The Liberal Mind By William F. Buckley, Jr .
William F. Buckley, Jr ., author of God and Man at Yale, co-authored with L. Brent Bozell the widely-discussed book McCarthy and His Enemies. Buckley, a 1950 Yale graduate, is a lecturer and regular panelist on Fact s Forum s ANSWERS FOR AMERICANS . Buckley has projected a new maga- zine, National Weekly, which, according to Newsweek, is slated to begin publication in September.
N recent years, a number of importan t nists, and they, quite evidently, do no t I books and articles have been written, understand the Communists . I believe and important things thought and sai d that our most immediate challenge is to understand our leaders ; and having about the Communist. What is he like ? stream of contemporary political and What goes on in his mind? What is he understood them we must either dis- possess them of power, or make them philosophical thought. the swollen an d afraid of? How can we move him? How irrepressible stream fed for so man y does he operate? What is he likely to d o understand, or prepare to die. For our n leaders, call them what you will—socia l years by the waters of rationalism, posi- in this situation, or that one? How ca tivism, Marxism, and utopianism . we vanquish him here, contain him democrats, Fabians, progressive moder- there, coexist with him over there? W e ates ; I call them Liberals, and I spel l As regards contemporary American haven't mastered the Communist tem- that word with a capital "L"—are the controversies, the Liberal is likely to feel perament, or the Communist mind, true ; unknown in the great equation . that Owen Lattimore has been unjustly much of the Communist remains in- I think it is easy to demonstrate that persecuted and that our loyalty progra m scrutable . But the progress we hav e we know more about the workings o f has become an instrument of right-win g made is vast . We have learned so much the mind of Nikolai Bulganin than we conformity. He tends to believe that the about this man, and about his movemen t know about the workings of the mind o f Bricker Amendment is a reactionary plot that, I think it is safe to say, the Com- Dwight Eisenhower . For, while com- to immobilize the executive branch o f munist emerges as the most predictabl e pared to one another with reference to government . He is easily persuaded that political animal alive and active today. almost any acceptable standard, one is Senator McCarthy represents today the One would think that, in this case, a scoundrel and one relatively a saint— same kind of threat that Adolf Hitler knowing the enemy is nine-tenths of th e the life of Bulganin makes sense in a held out to the Germans twenty year s battle . After all, we are physicall y way that the life of Eisenhower does not. ago. And whatever little disagreement s stronger than the Communists, and w e A reviewer of my last book charged they have in- their own ranks, the Lib- firmly believe that our values are inher- that in using the word Liberal I could erals unite to honor their heroes. In law ently superior to theirs . only have in mind the' clientele of it is Oliver Wendell Holmes ; in educa- Yet year in and year out we not only Nation magazine. I have been careful tion and philosophy it is John Dewey ; come in second in every lap of our in the past, and will continue to be, t o in politics it is Franklin Roosevelt. mortal race with the Communists, we are be precise enough to defend myself The picture I have drawn of the Lib- made to look as though we had elected easily against such a charge ; so that eral is, of course, fragmentary and in- to race with balls and chains tied to ou r when I talk about Liberals it is clear conclusive . It has only the purpose o f ankles, and blindfolds over our eyes . that I am not referring only to those giving a general idea of just who it i s Could it be that we have funda- frenzied malcontents who support th e I am talking about, of dispelling th e mentally misunderstood the Communists, Nation, I have in mind the pleasant an d notion that when I talk about a Liberal with the result that, like the man wit h pensive man who owns your local book- I could only be referring to mental the shell game, they are able to fool u s store and fills his window full of th e spastics such as Nye Bevan or Agne s every time? Did we lose North Korea collected complaints of E . B . White, Meyer. because the Communists upset all our James Wechsler, and Elmer Davis, tha t careful calculations by acting atypi- good and lovable lady who regularly de- PERILS OF THE LIBERAL MIN D cally? Did we lose Indochina because serts her housewifely duties in the sprin g the Communists pulled something out o f to help raise money for the Unite d Then we cannot survive unless we the bag that no reasonable Westerner World Federalists, and the ambitious understand our own leaders—the rul- could possibly have anticipated? Do the and orderly young man who works for ing elite of the Western world—the Communists continue to have suet. a Wall Street broker and maps program s Liberals. strength in Italy and France because o f and draws up manifestoes for the Youn g I urge therefore that those who are an inventiveness so diabolically ingeni- Republican Club lamenting our age o f competent to do so set out, as a matter ous as to incapacitate the Western strat- suspicion. I don't mean to imply that of urgent concern to us all, to explore the egist? I believe not . As I say. I believe there is no such thing as the sinister, the Liberal mind. I myself have neither th e the Communist is a highly predictable guileful, or the treacherous Liberal ; patience, the skills, nor the trepidation creature. I believe that as the result o f there are many ; but the majority are in to embark upon so frightening an ad - our tortuous journey into the recesses most respects good and amiable and venture. As of this moment I am merely of the Communist mind, we have com e talented people. reporting on what I can see from here. close to understanding him . So I am not talking about an unrul y aware that the distance that separate s But we do not understand the people little eddy. When I talk about moder n me and my target may result in illu- charged with coping with the Commu- Liberalism I am talking about the main-. (Continued on Page 52) is not only what comes out of him, bu t what he puts up with from others. Has The Liberal Mind anyone here ever heard any stentoria n voice from Liberaldom register disma y (Continued from Page 6) at this or ahyy,other of the intellectual sions and distortions and oversimpli- you defended your right to shake hands monstrosities mothered by this woman ? fications. with Mr. Vishinsky, and Senator Mc - No : Mrs. Roosevelt is a certified Lib- Aware of these limitations then, I Carthy. Would you also have felt it was eral,and I know of no one who refuses nevertheless venture upon a short,canaly- right to shake hands with Adolf Hitler? " to acknowledge her license as a, spokes- sis of the Liberal mind . And I shall Replied Mrs. Roosevelt (not, I think , man for ,,American Liberalism . In quot- argue that it is indispensable to a knowl- after anything but the intensest intellec- ing her I do not pretend to be quotin g edge of that mind to recognize tha t tual effort