[Peace-discuss] The Nation betrayed

Mon Feb 22 17:49:05 CST 2010

I agree entirely with David on Alterman & Gitlin (and I would add ex-local boy 
Michael Berube, who desperately wants to get into that club with his new 
leftist-bashing book, "The Left at War").

David puts the matter accurately and elegantly: "The ideological distinctions 
I'm getting at are not fine ones. They're fundamental: principled egalitarianism 
and democracy on the one hand, unprincipled authoritarianism and elitism on the 
other."

I won't go quite so far as he, however, on the question of allies. Include the 
libertarian right, certainly (and the squeamish reluctance of some liberals to 
admit that Ron Paul et al. are principled opponents of the war does them no 
credit), without necessarily categorically excluding the "so-called liberal 
left."  They have some funny ideas, but they may be educable.  (And that last 
sentence applies to both groups.)  --CGE

David Green wrote:
> Mort, the angst to my anger is that in terms of political strategy, the 
> antiwar left is going to have to realize that its allies are on the 
> libertarian right, not on the so-called liberal left. This becomes more 
> glaringly obvious when you look at the views of someone like Alterman 
> regarding Israel/Palestine. If the purpose of a political journal is as 
> a basis for organizing, then I'm really serious about making these 
> distinctions clear. The record of people like Alterman and Todd Gitlin 
> in the run-up to the Iraq War also makes it clear: they served primarily 
> as leftist-bashers. The ideological distinctions I'm getting at are not 
> fine ones. They're fundamental: principled egalitarianism and democracy 
> on the one hand, unprincipled authoritarianism and elitism on the other.
>  
> DG
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Morton K. Brussel <brussel at illinois.edu>
> *To:* David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com>
> *Cc:* C. G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu>; Peace Discuss 
> <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> *Sent:* Mon, February 22, 2010 12:14:30 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [Peace-discuss] The Nation betrayed
> 
> It should perhaps occur to you that perhaps Naomi Klein and Jeremy 
> Scahill (and others) continue to see the usefulness of /The Nation,/ and 
> that is why they write for it. They are not stupid. As for Cockburn, who 
> knows what goes on in his strange head: He has his own publication, so 
> why continue writing for /The Nation?/  Finally, instead of just 
> lambasting Alterman, it would be more useful if you told why you 
> consider him an idiot. 
> 
> I suggest you subscribe to the English editon of Le Monde Diplomatique. 
> They need support. 
> 
> --mkb
> 
> On Feb 21, 2010, at 1:15 PM, David Green wrote:
> 
>> After doing some research on the work and views of Eric Alterman this 
>> weekend, a regular Nation columnist, I've come to the view that people 
>> like Naomi Klein and Jeremy Scahill should (for good tactical reasons) 
>> seriously think about taking their work away from any possible 
>> association with this idiot. Hitchens was at least honest enough to 
>> become an official neocon. The Nation should not be supported or taken 
>> the least bit seriously on the Left, and I suspect Cockburn would 
>> rightly agree in spite of his association.
>>  
>> DG
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* C. G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu 
>> <mailto:galliher at illinois.edu>>
>> *To:* Peace-discuss List <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net 
>> <mailto:peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>>
>> *Sent:* Sun, February 21, 2010 11:16:30 AM
>> *Subject:* [Peace-discuss] The Nation betrayed
>>
>> The Nation magazine has moved steadily to "the center" from an earlier 
>> left-liberal position for some years now. They embraced neo-liberalism 
>> in the days of Bill Clinton (delicately referred to as a "DLC 
>> Democrat"), and some of us condemned them for doing it.
>>
>> But it keeps getting worse. As Doug Henwood of the excellent Left 
>> Business Observer points out, now not only has The Nation "given a 
>> column to the execrable Melissa Harris-Lacewell, they've cut Alexander 
>> Cockburn back to once a month ... These moves together have the net 
>> effect of moving the magazine to the right and reducing the quantity 
>> of stylish prose close to zero."
>>
>> With The Progressive joining the Israel Lobby in its condemnation of 
>> Norman Finkelstein, the current mode of official liberalism in the US 
>> continues on its regime-supporting way, providing only token 
>> opposition ("We have free speech!") as the Democrats (and the 
>> Republicans) move ever further right.  Toadies.
>>
>> --CGE
>>
>>
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> 
> 
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