On March 6, 1970, a bomb exploded in the basement of a townhouse in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The resulting blast completely destroyed the four-story townhouse and severely damaged the nearby buildings. Originally thought to be the result of a gas leak, it was soon discovered that the townhouse had been the base for the Weather Underground (originally, the Weathermen), a radical leftwing organization prominent during that era. The bombs had been part of an ongoing terrorist campaign against the United States over the Vietnam War, although the target this time was particularly disturbing. They had planned to hit a non-commissioned officers’ dance. Had they been a little more competent, the death toll could have easily been in the hundreds, with around 50% of the casualties being women.
The Greenwich Village explosion is just one example of how violent the leftwing activists of the 1960s and 1970s were. Although the best known, the Weather Underground was just one of many violent groups that dotted the landscape during this time and serves as a fantastic window into understanding why the average person despised the New Left as much as they did. The Left may have wondered why millions of people sided with Archie Bunker over his son-in-law or thought the Kent State protesters had it coming, but in reality, there were good reasons for this overall feeling. The Far Left declared war on Middle America. This is why Richard Nixon was able to win 49 states two years after the explosion – Heritage America saw him as their only option to fight against a violent band of malcontents.
Something that is fascinating here is how the memory of the era has been radically altered from its actual reality. Ask the average person, including some who were alive at the time, about the protests against the Vietnam War and they will almost certainly fall back on certain tired tropes – i.e. that it was a bunch of hippies who just wanted to give peace a chance, smoke pot, and listen to Jimi Hendrix. The sheer level of violence rarely comes up, and understanding this phenomenon is key to understanding why the Left wins; they control the act of historical remembrance by their command of both the media and academia. Because the Left controls the popular understanding of the era, they are able to push even violent groups as visionaries with their hearts in the right place. Just look at how Bill Ayer’s, the leader of the Weather Underground, life turned out since – he was allowed back into polite society with no repentance needed and has even been permitted to unambiguously lie about the group’s intentions, claiming that they did everything they could to minimize civilian casualties when the historical record shows something far different. Civilian casualties were minimized only by their incompetence, not by their nobility. Remember, this man was, at one time, on good terms with Obama. Needless to say, there is zero chance that had he done what he did in the name of some rightwing ideology his life would have turned out the way that it did. Just look at David Cole – non-violent, Jewish himself, and more of a provocateur and troll than anything else. However, when he tried to rejoin polite society and the GOP, the local Republican Party sent out a press release warning about him.
The Left’s control over the act of historical remembrance extends to World War II, too. Though it may sound like science fiction to say this now, but in the not-too-distant past the Holocaust was not considered central to the war. Just look at the World War II movies of the 1950s and 1960s – movies like Where Eagles Dare, The Dirty Dozen, or even The Great Escape – a movie set in a German POW camp. In these very popular films, the Holocaust is a non-factor. It was not until the 1970s that the historical memory really shifted in favor of believing the Holocaust as the central event of the war.
Traditionally, the War Between the States has been the most significant event in history where the Left did not control the act of remembrance. There was, to be sure, always a strong feeling that the “right side” won the war and Lincoln was a great president, but the Left’s dominance over the narrative was far from absolute. Even if there was a general sense of gladness that the Union had been saved, there was also an understanding that the Confederate soldiers fought valiantly, and Southerners should be proud of their ancestors. There is a reason Ken Burns included Shelby Foote in his The Civil War, just as Lynyrd Skynyrd could proudly fly the Confederate flag in Oakland, California, the Duke Boys were considered television and cultural heroes, and Cross-Country from G.I. Joe was a “good guy.” Because the Left did not have a monopoly on the act of remembering the War Between the States, Southerners were able to take great pride in the Confederacy.
Although it was a long process, decades in the making, the Left’s ability to finally capture the act of remembrance followed the election of Obama in 2008 and went into overdrive following the Dylann Roof shooting in 2015. The steep decline in Southern identity in a single generation can now be attributed to a critical reason – the enemies of Dixie now control the memory of the War Between the States and, as such, what it means to be Southern.
Still, a few embers remain, burning ever so brightly. Southern Nationalists must work to turn these burning embers into a blaze that can finally free our land. The Left, to their credit, understands this and this is why they are working so hard, to the point of being vindictive, to extinguish these embers. They fear that if we remain, we can eventually erase all their work and then some. As long as one single ember remains, that threat will always be present. This is why they feel they need to go after any and all positive depictions of the Confederacy or Southerners who have remained proud of it, no matter how minor.
They know what may happen if they don’t. We must show them that they are right.
I think you’re right; and it’s why we need to apply David Irving’s criteria of ‘Real History’ as — “History that travels straight from history-maker to document, and from the archives to the writer and his book, without political input and free of academic prejudice; it is History that cannot be bought, and cannot be bought off” — to every era and people, as well as our own. To do otherwise undermines our credibility, alienates potential allies, and forfeits the blessing of God on our efforts.
Good article. I’ve got dvd copies of many WW2 movies, but only recently noticed how all of the German battle flags and vehicles prominently featured crosses. The allies’ vehicles were marked with just those Captain America bullseye circles and stars and of course the reds had their Soviet flags. CROSS OF IRON and BATTLE OF THE BULGE are the only movies which portray some of the Germans heroically. The holocaust propaganda started in the 1970s after the Palestinian independence movement had gained support in the West until terrorists killed a couple of Israelis at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. THE BIG RED ONE is the first WW2 movie I can remember including a subplot about so called death camps.
Hollywood loved Southerners and former Confederate Soldiers back in the 20th century when there was money to be made by exploiting the lost cause of American history. GONE WITH THE WIND, John Ford’s cavalry pictures, SHANE, and THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES all portrayed Southerners heroically and empathetically. TV shows such as WAGON TRAIN and RAWHIDE did as well and Ty Hardin (the real Rick Dalton) played a former Confederate Officer turned bounty hunter on the series BRONCO.
And still NONE dare mention the Jews!
“The Far (((Left))) declared war on Middle America.”
There, fixed it for ya.
Until we start pointing out who these creatures are and/or who is funding and pushing this, we will get nowhere.
Of course, we must listen to II Chronicles 7:14 first, but we have to name the culprits.
Keep in mind, the weathermen were the political progenitors of the ghetto prince himself. Much to the delight of main stream media. No where is the media shitstorm telling the truth about these people, as in the lies spread about MAGA and Trump.