to solve that one), "In Adolf from a first-ranking Liberal scholar or there is an enormous area in which the Hitler 's early days I might have "consid- philosopher ; but I do ask why first - Liberal does not know how to think . ered it, but after he had begun his mas s ranking Liberal scholars and philoso- More specifically : he is illogical, he is killings I don't think I could have borne phers and thoughtful laymen counten- inconsistent, and he cannot assess evi- it. ance her. It must be either because (a ) dence. I suggest that any effort to under - they are aware that Mrs . Roosevelt s Several years ago, I wrote a critique stand Mrs. Roosevelt 's code on when i t close personal and political association of modern education—specifically, of is permissible to shake someone 's hand with her husband invested her with a Yale education—for which I now fee l is very difficult if one has reference t o glamor which is highly utilitarian, or I must, in part, apologize . I apologize these statements . If we were to set up a (b), (and this is both more plausible not so much for the irrelevance of the syllogism, here is how it would look : and more charitable), not knowin g indictment as for its incompleteness . Proposition s A : E. R. will not shak e themselves how to think, they are in - Almost all of my critics intoned that hands with those who are guilty of mass competent to recognize that Mrs. Roose- Yale—that Liberal education—attempt s killings . velt does not know how to think . Proposition B : E. R. will shake hands to teach students not what to think, but with Vishinsky. However farfetched this explanatio n how to think. And I used to answer the m Conclusion : Vishinsky is not guilty o f may appear, ,how else do you account with some such observation as that m y mass killings. for it? The Liberal community neve r ignorant but decent delivery man is a But even Mrs . Roosevelt knows tha t seems to have enough of her. Colleges far better citizen of the world, to use a he is — or was, rather . So what was she stand in line to award her honorary term that engages the rapt and respect- degrees ; she is forever speaking to an y ful attention of all Liberals, than the group on the subject of anything, an d chairman of the department of philoso- her annual books are snuggled close t o phy of Moscow University who—mak e the Liberal bosom . Only very, very sel- no mistake about it—is not ignorant . I dom do they meet up with condign still maintain that this is a sufficient an- punishment. This happened with Mrs . swer, but I shall never forgive myself fo r Roosevelt s last book, which was unfor- being so easily duped as to accept un- tunate enough to fall into the hands of critically the premise that the Liberals a man who does know how to think, are, indeed, successfully teaching Ameri- Wide World Phoro s Professor James Burnham . e Andrei Vishinsky, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt , can students how to think . I should hav and Adolf Hitler . Wrote Mr. Burnham : come back at my critics—it would hav e In India and the Awakening East, Mrs. been easy by demonstrating that no t trying to say? Was she trying to say tha t Roosevelt was able to complete her flower - only does modern education tend to there are significant differences betwee n strewn march unpricked by the thorns o f teach you to think what you ought not Hitler and Vishinsky? If so, with refer- reason. . . . to think, it also fails to teach you how to ence to what system of ethics, or wha t Like all her writing, the contents an d prose of this book avoid excessive de- think. system of logic, do these differences mands on her readers . In crossing from There isn t space for many examples emerge? The only explanation Mrs . the Arab lands into Israel she has in on e of the Liberal mind at work on a logical Roosevelt attempts is that "after Hitler striking way a curious experience : the problem. so let me attempt just one or had begun his mass killings," then she population, she finds, is predominantl y couldn t bear it. But not only has sh Jewish. . . . two. e In another passage she tells us about Some months ago, I suggested on a been able to bear to shake hands an d Mr. Sudhir Ghosh, whose enthusiasm in - television program that symbolic of the drink cocktails with the first-ranking spires one with confidence! What is a butcher of the Soviet Union, she has rational being to make of such a phrase ? sluggishness of the collective Liberal Enthusiasm inspires one with confidence ? anti-Communist effort is the fact tha t found it bearable to talk with him, as a By the record, Hitler was the most en- should Eleanor Roosevelt meet Senato r co-aspirant, about drafting a mutually thusiastic man of our time, and Father McCarthy at a cocktail party she would satisfactory declaration of human rights ! Coughlin, Mao, Huey Long, and Leni n are not far behind . So therefore? But the probably refuse to shake hands with It is much too easy to accept on th e phrase is of (course not rational, nor the him, whereas she would almost as sure- basis of this performance, the explana- expression of reason. . . . ly shake Vishinsky s hand at the same tion that Eleanor Roosevelt is anti-Naz i This furious energy, to which a gigan- party. A day or two later ,a reporte r but pro-Communist . But that is not th e tic ego frantically clings . . . is like a great asked her, How about it? Indignantl y answer. Eleanor Roosevelt is not pro- tank with a drunken driver, loose in the crowded streets of a city. It is the onrus h she,answered that she would shake hand s Communist. She just doesn t know ho w of sentiment, unguided and unrestraine d with both Vishinsky and McCarthy at to think. Not even potentially, I shoul d by intelligence, reason, or principle . Over any future social affair, that in the;past say. She is one of the people to whom whatever subject, problem, plan, or issue she had once shaken McCarthy's hand Pythagoras could not have explained Mrs. Roosevelt touches, she spreads a squidlike ink of directionless feeling. All (this was evidently a vivid memory) , about his triangle . distinctions are blurred, all analysi s and that was that. It may be objected that generaliza- fouled, and in that murk clear thought i s Not quite, however ; for a month or tions about the Liberal mind based o n forever impossible. two later she was asked in her regula r anything that comes out of Mrs . Roose- Still — Mrs . Roosevelt is one woman , question-and-answer column in Ladies velt are invalid . I disagree. The inde x and there are many Liberals, so, prop- Home Journal, "In a recent column to the intellectual sensitivity of a person erly, we must move on . BIT OF AMERICANA ! sional committee to get either indict- understand, seem to be saying that my ments or convictions . Frequently, commit - activities and those of our committee ar e Rather than to quote, at this point , tee work does lead down the path to th e not justified unless we produce a dail y a single Liberal spokesman, let me quote Justice Department . But convictions mos t quota of traitors who have already stabbed virtually all of them . Let me quote th e often result from the activities of those this nation in the back . It is not enough, president of the League of Wome n committees