Sunday, May 21, 2006

Dictator chic

Courtesy of Reason Magazine's Hit and Run blog, links to articles by Ian Buruma and Christopher Hitchens at the Sunday Times (London) on the lingering support for authoritarianism on left dating back to the Communist insurgencies of the post-War 20th century.

Indeed, from the days Pete Seeger was known as "Stalin's Songbird" to Sean Penn performing Saddam Hussein's public relations work, the American left has, at times, tripped over its own feet to praise the likes of Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, the North Korean Kim dynasty, Pol Pot, Joe Stalin and many more. To be sure, anti-Americanism plays a part, but what else is behind the curious symbiosis between the American far-left and the worship of totalitarian power?

Buruma's article analyzing Western support for leftist totalitarianism may be read here, while Hitchens case for the left abandoning support for dictatorships to restore political credibility may be found here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good stuff, good questions. Anti-Americanism on the Left must blind them to practically all facts and reality. It really is a type of mental illness...

absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
wear a Hitler t-shirt

revere a mass murderer
proudly show your ignorance


absurd thought -
God of the Universe thinks
let's PLAY communism

pretend to fix the world
by destroying it


absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
long to taste communism

but be a party leader
or join the wretched masses
.