Comments on: Abstinence crusader Leslee Unruh is a closeted Communist

By: Pandagon :: Because it’s funny to red bait the anti-choicers :: April :: 2008

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:30:14 +0000

[...] 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. [...]

By: ElleBeMe

ElleBeMe — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:01:12 +0000

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!

By: Kristin

Kristin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:38:15 +0000

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

By: exholt

exholt — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:12:40 +0000

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.

By: Gina

Gina — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:47:25 +0000

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

By: LadyTess

LadyTess — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:02:46 +0000

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.

By: ema

ema — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:56:13 +0000

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.]

By: Nia

Nia — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:22:05 +0000

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.

By: ema

ema — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:04:08 +0000

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.

By: exholt

exholt — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:03:00 +0000

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.