that address themselves to it seems, that we are devoting ourselves to out-and-out lawbreaking — to graft, cor- insuring, as best we can, that she shal l Voters of Middletown, Indiana, the boo k ruption, income tax evasion, etc . not be stabbed in the back at some fu- reviewer of the country weekly, th e In the field of security, an indictmen t ture moment. minister of the local church, the profes- or a conviction is extremely hard to ge t There is more depth, more attentio n sor of politics at Harvard University , —not because there are, say, fewer Com- munists in this country than there ar e to logical process, and a greater respec t and the editor of the New York Times : income tax evaders. [But] a successfu l for intelligence in these few paragraph s QUOTE : The /act remains that not on e Communist is precisely that person who than in volumes on the subject by the is skilled in throwing you and me off his most expensive Liberal educators, edi- conviction has resulted from the activ- tracks. In self-defense, then, it became ities of Senator McCarthy . It follows the policy,-of the federal government t o tors, and publicists. that his career has been useless . weed out-of government all persons about I have given just a few illustrations o f whose loyalty there is a reasonable doub t representative Liberal logic, and mov e I submit that this bit of Americana is —not just those persons who can defi- as representative a Liberal statement as nitely he established to be agents of th e now to an examination of another cate- gory of Liberal any in our history—and that it tells u s Soviet Union. thinking, still under th e rather a lot about the Liberals' capa- The government does not go on to broad heading of irrationality . prosecute, nor should it—nor could it un- city for logical and meaningful thought . der the Constitution—the federal employee HOBGOBLIN OF LITTLE MINDS ! Allow me to analyze it by quoting Sen- about whose loyalty there is merely a ator McCarthy himself. Let me quote a reasonable doubt : it is satisfied to dis- I have on several occasions heard Lib- few paragraphs from his testimony las t miss him from federal service . It has erals patronizingly dismiss any com- been my principal concern, over the past plaint about their inconsistencies b y summer before the Jenner Committee o n years, to rout security risks out of gov- congressional investigating procedures . ernment and defense industries . quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson, I thin k it was, who remarked that "a foolis h I quote now from a man who above al l My chief concern has not been, in othe r others, the Liberals assure us, know s words, to bring to trial those responsibl e consistency is , the hobgoblin of little neither how to think, nor what to think . for espionage and policy sabotage tha t minds." Emerson was right ; but not so has already been committed, but rather Bearing this in mind, compare the qual- the Liberals who lean on him so heavily . to prevent future espionage and policy If today we write a check on insufficien t ity of thought in the ensuing words wit h sabotage. Every time a security risk is that embodied in the daily anti-McCar- ejected from a sensitive agency of govern- funds, it would be foolish indeed if i n ment or a defense plant, a step has bee n the future we were to bemoan the "in - thy editorial or speech we all read o r taken to guard against the possibility o f hear ; consistency" involved in writing check s future espionage. It is not as glamorou s on existing deposits. Nor can any rea- Let me, at this point, [said Senator Mc- or as spectacular to prevent a future Alger Carthy to the Jenner Committee] address Hiss from changing the course of history sonable member of this community crit- myself to another prominent misappre- at a future Yalta as it is to detect an icize a regenerated Louis Budenz for th e hension, the effects of which beat down Alger Hiss who did change th; course o f inconsistency of opposing, in 1954, th e history at a past Yalta . upon me and our committee as regularl y same dictatorship of the proletariat h e as the sun rises . That is the eternal war But I am more interested in preventin g whoop : How many convictions have yo u future Yaltas than in punishing thos e supported so ardently in 1944 . gotten? Not many? Then it follows that to blame for past ones—even if thi s Just the same, consistency is not a you; work has been either unnecessary means that I am not in a position to dan- or Incompetent . supernumerary virtue. For basically , gle a welter of scalps in the faces of my consistency is justice, and therefore the It is not the function of a congres - critics who, for a reason I cannot hope to inconsistent man, or the man who toler- ates or supports inconsistency, is an un- just man . The law, for example, seekin g justice, metes out the same penalty fo r the same offense . The society that sen- tences one drunkard to twenty-fou r hours in jail and another to the electri c chair is unjust and could expect no quarter from Mr. Emerson ; but this i s the kind of inconsistency that, due to the curious workings of his mind, time an d time again the Liberal is guilty of. An example or two : Senator Ralp h Flanders gets up on the floor of the Senate and asks whether or not an un- natural relationship between Roy Coh n and David Schine and Senator McCarth y doesn't satisfactorily explain their be- havior throughout the Army episode . Good show, the Liberals seem to say, i n unison; and immediately the wheels turn, the sabres flash, and before yo u know it our publicists have ground ou t a new folk hero—the granite-faced, jut - jawed, tough-talking New England dra- gon-killer ; Edward Marrow 's taut fac e momentarily relaxes as he smiling con - templates the essential goodness of man Wide World Photo and democracy, and the sophisticate d Senator Ralph Flanders (right) hands Sen . Joe McCarthy written notice that he will attack -him on the Senate floor. The presentation was made during Senate probe of the McCarthy- and calloused National Press Club i n Army dispute . Washington breaks precedent to giv e Senator Flanders a standing ovation . out where I come from we have a saying emotion nor to opportunism — bu t that if a man double-crosses you once, One reporter was so uncouth as t o that is his fault; if he double-crosses you rather to his fundamental incapacity t o press the matter, asking Senator Flan- twice, that is your fault. I just want you think objectively . What I am saying i s ders to crystallize his charges : Are you, to know you won t get the second oppor- most of the time the Liberal doesn t know said the reporter, are you saying tha t tunity. he s being inconsistent, doesn t know Reece: . . . there is no living man can he s being unjust . He is so built that he these men are perverts? Certainly not , justifiably say that . . . (I) have ever said the Senator : I am merely askin g double-crossed anybody or . . .failed to cannot in a controversy in which he i s questions. keep . . . (my) word. committed, see the parallels in two sit- Let us take a hypothetical situation . Hays : I am saying both . . .is that clear uations ; he moves not by reason but by Tomorrow, President Eisenhower au- enough? There is no