971, when Kerry said U.S. troops raped civilians, cut off ears and razed villages.

"Maybe he should apologize to all the other 2.5 million veterans who served," Dole said. "He wasn't the only one in Vietnam."

Dole whose right arm is limp from wounds suffered as an infantry officer on the front lines in Italy more than a half-century ago lambasted Kerry as undeserving of the Purple Hearts.

"And as far as I know, he's never spent one day in the hospital," Dole said.

"I don't think he draws any disability pay. He doesn't have any disability. And boasting about three Purple Hearts when you think of some of the people who really got shot up in Vietnam."

Dole, a former Kansas senator, said Kerry brought the attack ads on by hyping his Vietnam service.

"I said months ago, 'John, don't go too far,' " Dole said. "And I think he's got himself into this wicket now where he can't extricate himself because not every one of these people can be Republican liars."

Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton said, "It's unfortunate that Sen. Dole is making statements that official U.S. Navy records prove false. This is partisan politics, not the truth."

In another development, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, whose two ads blasting Kerry's war record have rocked the presidential campaign, deny Democrats' claims that they're props for the GOP.

"Our message is our message and no one tells us what to say," Swift Boat vet Van Odell said on "Fox News Sunday."

A CBS poll shows Kerry's support among veterans has dropped 10 points since the group began advertising.

It appears the Bush administration has expressed its own "support" of this "radical icon" :

>>We see the greatness of America in those who have risen above injustice and enriched our society, a greatness reflected in the resolve of Jackie Robinson, the intellect of W.E.B. DuBois , and the talent of Louis Armstrong.<<

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030131-34.html

>>> W.E.B. Du Bois was a critic, editor, scholar, author, civil rights leader, and one of the most influential African Americans of both the 19th and 20th centuries.<<

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/africanamerican

>>> The writers of the Harlem Renaissance, whom we focus on today, celebrated their culture in poetry and prose while capturing the stark realities of being black in America. In committing their words to paper, they shaped a rich literary history and became agents of change.

W.E.B. Du Bois' character in The Souls of Black Folk captured the frustration of many with the words: "How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word."

[...]

The words of these writers opened us to the truth at a time when it most needed to be heard. <<<

http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/news-speeches/speeches/fl20020313.html

Well, George and Laura Bush certainly don't seem to have a problem recommending Langston Hughes to American readers:

>>This month, and throughout the year, let us celebrate and remember these stories, which reflect the history of African Americans and all Americans. We can all enjoy the works of writers like Paul Laurence Dunbar, James Weldon Johnson, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes. <<<
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/02/20010201-2.html

>>White House Symposium on the Harlem Renaissance

"I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

--Langston Hughes (1925)

The second in the White House Salute to America's Authors series, the Symposium on the Harlem Renaissance celebrated the diverse writers of this revolutionary time. The keynote address was delivered by Pulitzer Prize winning author David Levering Lewis. Following his address were two panel discussions.

The first panel focused on the historical and literary importance of the era and included Langston Hughes biographer Arnold Rampersad of Stanford University; <<<

http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/initiatives/harlemrenaissance.html

>>Langston Hughes lamented the inequalities around him in I, too, sing America… and, in Harlem (2), he asked, "What happens to a dream deferred?"

The words of these writers opened us to the truth at a time when it most needed to be heard. For instance, in Hughes' poem "Freedom", he writes:

Some folks think
By burning churches
They burn
Freedom.
Some folks think
By imprisoning me
They imprison
Freedom.
Some folks think
By killing a man
They kill
Freedom.
But Freedom
Stands up and laughs
In their faces
And says,
No -
Not so!
No!

The Harlem Renaissance brought great change to American letters and it broadened the influence of literature and social commentary. <<<

http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/news-speeches/speeches/fl20020313.html

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