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Also, I think we did a good job addressing many of these issues in this prior discussion (where TG came up): http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.politics.marxism.marxmail/186169 - Amith On Wed, Jul 22, 2015 at 5:43 PM, A.R. G <amithrgu...@gmail.com> wrote: > I think my title was more appropriate. > > - Amith > > On Wed, Jul 22, 2015 at 5:38 PM, Jeff via Marxism < > marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > >> ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** >> #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. >> #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. >> #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. >> ***************************************************************** >> >> On Wed, July 22, 2015 04:43, A.R. G via Marxism wrote: >> > >> >> http://azvsas.blogspot.nl/2015/07/counterpunch-time-for-socialists-anti.html >> >> I have changed the subject line of this thread; I, like Sheldon Ranz, >> didn't understand or appreciate the tag Amith applied to this weighty >> matter. >> >> I attach great importance to the material in Tony Greenstein's blog entry, >> and especially the lengthy article by Elise Hendrick which was appended to >> that page but can as well be viewed at its original location at: >> >> Counterpunch or Suckerpunch >> How ‘America’s Best Political Newsletter’ Mainstreams the Far Right >> >> http://meldungen-aus-dem-exil.noblogs.org/post/2015/07/19/counterpunch-or-suckerpunch/ >> >> >> The thesis of the article is that Counterpunch (which I would have >> casually, but perhaps ignorantly, described as a left-wing publication) >> contains more articles by authors properly identified with the right than >> from the left. And what's more that this is a result of an underlying >> philosophy by Counterpunch's editors (including the late Alexander >> Cockburn) which seeks a left-right alliance of sorts, as we have seen in a >> number of other contexts, also going by the exotic name "Querfront." But >> of course there is no material basis for an alliance between the class >> forces seeking to overthrow capitalism and its ruling class in favor of a >> classless society and those who seek to reverse more modern (and >> frequently, but not always, progressive) aspects of the current capitalist >> reality: "reactionaries." Thus I would argue, as this author seems to >> believe, that what actually occurs in these instances is an intrusion by a >> right-wing force into a left-wing movement or milieu for the purpose of >> injecting some of their content into a popular (and otherwise legitimate) >> cause, to recruit those in and around the left to their ranks (especially >> when the rhetoric espoused by both left and right is barely >> distinguishable!), and to gain respectability for themselves at our >> expense. Examples thereof are quite numerous, but among very current >> issues this can be recognized in the draping of the reactionary Russian >> government (and Eastern Ukrainian separatists) in the coattails of Lenin >> and the Soviet victory over Nazism, and support for the reactionary Assad >> regime in Syria on the basis of its supposed "anti-imperialism" and >> stalwart struggle against Israel. >> >> As rather incriminating evidence of the true nature of Counterpunch, the >> author tallied the authorship of Counterpunch articles indexed by Google, >> with prominent left and right-wing authors occupying opposite sides of the >> ledger. This is detailed in the first table conspicuous in the article: in >> it she tallied 245 articles by "left/progressive" authors and 674 by >> "right/white supremacist" authors. Personally I found that statistic quite >> surprising, and would have expected about the opposite disproportion! But >> I guess it's because I only browse Counterpunch when I'm referred to a >> link, and thankfully my friends are pretty much all on the left. The >> statistic 245:674 seems rather damning, though I should point out that >> editor Jeffrey St. Clair posted a sarcastic comment (viewable at the >> article's original URL, above) which mentions a number of leftist authors >> absent from the Google search, implying that the ratio isn't so bad for >> the left at all. But then one again would wonder why even a minority of >> featured space in a truly leftist publication would have to be reserved >> for the class enemy. >> >> It's probably neither here nor there, but I'll note (as anyone here >> looking at Table I would have immediately noticed!) that on the >> "left/progressive" side of the article-count ledger, this list's esteemed >> moderator garnered the highest publication score. I suppose this could >> equally well be construed as him being so savvy as to subvert a largely >> right-wing publication with leftist content, or construed as foolishly >> giving a "left-cover" to a publication which should be shunned. >> >> But the issue to me isn't Counterpunch magazine in particular, but the >> extremely dangerous effects of allowing far-right/racist/nationalist >> forces to infiltrate our discourse and our movements, as Counterpunch is >> more or less guilty of. And the numerous political errors affecting a >> greater or lesser part of the left which can be attributed to the loss of >> clarity thereby arising. I'd like to see this matter widely discussed and >> addressed by those of us who care about class struggle, rather than simply >> being "anti-government," or in today's emerging parlance >> "anti-imperialist." >> >> - Jeff >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _________________________________________________________ >> Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm >> Set your options at: >> http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/amithrgupta%40gmail.com >> > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