inference there, is instinct ; he is the man who is trul y there ? prejudiced ; for he consistently pre - thorizes our ambassador in Japan t o Reece : That does not disturb me a consent to limited trade between Japan judges men and situations. The certifie d particle. Liberal — the Eleanor Roosevelt, th e and Red China . Senator McCarthy gets Hays: I know. You are pretty hard to up on the floor and suggests that the disturb. I thought they had more guts in Wayne Hays — cannot err ; in going action of the President is satisfactoril y Tennessee. after Roy Cohn and Joseph McCarth y explained if one assumes he is a mem- As far as I know, there has not bee n and Carroll Reece they cannot stumble, ber of the Communist party . To those a single editorial in the New York Times therefore they do not stumble, therefor e who immediately roar out their indig- urging that Congressman Hays be cen- the decent, the well disposed and the in- nation he says, simply : I m not accus- sured, not one manifesto from the com- dustrious of the community can giv e ing the President of being a Communist . mittee for an effective Congress, no r them their unthinking support ; which is m just asking questions . . . an extra million dollars appropriate d the type of support the Liberal charac- I teristically extends . It is as simple as that. Flanders can by the Fund for the Republic to look get away with something McCarthy, o r into the threat of "Haysism ." In fact, Lack of objectivity leads to incon- Jenner, or Taft, or Knowland coul d I know of not one Liberal, prominent o r sistency, but it betrays, also, an incapa- never get away with . The Liberal com- not, who has suggested censure or even city to assess evidence ; and this is th e munity deals differently with the sam e a mild reprimand . The best I could ge t third aspect of the Liberal s irrationality . offense, depending on who commits it out of Liberal publicist George Hamil- The first illristration that comes t o and against whom it is committed . ton Combs—whose fulminations over the mind here is the most obvious, perhap s A year ago Senator McCarthy said to Zwicker incident shattered steel an d even the most written about . I mean, of a general in the United States Army , concrete — and that only after suasion . course, our putative reign of terror. I "Anv general who says `I will protect cajolery, and threats, was that "perhap s haven t the energy to catalogue, once another general who protected Commun- Mr. Hays conduct was a little undisci- again, sample Liberal statements abou t ists is not fit to wear that uniform ." plined." And this, of course, is why : In our reign of terror, not even the mor e The Liberal community fairly exploded the one case it was an outsider who was hilarious ones about how we go to jai l with outrage. For General Zwicker had being abusive ; in the other it was a fel- if we read Thomas Jefferson . or get been decorated for bravery. (Anyone low Liberal who, what is more, was en - starved out by the American Legion i f decorated for bravery, the Liberal seem s gaged in obstructing an inquiry into th e to he saying, cannot, no matter what h e ideological bases of the great founda- subsequently does, be considered as un- tions, which, because they are virtually fit to wear a uniform. But it is not th e all run by Liberals, are by definitio n irrelevance of this defense of Genera l not investigable . Zwicker that concerns us, here in a dis- I submit that if McCarthy were to use cussion of Liberal inconsistency. ) such language as Hays used on the chair - A Senate committee recommended man of any committee of which he is a McCarthy be censured for that one, an d member, or were to employ such tactics, the Senate came mighty close to actin g he would be run out of Washingto n on the committee s recommendations . It with wet towels . Certainly he would ac- didn t, finally ; but its refusal to do s o tivate the otherwise listless editorial enraged the Liberals, one and all ; we are writers of the New York Times. guilty of letting down a man who ha s fought valiantly for his country, the y NOT A WASHABLE EXPLANATION ! said ; so in their own minds, they cen- sured McCarthy for this outrage . It is possible to maintain that such A month or so after McCarthy ha d inconsistencies as these, and a thousan d thus spoken to Zwicker, another legis- others that could readily be enumerated, lator paid his respects, face to face, to reflect not on the Liberal mind, but o n another man with a distinguished back - the Liberal temperament . Everyone lose s ground of military service. a fellow leg- control of himself, after all ; and in the islator. This congressman was decorated heat of the occasion we are all likely t o during the first world war with the Dis- apply one set of standards to those w e tinguished Service Cross, the Disting- approve of and another to those we d o uished Service Medal. and the Purpl e not. Heart ; he was awarded the Croix d e I believe that such an explanatio n Guerre with palm . he was cited for does not wash . For one thing, no human bravery by Marshal Petain . by General being loses his temper as often as a Edward, by General Hale, and by Gen- Liberal is inconsistent. And anyway, eral Lewis. His name is B . Carroll Reece. most Liberals are icy men who think i n and the assault upon him was made b y refrigerated offices, where passion i s Wide World Photo s Congressman Wayne Hays during a not admitted . Who ever heard of Walte r Congressmen Wayne L. Hays (D-Ohio) , committee hearing over which Reece wa s Lippmann being carried away? No, I above, and B . Carroll Reece (R-Tenn.) were central figures in a heated exchange durin g presiding : submit that the inconsistency of th e a House committee hearing which Reece Hays : I will say this to (you) . . . that Liberal is traceable neither to unbridled headed. we buy an English car . What I am get- laughter. I expected, and I am quite ting at is neatly and simply synthesize d serious, that the social significance of in just one magazine piece by on e the slogan, "Remember J . B. Matthews," author—Robert Maynard Hutchins , would far outweigh in history, the mili- writing for Look magazine last spring . tary significance of the war-cry, "Re - It was an orthodox reign-of-terror piece, member the Alamo ." climaxed by the assertion that it was The mistake I made is obvious, an d no longer safe to give money to Harvar d will probably strike most of my readers University. as childish . I had assumed that the Lib- Now here is a man who at the age o f erals would recognize that they had twenty-eight was appointed Dean of th e sinned ; and that having done so, the y Yale Law School, and who by the tim e would repent and reform . How innocent he was thirty was recognized as suc h I was. For the most part, they do no t an articulate and important critic o f know—to this day—the meaning of what American education that he was handed they did. And the balance, those who a whole university to experiment with , know, don t care. To say " Remembe r which he did, for twenty years or so . He J. B. Matthews!" to a Liberal audience ripped the curriculum to pieces ; he communicates about as much as "Dig swept away academic cobwebs ; he insti- that crazy mixed-up square" would to a