In Defense of Diana West (important read)

JR Nyquist ^ | 04/30/2014 | JR Nyquist

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

In Defense of Diana West

By J.R. Nyquist

Commentary for 27 April 2014

There is great confusion in our political discourse today. “Former” Communists in Russia are sounding more and more like conservatives. The same might be said of “former” Communists in the United States. Everyone talks a good anti-Communist line. After all, Communism is dead, and only exists (we are told) as an artifact of college life. Most people are focused on Global Warming, multiculturalism or homosexual rights. Nobody seems to notice that Global Warming, multiculturalism and homosexual rights are artifacts of the supposedly “dead” religion (some of whose acolytes have become “conservatives”). Well, there are a few of us – a small minority – who see what is happening. As a member of this minority I feel as if a cold wilderness has swallowed me up. I do not feel represented by the big foundations, or the conservative “smart set.” And so, when Diana West’s American Betrayal was published, and received favorable attention, I was excited and hopeful. But then, predictably, the celebrity pundits of the alternative Left (i.e., the Republican Right) began to attack Wests book, starting with David Horowitz and Ronald Radosh. There had to be, in the greater scheme of things, an attempt to kill the book. It was getting too much attention, and God knows what would have happened if somebody had not intervened.

It all began when Mr. Horowitz removed a positive review of West’s book from his Frontpage website, replacing it with a negative review by Ronald Radosh, titled McCarthy On Steroids. Baring his fangs, Radosh proved to be the Alternative Left’s junkyard dog. He alleged that West’s book was full of “yellow journalism conspiracy theories.” He described Mrs. West as Joseph McCarthy’s “heiress” and attacked her scholarship. It was, in fact, no review at all. It was a dishonest, poorly devised, hit-piece. Little wonder that Radosh was rhetorically impaled for his review of Blacklisted by History when historian M. Stanton Evans commented on Radosh’s “extensive” lack of knowledge “made the worse by the strange inventions with which the discourse [was] salted.” Evans wondered how such an egregious poseur could set up shop as an “Olympian arbiter” when he knew so little about the topic (the same topic Radosh's ignorance deployed in attacking Mrs. West). Evans mused, “It is quite a puzzle.”

Here, indeed, we approach a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Here we have, from the website of a famous “conservative” (and former Marxist) pundit, a studied misrepresentation of a tremendously important book – a book that can open people’s eyes to the historical roots of our present malaise. Although the snarling poseur has been exposed as a drooling incompetent, there has been no apology or backtracking on the part of Mr. Horowitz. When offered a chance to moderate his position, Horowitz dug himself into a deeper hole. During a question and answer session at the Heritage Foundation, Horowitz was challenged on this issue by Dr. Sebastian Gorka. Below is a brief transcript of the exchange:

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

For those unfamiliar with this manufactured controversy by Horowitz, I recommend Freepers become familiar with the specifics. This is an important article which not only defends West, but also exposes those of our movement, allegedly in our ranks, who make use of Communist rhetorical techniques to attack anti-communist works such as West's. We see a lot of this same methodology being used even by "conservative" defenders of the Kremlin. We, as a movement, need to be aware of the techniques Communists use to subvert, and who in our ranks are making use of these techniques.

[elhombrelibre]

Putin made a conscious decision about two or three years ago to infest heavily in various media to promote the image that he was the conservative alternative that US conservatives should admire. Meanwhile, his own secret police were and are deeply in bed with the Iranian secret police, and he’s been helping the mad mullah become a nuclear weapons power.

[Jane Long]

Bfl.

[sauropod]

Sorry to hear this about Horowitz. I would have expected better from him.

[Irenic]

Good article and it reminds me of Socialist Orwell’s thoughts on those who went against his publishing Animal Farm about communist fascist Russia.

If anyone is interested—
Orwell’s Preface to Animal Farm:
http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/Orwell.html

[WayneS]

Horowitz and Radosh are reminiscent of Ellsworth Toohey in The Fountainhead.

[afsnco]

Interesting. A self-described “red baby” who allegedly “saw the light,” now, when the U.S. is descending into the bleakness of socialism, appears to be ascending from his mole hill.

[Excellence]

Most of the intro to the book is available.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Betrayal-Assault-Nations-Character-ebook/dp/B008BU71BM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398901471&sr=8-1&keywords=Diana+West%E2%80%99s+American+Betrayal

And also, "Author Diana West and a host of others − including authors M. Stanton Evans and Vladimir Bukovsky − defend her new book, "American Betrayal," against a wave of calumnious charges and vicious personal attacks."

http://www.amazon.com/The-Rebuttal-Defending-American-Book-Burners-ebook/dp/B00FNVUJDO/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=03CMKF7773ZV16SQ8R7Z

There is nothing in the intro about Islam and this country's head-in-the-sand attitude I did not already know. And I wonder how in hell the rest of the country is not as familiar with it.