I have the opportunity to challenge a young college age friend to think. We have been e-mailing our thoughts and politics for some time. He sent me a piece written by Howard Zinn.
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Why does everyone left of center get equated on this site? Zinn is a horrible historian with no respect among his colleagues. His only readers are radical partisans. Forgive me for tooting my own horn, but my biography of Barry Goldwater was solid enough to receive glowing reviews in the National Review, Weekly Standard, and Human Events, AS WELL AS left-wing outlets.
"Why does everyone left of center get equated on this site?"
Mr. Perlstein, you are a liberal and YOU equate yourself, simply by attempting to escape that tag by using "left of center," you are hard left. The point of my response to your request was simple, liberals espouse the same basic rhetoric, there is nothing original. You quote each other and write for the recognition of your leftist peers. A biography of Barry Goldwater is hardly epic and will not let you off the hook. Regarding Howard Zinn, he is a "horrible historian" as you say, but I will add that he is dangerous, reckless and tampers with our fragile system of democracy as though it were a game. Unfortunately, I find that many liberals commit the same crime every time they open their mouth and I find that few rarely believe what they espouse, they just are challenged with wanting the element of shock and want to be recognized by their elite circle of peers. Some want to destroy our democracy and that is when it becomes dangerous.