tuted new courses, wiped out others ; he group of Oxford dons Wide World Phot o . brought in new professors and fired Robert M . Hutchins A final word about the Liberal an d football coaches, and resurrected grea t objective evidence. The research of the books ; and throughout it all he swore past ten years has made it literally im- by all the gods that he meant to do on e mediately of the J . B. Matthews episode . possible to uphold, rationally, the posi- thing : He meant to educate . He meant In an article of a series which de - tion that an attack by the Japanese, i n to teach his students how to think. scribed the Communist penetration o f one form or another, came in 1941 as a And thirty years later, while still up - our institutions, Mr. Matthews came, in complete surprise to President Roosevelt holding his educational theories agains t due course, to our churches . And he and his close associates. But no evidence all corners, he writes this kind of fool- began his article on them by making a —of any kind—will alter the Liberal ishness about the world we live in . purely statistical observation which h e version of Pearl Harbor. Neither cleft Knowing of his respect for Plato, I backed up in the body of the article itself mountains, separated seas, nor signs in wonder if Plato s dictum that the edu- by listing the names of many of the the sky testifying to the truth will shak e cated man is one who can "see things as unfortunate clergymen who had assoc- the Liberals faith in Mr . Roosevelt a s they are" doesn t make him fidgety. Or iated themselves, for the most part dur- a "first principle." or their belief in hi s whether, given his respect for Descartes , ing a period of moral and irtellectua l infallibility and omniscience as it s who said, I think therefore I am, Mr. blackout, with one or more Communist corollaries. Not even a Liberal himself, Hutchins can even be sure he exists . enterprises. not even an illustrious-one, can do any - After finishing that article in Look, bear- The article in question was written fo r thing about this intellectual commit- ing in mind Mr. Hutchins pretensions, I a conservative magazine, thus quite a ment. Charles Beard tried it, and they could imagine anything—could imagin e while elapsed before anyone read it . But hounded hind out of public life . What Lucky Luciano writing a book about then someone did, and there was hell t o goes on, I asked a shrewd man, afte r how to live one s life at peace with one s pay for this assault on Christianity reading a bitter excoriation of Beard God and one s neighbor, or a 250-poun d which, incredibly, is what it grew to b e by one of the court historians over a t lady lecturing on her patented formula after the Liberals were through with it . Columbia University in 1947 . "It s as for keeping thin . Surely to bring i n A senator of the United States said, pub- simple as this," he told me, "The great- Mr. Hutchins to head a university which licly, "When someone makes charges s o est historian of our time has tackled th e proposes to teach students how to think foul, he ought to have the courage t o greatest politician of our time. There s is like bringing in as chief pilot fo r name names ." Our Liberal leaders fell no doubt about who is going to win ." Pan American Airways a man with St . all over each other making public pro- To sum up . When the Liberal thinks, Vitus dance. tests, and demanding J . B. Matthews he tends to think illogically . He tends, I exaggerate, you feel. I oversimplify . scalp. Inevitably, it was delivered unto moreover, to he inconsistent, and t o But I don t. I maintain that there isn t them. Only then did the Liberals feel ignore any evidence that fails to har- a dialectical magician in this country-- that the crisis was past, that they coul d monize with the verdict he proposes a t or even one in England—who can prov e go back and preach about how ye shall all cost to support. I am wrong in concluding that the ma n know the truth, and the truth shall mak e Such are the qualifications of our in- who points to that ceiling and says "That you free. tellectual elite . is a cumulus cloud" is blind ; and I say The afternoon that I heard that J . that the man who reports that there is B. Matthews was fired—without a hear- THE "ARMCHAIR" LIBERA L a reign of terror on in this country can - ing, without any specific challenge to Another fundamental charcteristic of not assess evidence, cannot, for all in - any of the data on the basis of which he the Liberal mind, related to and perhaps tents and purposes, think ; and that s made his generalization—that afternoo n responsible for some of its inconsist- the shoe that fits Robert Hutchins, wh o I felt the Liberals were through . The encies, is intolerance. The storied Lib- has been given fifteen million dollars by meaning of the J . B. Matthews episod e eral who reposes in his armchair an d the Ford Foundation to prove that war would suddenly dawn upon the com- reviews, conscientiously, kindly . un- is peace, slavery is freedom, hysteria i s munity, and never again, no never, no t grudgingly, the parade of ideas that sanity. even at college commencements, could differ from his own, bears very littl e any of these people talk about—how resemblance to the dogmatic, trigger- PUBLIC PROTESTS DEMANDED A SCALP does it go? "We shall seek the truth an d happy Liberal of today . The Liberal to- One or two other illustrations of th e endure the consequences?" —or about day makes of intolerance a way of life . incapacity of the Liberal to assess evi- the presumption of innocence, or abou t Having prescribed the limits within dence, and I must move on to other char- a fair hearing, or about hysteria—with- which political discussion may safely g o acteristics of his mind . One thinks im- out sending the audience into gales of forward, he enforces those limits by ruthless and unscrupulous persecutio n and urbane exteriors that these worldl y J. William Fulbright, the loftiest Libera l of noncomformity. men exhibit in public and in private in the Senate, the idol of the Liberal Certain ideas, the Liberal seems to b e there are storms raging that rock an y community, who through a vast progra m saying, cannot reasonably or morally b e attempt at seasoned and calm and open - of international scholarships has struck held by men who live in the twentieth minded thought in any area in whic h mighty blows in behalf of World Under - century. No one. for example, may hold they are deeply committed . standing and Tolerance . It s the Robert that a federal system of social security Let me quote from the Congressional Hutchins story all over again . Get your- is unwarranted or unwise. No one may Record of May 14 of last year. A Sena- self educated so you ll learn to know question the value of a progressive in - tor got up and addressed the chair as we re living under a reign of terror . Get come tax either as an instrument o f follows : "Mr. President," he said, " I yourself educated so that when you gro w money-raising, or as a social equalizer . wish, for the record, to correct a li e up you ll be tolerant like Senator Ful- No one can oppose a Federal Fair Em- printed in the Washington Post of this bright and know enough to recogniz e ployment Practices Act ; no one can morning. The lie is carried in the a pathological and perverted liar lik e question the right of labor unions t o column of the unsavory characte r George Sokolsky when you see one. bargain on an industry-wide basis ; and called"—but let s not identify the col- Note, too, Senator Fulbright s call fo r no one, without losing his chastity, ma y umnist at this moment. (a) an investigation of George Sokolsk y inquire into the validity of the institu- (how ironic from a man who has, in tion known as "academic freedom ." The Senator then went on to quote effect, so diligently opposed investiga- These are just a few of the taboos, of the statement to which he objected—a tions of men and groups which, som e course- and they are mentioned only statement which spoke of a political alli- people think, pose rather a greater threa t for illustration . ance in the Senator s home state . Said than does George Sokolsky ) ; and note the Senator : "The writer, of course. how Senator Fulbright is (b) callin g Largely. I suppose, because by th e knew when he wrote this falsehood that time his mind has developed it is con- on the Washington Post to drop George it was false, for he originated it . . . I Sokolsky s column from its pages . For ditioned to overlook evidence which sup- should like to suggest to the Washington ports conclusions different from his own , years the Post has run the outpourings Post that it should not permit its pages of a man who indeed is—and can b e the Liberal fights hard and wantonl y to be used for the continuing dissemi- against those who hold such views. And demonstrated to be—a practiced liar. I nation of lies manufactured by this man . mean Drew Pearson, of course . But the weapons he feels entitled to use, in Furthermore, I think it owes it to its behalf of Liberalism, are those whos e Drew Pearson generally lies in behal f readers to make a thorough investiga- of Liberals, and against conservatives ; use by others shocks and enrages him . A tion of the past record of this man an d few weeks ago I saw a copy of the fol- he doesn t, therefore, excite the opposi- to publish it, so that all who are sub- tion of Senator Fulbright . But George lowing letter, which I quote in its en- jected to his propaganda may know th e tirety : Sokolsky does—because he is a con- character and reliability of its source . , . servative, and because some of his view s Dear Ken : it is impossible" to discover the trut h I thought I wrote you once before ask - fall outside the limits of tolerable opin- ing you to take me off the mailing list "when the pages of the press are per- ion. That, and only that—nothing more of your disgusting communication . It does meated with deliberate lies ." —can explain the character of thi s not give me any pleasure to find in my mail a copy of a letter to Senator Jen- Well, well . Who do you suppose thi s frenzied outbreak of the former presi- ner, who is so obviously disloyal to every- columnist is? This brazen liar, this un- dent of the University of Arkansas . thing that America stands for, and a letter, scrupulous troublemaker? Several name s A CHOICE EXERCISE IN BOOK BURNING moreover, which so clearly indicates th e come to mind. Was it Ilya Ehrenburg o r same kind of disloyalty in its writer. As revealing an illustration as any I Sincerely , Gerald L. K. Smith? It wasn t, of JOSEPH ALSO P course ; it wasn t Drew Pearson, either. know of the determination of the Libera l Notice that Senator Jenner is no t It was George Sokolsky—perhaps the to translate his intolerance into bindin g most sober, and reliable, and certainly social rules which would have the effect "mistaken," he is not "stupid," he is not of reading out of the community al l "ignorant." he is "disloyal ." More dis- the most courteous political columnist i n loyal than John Carter Vincent, Joh n the United States today. And who d o dissent from the Liberal position—is contained in a recent column in the New Paton Davies, John Stewart Service, you suppose made such a savage attack on Sokolsky? It was none other tha n York Herald Tribune by radio and TV - J. Robert Oppenheimer, and heave n man John Crosby. only knows how many security risks Alsop has written tear-drenched an d One day last May he devoted his venomous columns in defense of . column to the television program , Author Meets the Critics. He started out Let me put it this way. I don t think by denouncing Admiral Theobald, whos e either John Carter Vincent or William book, The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor, E. Jenner ought to be spoken of as dis- had been discussed on that program th e loyal even in the diluted sense in whic h night before. Admiral Theohald s (let us by all means assume) Alsop wa s charges were—I quote Crosby—"fan- using that word in his nasty letter to hi s tastic." "The Pearl Harbor attack ha s cousin (Ken s his cousin) . And I know been the object of eight separate in- that Mr. Alsop agrees with me, for he vestigations," said Mr . Crosby, "which has often. over the years. expressed hi s produced literally tons of testimony. contempt and anger for those who use evidence and opinion . There are no new that word lightly . What I should like to facts in the Theobald book—how could know is why he feels free to refer to there be " (you see here a first-rat e Senator Jenner as disloyal? But we wil l illustration of what I mean when I sa y never know. We will never know, I fear, that the Liberal postulates the correct- what it is that makes Liberals that way; ness of his position and then—at this but we must know that they are that point quite logically—goes on to deduc e way ; we must know that the hatred that that all factual data, known or unknown, they feel for anyone who disagrees with must by definition support his posi- them twists their minds and poison s Wide World Phot o tion) ; there are no new facts, there ar e their hearts, and that beneath the suave J. B. Matthews " only new and, according to all reliable Liberal-controlled foundations has in the ance of the two-party system. past and, predictably, will in the future I first caught on to the Liberal politi- be used in pursuit of Liberal goals, an d cal game many years, I am certain, afte r that these goals are definable . most of you did. It happened to m e Suppose I were to set up a foundation , rather suddenly, in the spring of 1950, and that I named as president of that after reading an article in the New York foundation John T . Flynn, as secretar y Times Magazine called "The Need fo r George Sokolsky, as treasurer Fulto n an Intelligent Opposition ." The article Lewis, Jr ., and as corresponding secre- was written by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr . Wide World Photo s tary Westbrook Pegler. Suppose some - He was reading not only the Republica n George Sokolsky (left) and Sen . J . one referred to my foundation as party and its leaders, but all conserva- William Fulbright. conservative. If I objected to this de- tives as well, a little lecture, the gist historians, absolutely unwarranted con- scription, wouldn t I be considered a of which was this : We Liberals, said clusions as to the motives of the Presi- lunatic? "Of course that s a conservative Schlesinger, think it s important for