Some things never change, huh? Anyway, I never fail to notice demagoguery now, from whichever side it comes from. It's all summed up in the chapter at the end, "The Mark Of A Demagogue", where the author says "Demagogues, exploiting racial and religious rivalries, stirring up sectional and class antagonisms, and appealing to people's hopes and hates, won high public place and power in the United States throughout the first half the 20th Century." In 1954 the author could not have foreseen how right McCarthy was in some ways, demagogue or not. I don't think the author gives a fair treatment of McCarthy (who started out as a Democrat btw), but the rest he describes pretty accurately. The book covers demagogues from the North and South, including Eugene Talmadge (another family connection I will not go into), Theodore Bilbo, William "Big Bill" Thompson, Huey Long, Vito Marcantonio, and others, ending with Joe McCarthy. I read it then and this book, along with the emergence of El Rushbo, helped shape my political thinking into the realistically cynical view that I have today. I first came across it some 29 years or so ago while staying at a relative's house. This particular copy was retired from the Plains Georgia High School Library in 1991, and also spent some time at Ft Benning in its early life. American Demagogues 1954, Reinhar Luthin. I do however have a book that both of us may have read.
It's close enough that I have autographed copies of all his books, but I have read none of them. He also sent me the following via email, describing one of the interesting books he's acquired: It's not the WW1 book I just mentioned, but another with a closer family connection. Perfessor Squirrel a good topic one day might be "Interesting books you have found old book sales and flea markets." I have a picture of one I will send you to ruminate on. Regular Moron fd posted this comment last week:
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