Neo-Communism Out of the Closet

Front Page Magazine ^ | 1-17-2013 | David Horowitz - Review & Commentary

[smoothsailing]

January 17, 2013

Neo-Communism Out of the Closet

by David Horowitz

Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States is a ludicrous encapsulation of the Kremlin’s view of the Cold War, amplified by the Castro, Ho Chi Minh, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez, Hamas version of the post-Communist decades. Indeed, America is portrayed by the Stone-Kuznick author-team as such an evil force in the events of the last 75 years, they evoke overt sympathy for the Germans and the Japanese during World War II, as well as for Stalin himself, and then for really any self-declared enemy of the United States, not excluding Saddam Hussein and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

I consider the reception of this latest Stone travesty to be a significant cultural event signifying a final coming out of the closet of what can only be termed the Communist left. It is the well-known views of the Communist left that undeniably constitute the Stone-Kuznick version of the events of the last seventy years, and their portrait of the United States. The fact that Henry Wallace, the hero of their malevolent work, was a Communist and Soviet pawn, is a perfect summary of the pathetic Stalinism that is the heart and soul of the world-view of Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States.

Some years ago I made a case for characterizing the progressive, liberal left, including the organizations that form the heart of the Democratic Party — the government unions, the Soros Shadow Party, the Center for American Progress, and the Netroots activists – as “neo-Communists.” I made the argument for calling them neo-Communists on the basis of the fact that there was no discernible difference between the view these political actors took of American capitalism – corporations are evil, capitalism is bad, America is the great imperialist Satan – and the view taken by the Communists of the Stalin era.

Of course, time changes everyone somewhat. Even Communists like Khrushchev, who spearheaded Stalin’s purges, came to find it politically wise one day to be anti-Stalinists. So with the progressives. They may decry Communists who have been dead for fifty years but they are busily burnishing the Communists’ ideas and preserving their legacies and passing them on in the curricula of our schools and now on cable TV.

In light of these fairly obvious (if widely unspoken) facts, “neo-Communist” seemed to me an apt term to describe progressives and their liberal fellow-travelers. It seemed just as apt a term as, say, “neo-fascist” and more apt a term than “neo-conservative” (since even Norman Podhoretz says that neo-conservatism is no longer distinguishable from conservatism – although for Paul Gottfried and others that is undoubtedly a controversial statement).

What is striking about the Stone-Kuznick myth-making adventure, and the reason I am making these points once again, is its reception. The Untold History has been widely embraced by the leftwing academic establishment, by the Huffington Post pundits, by the Dissent historian, Michael Kazin, by The Nation and by the progressive culture generally (although not, be it said, the New York Times). Even more impressive has been the silence of the liberal lambs. This is in striking contrast to their reaction to the appearance of Stone’s equally awful JFK. When that piece of rot appeared twenty years ago, there were thunderous and near hysterical denunciations of its lies from leading Democratic Party figures. No such dissents have greeted Stone’s Stalinist revival, no outcries over the libels committed on the memories of Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, not to mention America.

I read this as concrete evidence that neo-Communism is alive and well and is now the heart of the progressive movement and the Democratic Party, at least its activist center. I would include in this category the president, his likely new Secretary of State, and his chief political advisors.

[After writing the above I sent it to a conservative academic listserv with the following query: I am interested in the list’s thoughts on this. I would ask one favor, however. Please don’t bring up the fact that few people are still talking about the “dictatorship of the proletariat” or “taking over the means of production” in those words, or identifying themselves as card carrying Communists. First, the left has a history of studied and disciplined mendacity in pursuit of its goals. Second, its goals shift with its accretions of power. Finally, it has been to school with Saul Alinsky (about whom I have written quite a bit) and has absorbed his two main lessons: lie about your agendas; and remember that the end – the destruction of American capitalism – justifies any means.

[There were no responses to my query. I then sent the list this observation: When I posted the question of whether the term "neo-Communist" is not appropriate to describe the current generation of "progressives" I suspected there would be no takers no matter how persuasive the case I made for such an appellation. And that suspicion has been confirmed. What I conclude from this is that the left -- the neo-Communist left if you will -- has been so successful in its ongoing campaign of political intimidation of any critics of its loyalties, allegiances and endorsement of views that are totalitarian in origin and result -- few are willing to risk even speculative thoughts on this matter. I think this is one of the most significant political problems that confronts anyone who wishes to raise his or her voice against this march to serfdom.]

