Abstinence crusader Leslee Unruh is a closeted Communist

12 Responses

1. 1

   exholt 4.9.2008 at 10:21 pm | Permalink

   This may be a bit pedantic, but this mentality of subsuming all individuals to the state is just as much a part of Fascist as well as Communist ideology as practiced in its Stalinist, Maoist, or even the Kim Il Sung/Jong Il variety.

   You can plausibly argue Unruh is a Fascist and Communist…since on this score…both ideologies are the same in practice: The interests of the state are paramount and the individual is expendable in the fulfillment of those interests.

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   Kristin 4.9.2008 at 10:47 pm | Permalink

   You can plausibly argue Unruh is a Fascist and Communist…since on this score…both ideologies are the same in practice: The interests of the state are paramount and the individual is expendable in the fulfillment of those interests.

   exholt: I’m pretty sure that the point was that it’s funnier to call Leslie Unruh a communist because she’s a right-wing fundamentalist conservative who would ostensibly hate to be called a communist… The post in question seemed to me to be a joke designed to underscore the craziness of Unruh’s policy recommendations.

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   exholt 4.9.2008 at 11:03 pm | Permalink

   exholt: I’m pretty sure that the point was that it’s funnier to call Leslie Unruh a communist because she’s a right-wing fundamentalist conservative who would ostensibly hate to be called a communist… The post in question seemed to me to be a joke designed to underscore the craziness of Unruh’s policy recommendations.

   Agree that it is funny.

   This pedanticism is what I get for commenting not too long after having a discussion with a classmate about definitions of fascism, communism, and how aspects of each ideology were applicable/not applicable in the Chinese context in the Nationalist Republic and the Chinese Communist regime contexts.

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   ema 4.10.2008 at 12:04 am | Permalink

   Kristin,

   You’re spot-on. If I had the funds, I’d take out “Leslee Unruh Is a Closeted Communist” newspaper ads just to see some heads explode.

   I’m not as skilled at propaganda as the Leslee Unruh types, but I’m studying their tactics and learning.

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   Nia 4.10.2008 at 12:22 am | Permalink

   I really wish that people would realize that a totalitarian dictatorship is to communism what Nazi Germany was to Christianity.

   Not that I’m pro-Christianity, but communism is not a dirty word, for pete’s sake.

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   ema 4.10.2008 at 12:56 am | Permalink

   Nia,

   It’s not that communism is a dirty word; it’s that living in a Communist state is a dirty concept. [Heh, but maybe I should tell you what I really think about communism.]

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   LadyTess 4.10.2008 at 1:02 am | Permalink

   Communism in itself isn’t bad not how it was originally intended. But mankind has grossly perverted it since the idea first came into being. Also I have to agree with Kristin.

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   Gina 4.10.2008 at 1:47 am | Permalink

   Please tell me this thing won’t pass. Please.

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   exholt 4.10.2008 at 2:12 am | Permalink

   I really wish that people would realize that a totalitarian dictatorship is to communism what Nazi Germany was to Christianity.

   Not that I’m pro-Christianity, but communism is not a dirty word, for pete’s sake.

   Communism is a dirty word precisely because of the way it has actually been implemented in many societies around the world…including my family’s country of origin.

   Moreover, unless my readings of Marx was off….he did call for a “dictatorship of the proletariat” which while necessary to realize his vision of a stateless Communist society free of bourgeois resistance and ideological contamination, would arguably require an authoritarian dictatorship with totalitarian tendencies to achieve those ends. Something that in the context of what transpired in recent history is one reason why this ideology along with Fascism creeps me out on many levels while simultaneously piquing my intellectual interest.

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    Kristin 4.10.2008 at 8:38 am | Permalink

    Sheesh… It was a joke and not a serious critique of communism. And, yes, communism is a bad word to the radical American right.

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    ElleBeMe 4.10.2008 at 9:01 am | Permalink

    As a pregnant woman, I take a particular offense to Ms. Unruh’s proposed policy initiatives.

    I may be hormonal and occasionally act irrationally, but I do have rights!

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    Pandagon :: Because it’s funny to red bait the anti-choicers :: April :: 2008 4.10.2008 at 10:30 pm | Permalink

    [...] Jill linked Ema’s awesome post about why Leslee Unruh and her cadre of crazy anti-choicers are very Communist in their thinking. I’m reading Glenn Greenwald’s newest book, and I have to say that this post really reminds me of his larger points about how right wingers all too often embody the very things they claim to hate. The official right wing reason to hate communism was that it was totalitarian, but the recent embrace of Soviet tactics demonstrates that it wasn’t the totalitarianism that was an issue so much at the lefty economics, as you might suspect. [...]

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