[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The Leftists have an Agenda.......

There is a book,:

Unholy Alliance : Radical Islam and the American Left (Hardcover)

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And a review:

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Communism is dead. Long live Islam!, September 30, 2004

Reviewer:

Kevin Beckman (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

It sounds absurd: why would Leftists make common cause with a religion that is diametrically opposed to everything the Left stands for? David Horowitz explains that it is really quite logical given the Left's first principle: America is evil and anything or anyone opposed to America is good.

Part I of the book is a brief history of 9/11 through the end of major combat operations in Iraq, and the Left's behavior during this time. Horowitz includes the reaction of Katha Pollitt of The Nation magazine: "The flag stands for vengeance, and jingoism, and war." Anthropology Professor Nicholas De Genova of Columbia University said he hoped for "a million Mogadishus." His colleagues objected, not to the despicable sentiment, but because of the bad publicity it brought their "teach-in." Our tax dollars at work!

Part II is the heart of the book: a history of the American and international Left. Horowitz calls them Neo-Communists or Neocoms. The Neocoms of old believed in the Soviet Union the way religious people believe in God. Those who spied for the USSR didn't see themselves as traitors to their country, but rather loyalists to humanity and an ideal of America that's never existed. When the Soviet Union fell, a few of them stopped for some introspection but most pressed on as if nothing happened. Communist historian Eric Hobsbawm put it nicely: "Without the Revolution, my life and my work are meaningless."

Now that they no longer have to defend an indefensible regime, modern Neocoms are simply nihilists. They know what they oppose but they have no plans for the aftermath of the revolution which they still believe will happen. They don't know what they want, but they know what they hate: the United States, capitalism personified.

So why are they allying with radical Islam? Horowitz says that the Neocoms still believe in Marx's dictum that "religion is the opiate of the masses." Once private property is abolished, the need for religion will vanish, and Islamic radicals will stop being Islamic and radical. The only thing standing in the way is the United States.

Sound insane? It is. They are. I highly recommend this book. Horowitz makes the insanity understandable.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

It's on my list of books.

I've been reading a bunch of stuff written between 1999 and 2003 about the WOT...interesting to see what they say (hits and misses) and today.

And of course, Godless.

When that's done, this will be next.

[stopem]

Thanks, I will look for the book this weekend,I have one book to read first. Perhaps this will explain the unexplainable.

[GOPJ]

Now that they no longer have to defend an indefensible regime, modern Neocoms are simply nihilists. They know what they oppose but they have no plans for the aftermath of the revolution which they still believe will happen. They don't know what they want, but they know what they hate: the United States, capitalism personified.

So why are they allying with radical Islam? Horowitz says that the Neocoms still believe in Marx's dictum that "religion is the opiate of the masses." Once private property is abolished, the need for religion will vanish, and Islamic radicals will stop being Islamic and radical. The only thing standing in the way is the United States.

This is the first explanation that fits. I've known these kinds of people. Years ago, I knew kids who were going to vote for Goldwater because they thought his election would bring on the revolution. Just based on his election! It seemed so out of touch. But extreme liberals saw their politics as an extension of who they were - and being a radical commie had connotations of cool -- being "with it" - and somehow antiestablishment. Edgy. Intellectual.

Which was never really true, as communism was just one more horrible totalitarian doctrine - an especially brutal one at that, but reality's a different story than the fantasy they held of their own uniqueness.

Useful idiots had their fun, people died. Neocoms became Unitarian, went on retreats, made silly (profound) independent movies, got jobs teaching at Universities, and created the cultural elite.

I think Horowitz is right. I'll do an Amazon on his book. Thanks for the ping.