But intellectual honesty is beyond politics - or, it once was. Congratulations to Jon for saying that his vision of The Right doesn't need crap like Corsi.
I will try to keep an eye out for intra-party soul-searching like this on the Left as well, and honor it in my own way by posting here.
Jon writes:
(my emphasis)The continued tolerance and prominence of Jerome Corsi - his books, columns and appearances - is just embarrassing. It is embarrassing for the Right, embarrassing for Republicans, embarrassing for conservatives and libertarians, embarrassing for all of us.
It's not just that he's frequently, remarkably wrong - something pretty well documented and acknowledged by both the Left and (while less enthusiastically) the Right. (and the Obama campaign (PDF), of course) Both the Obama campaign and Hugh Hewitt acknowledge that Jerome Corsi is "fringe".
Bad as his gross errors are, though, it's not just that. It's also about who Jerome Corsi is.
- Jerome Corsi is a smear artist (e.g., he has claimed that "Hillary Rodham Clinton is a lesbian and Muslims worship Satan").
- Jerome Corsi has advocated the hysterical, deceptive North American Union conspiracy theory.
- Jerome Corsi associates with white supremacists.
- Jerome Corsi is guilty of plagiarism.
- Jerome Corsi is a 9/11 Truther.
I mean, c'mon. Have some standards. This guy does not deserve the platform, he does not deserve the publicity, and he does not deserve to be treated as member-in-good-standing on the Right.
The Right seems to engage today in social promotion of hatchet men, bullies and political hit men. Those people poison the Right, and - whatever their temporary electoral effects - they serve to discredit us all.
Whoa! "Those people poison the Right ..."
ReplyDeleteIs he effing serious? Those people _power_ the right! For example, Karl Rove is reputed to have a hand in rumors that Ann Richards, former TX governor, was a lesbian. At the time, she was defending her office against GWB. Badly, I might add.
The right side is riven with these jokers; they provide the narratives like "Gore is a serial exaggerator"; they give the right its habit of incompetent governance; they are in-between every exchange of money related to Republicans and their big contributors; they _are_ the right.
I hope the right does manage to get rid of these chuckleheads, but I won't count on it. It would devastatingly weaken them.
Anyway, you'll be on the lookout for these on the left? That's nice, but kind of silly--they're not part of our movement at the moment, though they probably were back in the '70s or something.