you dent of the United States ." Note, again , foundation," all reasonable men woul d conservatives to be around . It gets stag- "according to all reliable historians . " agree. And since dollars don t spen d nant otherwise ; it keeps us on our toes If this means anything, it means, ver y themselves, checks don t write themselve s to have to cope with you. We re all for simply, that no one who differs from th e out, and grants are not made to thos e you. Liberals—from Mr . Crosby if you like — who pick the winner of the Irish Sweep- There s only one thing, though, he is reliable. It means literally nothin g stakes, somebody will have to spen d added. And that is, you must be in- else, because surely there are no othe r those dollars, somebody will have to telligent. Otherwise you re of no use t o grounds for calling, say, Charles Tan - write out those checks, and somebody us, to yourselves, or to anyone . sill, Harry Elmer Barnes, or Charle s will have to select the recipients of that Mr. Schlesinger then proceeded to tel l Beard "unreliable" historians . grant. And that somebody will bring his us how to be intelligent. What it And then Mr. Crosby came to the values along when he makes these deci- amounted to, was for us to desert ou r heart of the matter . He certainly wasn t sions, and, inevitably, the foundatio n principles and embrace his . At that going to waste one whole column simpl y will take on the political and philoso- point we would qualify as an "intelligen t denouncing Admiral Theobald. That phical flavor of the men who run it . opposition." would be just destructive criticism . Now I maintain that all reasonabl e A few months later Mr . Herbert Crosby wanted to be constructive. H e men must by the same token agree that Agar, writing in Harper s Magazine, wanted to see to it that Admiral Theo - any organization whose central figure s came through with an article on almos t bolds didn t happen again . So he comes are Robert Hutchins, Paul Hoffman , precisely the same question, and sug- out and says it—"But what is such a Clifford Case, and Elmer Davis is as gesting exactly the same road for con- book doing on Author Meets the Critic s demonstrably Liberal as my hypothetica l servative salvation . ? The program is on the air only foundation would be, demonstrably, con- Now one would think that Mr . once a week and consequently it ca n servative. It follows that all those wh o Schlesinger and Mr . Agar, and thei r take on, at most, only fifty-two book s refuse to acknowledge this are un- disingenuous crusade for a renaissanc e a year. . . . reasonable men as, indeed, I have been of conservatism, would have been laugh- "You would think that Author Meets contending, Liberals by and large are . ed off by our intelligent conservatives . the Critics would tackle only those books But not only do the Liberals refuse t o Far from it. Perhaps there weren t which a consensus of the critics agreed concede any such thing about any of enough intelligent conservatives who were the best to come along . . ." these foundations, they viciously an d saw through this thinly disguised appeal A consensus of the critics . Reliable ruthlessly harass and boycott any foun- for a two-party, one-platform political critics, that is. Liberals. dation that devotes as much as half system. Either that, or there were Not only has Mr. Crosby in just s o of its time to presenting the conservativ e enough intelligent men who saw through many words completed one of th e view . This, basically, is at the heart of it, but they were not conservative . In choicest exercises in contemporary boo k Liberal opposition to Facts Forum . Facts any case, it is a matter of fact that the burning, he probably doesn t, to this Forum, which is staffed to a recogniz- Liberals now control both the Demo- day, know, and I doubt if he will know able degree by conservatives, neverthe- cratic and the Republican parties, an d it on the day he dies, he doesn t kno w less devotes half of its resources to put- mean to continue to do so, as, presum- what he did . Because, for the most part, ting forward the Liberal view . But the ably, they mean also to continue to op - the Liberals know not what they do. other half of the time it presents th e pose each other "intelligently" on such Let me give a final illustration of this conservative view—and this is not per- questions as whether we ought to give sort of thing . Everybody has been doin g missible, as any Liberal will tell you, i n away six billion dollars or only five an d rather a lot of talking lately about th e his sleep. one-half billion, or whether federal so- great foundations, due largely to the This intolerance takes on, inevitably , cial security ought to cover fifty millio n filing of the report of Carroll Reece s in- a most serious shape . It becomes, as people or only forty-eight million, o r vestigating committee. we have seen, the agent of book burning, whether the minimum wage ought to be It has been proved that there has been of the suppression of free speech an d one dollar or eighty-five cents . a measure of Communist infiltration of research. It becomes also the agent o f The clearest exhibition I have seen— the foundations, true, but very little o f political authoritarianism . I have often and at that one written by a right-wing it. as the Reece report indicates. What followed the lead of Mr . Eugene Lyon s Liberal—of the Liberal-political though t there has been, demonstrably, is whole - in using the descriptive adjectiv e process appeared in the New York sale infiltration of the foundations b y totalitarian immediately in front of th e Times in an article by Mr . Arthur American Liberals, so much of it that, i t word Liberal, and I was not just name - Krock in September, 1952, in th e is fair to say, the Liberals today domi- calling. I have meant that the Liberal middle of the presidential election cam - nate the major foundations in America . movement has totalitarian tendencies , paign . The night before, in Portland , Now for some reason, a statement a s and I mean it now when I contend tha t Oregon, Adlai Stevenson had made a straightforward as the one I have jus t the Liberal is basically undemocratic. He speech in which he chided editors an d made outrages the Liberals . Particularly is basically against coexistence—with columnists throughout the country for if one goes on from here to point ou t anyone on his right. And the triumph o f committing themselves to supportin g that much of the money spent by these his intolerance is the virtual disappear . (Continued on Page 60) advent to power. The motive for this i s not hatred or punishment, but the col d logic of the scientific necessity of thei r The Liberal Mind program to artificially control the evolu- (Continued from Page 57) tion of the human species . When they come for you to give you the treatment . Dwight Eisenhower "long before." said One attitude we night take, a highly with your family, of course . that they Stevenson, "they knew what this can- tempting one as a matter of fact, i s have so graciously given to millions o n didate stood for, or what his party plat- suggested by the answer made by a the face of the earth . you can comfort form would he. or who his opponen t middle western