right to left

Charlie Herbert chasherb at yahoo.com
Wed Feb 27 08:59:00 PST 2002


Jeet Heer Wrote:
>>Are there any other cases of people going from right
to left?

=====

Here's a link to a transcript of the Post's David Brock on his own shift and his role in the 'vast rightwing conspiracy':

http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/02/auto_freemedia_brock022602.htm#NOW

David Brock Author & Reporter Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002; 3 p.m. EST


>From the time he arrived in Washington in 1986, David
Brock sought refuge in the bosom of the conservative movement. Smart, ambitious and tightly wound, he struggled to balance his life as a closeted gay man with the friendships of political and media warriors -- some of whom, he says, would make anti-gay remarks.

When his career imploded and the right abandoned him, Brock lost more than his professional footing. The social life he had constructed for himself unraveled

.... "Arlington, Va.: "Nothing like it exists on the left?" Come now, Mr. Brock, I think the late John Tower would disagree with you quite a bit as would Bob Packwood. Do not attribute the motives of those who opposed Bill Clinton as being motivated by hatred, bigotry, etc. That is the usual canard hoisted by the PC police of the left when they want to discredit their opponents without resorting to serious argument. I could have cared less what Clinton did in his private life but when one is sworn in court to tell the truth one must do so regardless of what one thinks are the merits of the suit.

David Brock: John Tower was brought down by Paul Weyrich, a leader of the New Right & a pioneer in the sexual McCarthyism of the right. Packwood, of course, was undone by his own actions, which were exposed in the mainstream press. I lived among the Clinton-haters for years, and I can assure you that my portrait of them is not a canard. The major Clinton-haters in Arkansas were segrationists & hated Clinton for his progressive record on race.

----

Arlington, Va.: I haven't noticed the LA Times publishing any retractions to their story on Troopergate which closely followed yours. And how would you characterize Christopher Hitchens -- another right-wing hit man? As to the allegation that the left has no similar "attack" structure, exactly what was Sid Blumenthal's job in the White House except as to function in exactly that role?

David Brock: Most journalists never admit they were wrong. The Los Angeles Times made many of the mistakes that I did.

I don't know what Sidney's job was at the White House, but if it involved disseminating the truth about the right-wing's operations, I don't think that is the kind of "attack structure" I'm referring to. The "attack structure" of the right has no regard for the truth of an allegation so long as it is politically useful. As for Hitchens, I have a section on him in the book that is too long to summarize here.

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