Hentoff gave major, early, in-depth coverage for Terri Schiavo and other victims of the Deathocracy you probably never even heard of.
Hentoff initially mounted a one-man campaign to support Sarah Palin, practically introduced her to the hapless, feckless McCain.
Hentoff publicized and wrote liner notes almost 50 years ago for Doc Watson, the greatest flat-picking acoustic guitar artist ever was, here in my beloved Southern Appalachia. For that alone, Nat owns my heart.
And he does a high percentage of his own thinking.
Something I'd like to see more of, here on Free Republic.
And, I've heard tell that he also conducted the early interview of Bob Dylan for Playboy. (I've heard tell that). Course, the usual suspects get a-twitching at a Dylan mention. There's another one who does his own thinking!
Folks, I appreciate that this guy may have got something right.
And as a Jazz fan who can tell the diffence in three notes or less between Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, I don’t have any issue with his writing about music. I think that is great.
But, as the saying goes, a stopped clock is right twice a day. This guy was an avowed apologist for communism, and again, the fact that someone like I.F. Stone was his mentor and someone who he greatly admired speaks volumes about him.
I’m glad he stuck up for Terry Schavio. I’m heartened that he thought Palin was fine. I think it is great he stuck up for College students who were being oppressed.
The fact is, you cannot have it both ways. If he was doing thinking for himself, then he wasn’t doing a very good job of it if he thinks the rights of oppressed college students are important, but it is okay to overlook the faults of a bloodthirsty ideology responsible for tens of millions of deaths and hundreds of millions more living oppressed lives or imprisioned in Gulags. There is a severe cognitive dissonance in his “own thinking”.
At the risk of invoking Godwin’s Law, they say that Hitler liked his dogs and Stalin was fond of children. I am sure that this man had his redeeming virtues, but his support whether overt in his columns or through his contribution to the profitability of a despicable publication that is a shill for leftists and tyrants has disabled my inclination to overlook those faults.
The fact that for so many years he earned his daily bread from a publication like the Village Voice which is virulently opposed to any value we as conservatives and/or Americans hold high should highlight that fact.
I take umbrage at your implied criticism of someone critical of this person as indicative of a lack of being able to think for myself.
I take the time to think long and hard about these issues. My personal dedication to this cause of understanding the issues as a responsibility as a citizen took a serious hit when I realized all the months and years I have spent staying on top of the issues (so I could make an informed choice when voting) were ill spent along those lines because my vote was negated by a stupid idiot on television who thought that getting Obama into office would take care of her mortgage and gas money. But I am not giving up.
As I get older, I am less inclined to overlook the ideology of entertainers. I used to enjoy Roger Waters until I saw him in concert a while back, and ended up sitting there and steaming in silence because I didn’t want to ruin for anyone else I was with because of his overt politicization of his entertainment. I blame myself for not recognizing it in advance. But I am no longer willing to give people points for their cultural contributions they dole out on one when balanced against their support of political or ideological forces that are dedicated to destroying the fabric of our society.
These people hold a lot of power in our society, and I am not willing to grant that to them any longer. This guy falls in that category. Maybe he has had a change of heart as he gets older, but it doesn’t look that way to me.
So, in an effort to make sure we all get along, I will moderate my criticism of this man and call him a “Useful Idiot” which gives him some benefit of the doubt. Perhaps that is more generous than “POS”.
...Amen to that Mrs. and bravo, Doc Watson...