farmer to an insuranc e yourself with the thought that you re was, or what would be the issues o f man investigating a train wreck. The dying in the interest of the scientifi c the campaign." farmer was the sole witness, and he wa s perfection of the human race . You may So Arthur Krock sat down to explai n asked to report exactly what he ha d find that some comfort, but personall y a few realities to Mr. Adlai Stevenson . seen. I find it none whatever . and he did this by reminding him o f "Well," he said, "I was plowing m y Communism is the literal fulfillment the nine calculations made by the aver- field here when I saw the Twentiet h of Psalm 14 . The fool that said in his age Liberal editor the previous spring . Century Limited, over there on my heart, "there is no God," and emerging L Last spring, it had become clear t o right, moving along toward New York s everyone that the Republican party woul d at about 80 miles an hour. Then I from the tainted source of godlessnes nominate either Eisenhower or Taft . More - and scientific materialism, the exter- over, it was clear that Taft opposed Tru- looked around and saw the Merchant s minating avalanche of communism i s man s foreign policy . Express going toward Chicago, at abou t sweeping the earth . 2. On the other hand, it was clear tha t 75 miles an hour . Then all of a sud- General Eisenhower went along with Tru- den I realized they were on the same In the last analysis, communism orig- man s foreign policy . inates in three things : (1) materialisti c 3. If Truman wanted to, he could ge t track." philosophy ; (2) scientific technique ; himself nominated by the Democrati c "Well, what did you do about it," t party . He might be facing Taft, the can- and (3) religious fanatacism. It mus didate of the Republican party . And, t o the insurance agent said excitedly . "Di d quote Mr . Krock, `signs were numerous you try to flag one of them down, or to that in a Taft-Truman contest the Sena - get the attention of the engineers in an y tor would have an excellent chance o f way? What did you do!" "Communism does not arise wher e election . there is poverty . Communism arises ou t 4. I quote ` To those who . . . believe d "I didn t do anything," said the of a disease of modern capitalist society , (in Truman s foreign policy) the prospec t farmer, "I just sat there and though t particularly in the intelligentsia . . . . Th e of Taft as President was calamitous : an d to myself, this is a hell of a way to ru n Communists are always concerned wit h obviously the first and effective means o f winning over the intellectuals, th e preventing this was the nomination o f a railroad!" opinion makers of society . Why is it so Eisenhower, the only other Republican In twenty years we have fought tw o important to win over these people, eve n who had a chance to be chosen by th e wars and, in the larger sense, lost the more important than to win over th e party convention . m trade unionists? . . .In a country lik e 5. But `newspapers and individuals wh o both. As the direct result of our foreign ours, where it is impossible, given th e held this opinion would hove had smal l policy we now face, at point blank social structure, to have a mass Commu- influence with the Republican Nationa l range, the most formidable enemy civil- nist movement, the intellectual becomes Convention unless they indicated the y ization has ever faced. In the meantime extremely important as a means o f were prepared to back Eisenhower in th e spreading the party line . . . . What i t campaign if nominated . a revolution has taken place in th e comes down to is the need to set up echo 6. Other Democratic contenders wer e United States . We are losing our free- chambers around the country, so tha t also weak, and, (7), Stevenson was say- dom ; we are trading it, recklessly, fo r certain notions can enter general cur- ing he was not a contender for the nomi- an illusory security in behalf of whic rency. " nation . h Daniel Bell in Jewish Labor Com- Therefore, (8), ` To those newspaper s we continue, wantonly, to turn over t o mittee Outlook (Autumn 1954) . and citizens that wanted Truman s for- the central government year in and yea r Quoted from J . B . Matthews i n eign policy to he championed . . .th e out more and more of the power with - American Mercury, June 1955, plain procedure was to attempt to assure out which we cannot long remain free. p . 81 . this at the Republican convention (whic h came first) through the nomination of Perhaps it is true that, as Whittake r Eisenhower . Chambers wrote me recently, "it is idle And furthermore, (9), Stevenson ough t to know this, as he too, surely, agrees to talk about preventing the wreck o f be met in all phases of . its advance . To that it would have been calamitous i f Western civilization. It is already a meet it there is necessary, firstly, a vas t Taft had got in . wreck from within . That is why we can educational campaign of the very nature This, in microcosm, is the Libera l hope to do little more now than snatch a and being of this deadly and malignan t primer on how to get your way no fingernail of a saint from the rac k enemy, that a real understanding of the matter who wins . It s the political way or a handful of ashes from the faggots , danger may penetrate the consciousness . of saying, heads I win, tails you lose . and bury them secretly in a flowerpo t not of the isolated few, hut of the grea t It is also a primer on how to end the against. the day, ages hence, when a fe w majority of the freedom-loving peopl e two-party system in America. It is curi- men begin again to dare to believe tha t whose very existence is so desperatel y ous how much more successful the Lib- there was once something else, tha t threatened . Out of this understanding. erals have been in their struggle against something else is thinkable, and nee d a scientific program, not merely to con- conservatives than in their struggle some evidence of what it was, and th e tain, but to defeat this enemy must he against Communists . fortifying knowledge that there wer e formed. If what I say about the Liberal mind those who, at the great nightfall, too k And, lastly, any such program is is true, what is in store for us? We kno w loving thought to preserve the tokens doomed to failure unless it rests upon that politically the Liberals are too of hope and truth ." It s a hell of a a devoted people, dedicated to th e powerful for us to unseat, or at least way to run a country, all right . But spiritual values of our Christian civiliza- I think they are. It follows that th e perhaps we will gain strength fro m tion. Faith can only be matched by Liberals will continue to preside ove r adversity ; perhaps the knowledge of faith, passion by passion . and sacrifice our war against communism. here and what we are responsible for will som e by sacrifice . And communism present s abroad. And, on the other hand, w e day confront us, and frighten us . and a challenge to intelligent sacrificial de- know there is no chance whatever of reform us and make us wise ; perhaps. votion as the very cornerstone of libert y changing the character of communism ; even. God will take pity on us . Let us and survival. so what is there left for us to do? hope so.