[Diogenesis]

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn at the Commencement, 8 June 1978, Harvard University:

“Western thinking has become conservative:
the world situation should stay as it is at any cost;
there should be no changes. ....
The communist regime in the East could stand and grow due to the enthusiastic support
from an enormous number of Western intellectuals who felt a kinship and refused to see
communism's crimes. And when they no longer could do so, they tried to justify them. In
our Eastern countries, communism has suffered a complete ideological defeat; it is zero
and less than zero. But Western intellectuals still look at it with interest and with
empathy, and this is precisely what makes it so immensely difficult for the West to
withstand the East.”

[rashley]

Thanks for posting.

Commies are insidious and indefatigible. The media are about 85% fellow-travelers with most of the rest being useful idiots - including most of the ones we think are on our side - so they have no worries about widespread exposure. The general populace is too stupid or drugged-out to care. That leaves precious few to fight them.

[Rummyfan]

Oliver Stone has done way too much LSD and coke. He still had the reputation to get this drivel produced and broadcast, but I would no sooner take his version of history than I would take his version of Maxwell’s Equations. In other words he’s a certifiable loon. And shame on Showtime, bunch of money whores who would broadcast anything.

[ReformationFan]

Looking at Washington and Hollywood, I think it’s been out of that closet for a long time.

[Honorary Serb]

obama is a neo-communist without the “neo”. And he’s a Muhammadan, too. Phooey!!!!

[Rummyfan]

The general populace is too stupid or drugged-out to care.

And therein lies the problem.

[DJ Taylor]

"The general populace is too stupid or drugged-out to care."

And they elected Obama not just once but twice to prove it.

[cartan]

Yet don’t anybody dare question their patriotism, eh?

[oldbrowser]

Someone said that in order to have a democracy we need an informed electorate.
An uniformed citizenry functions better under a dictatorship.

I look at the news and it's consumed by a football player with a dead imaginary girlfriend or a bicyclist who cheated on some races. Movies are mostly about raunchiness and fabricated history. Voters have reelected an unqualified scoundrel as our leader.

I think we are raging against the dying of the light.

[Travis McGee]

[vanilla swirl]

But who’s on Dancing with the Stars?

[indthkr]

Horowitz bump for later.......

[smoothsailing]

I think we are raging against the dying of the light.

I would prefer to think we are beginning to hear the distant roar of a new awakening. Faint at first, but gradually growing louder. A new birth of liberty.

(my wife says I'm a terminal optimist)

[Bikkuri]

I almost downloaded one of these.. until I saw it was Oliver Stone.. I knew then that it was a pile of horsecrap :p

I almost want to watch it to see the crap they are spewing, but, I am sure, it would just p!ss me off more :\

[Bikkuri]

"An uniformed~"

That one threw me for a loop.. (a/an)..

Thankfully, I realized you meant uninformed after finishing reading your whole post.. I reread it and it fell into place :)

Not complaining (I make typos ALL the time ;))..

[oldbrowser]

"An uniformed~"

Sorry, proofreading too fast.

[Bikkuri]

Lol.. no worries... Just wanted to throw that in in case any other readers may have been left scratching their heads ;)
I have made much worse typos... as a matter of fact.. I actually took a screencap of another FReeper a couple of years ago whrn he made really funny typo..which actually made the post better (and more precise).. Wish I could find it, I am sure I have it in my thousands of pics.. but been through several system changes since then (WiN/Linux.. and lots of screencaps). Seriously, I sent him a (jokingly) PM saying it was saved for the ages.. he laughed and said it would find it’s way back here someday ;)

Dangit.. wish I could remember what it was... it was 1 small typo that made it a little vulgar (but was innocent typo ;))

[oldbrowser]

"I would prefer to think we are beginning to hear the distant roar of a new awakening."

Possibly the people will wake up before it's too late.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Very timely - a letter to the editor to the WSJ where Stone and his butt-buddy Kuznick here were saying that Henry Wallace was a great guy, nice to kittens and children, and never even had an impure thought. Apparently there had been some previous letter or article that said that Wallace was such a commie that even FDR shoved him overboard for cozying up to the USSR.