After Collins, I turned to the work of Richard Tillinghast, another American poet whom I respected and who had also written a 9/11 anniversary poem, titled “Ars Poetica.” I was in for a rude and unexpected shock for Tillinghast had plainly joined the tribe of darkened souls, the coterie of the historically uninformed, the deeply ignorant and the self-indulgent politically correct. “Brush from my heart,” he begins, “the fine particulate matter of the World/Trade Center”—note the freshman-style enjambment straining for significance. For some inscrutable reason, he then proceeds to denounce the Israelis riding in “a tank that grinds down on Bethlehem,” a gratingly obvious allusion to William Butler Yeats’ “rough beast” that “slouches towards Bethlehem to be born” in “The Second Coming.” Next, he goes on to deplore “democracy bombs” falling on those who “shelter in tarpaper/shacks,” confesses that he’s “had it with ‘God Bless America’ ” and petitions some invisible interlocutor to “Speak to me/in the wavery melismas of the call to prayer/that a billion people hear/this morning from a minaret before dawn.” He then concludes his peroration with the solemn “reverberations/of a bell that memorializes all we have lost.” The poem might have been better titled “Farce Poetica.”
For Tillinghast, as for his innumerable Islamophiliac congeners, what is lost is not three thousand lives. What is lost is not the man and child whose dismembered relics were found in the rubble, a fist clenching a small hand. What is lost, apparently, is America’s sympathy for the Third World, its adherence to the Declaration of Independence and its creed of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, its compassionate and civilizing impulse. But what is really lost, in Tillinghast’s case at any rate—and it truly pains me to say this of a poet whom I once read with profit and delight—is honor, integrity, and ordinary perceptiveness.
One does not expect much in the way of political sentience from poets. T.S. Eliot was an unabashed Royalist and an antisemite. Gottfried Benn was originally an admirer of the Nazis. William Butler Yeats sided with the landed aristocracy and, for a time, with the Irish Blue Shirts. Ezra Pound was a raging fascist who broadcast propaganda for Mussolini. Stephen Spender was a Bolshevik sympathizer before he experienced a belated awakening. Amiri Baraka, former poet laureate of the state of New Jersey, despises the United States, “the biggest terrorist,” and exonerates the 9/11 murderers. And so on, ad nauseam. There are exceptions, as I’ve pointed out—W.H Auden, perhaps, Philip Larkin, Billy Collins and a few others—but they are rare enough. No matter how talented they may be, poets are generally benighted and narcissistic beings, unwise in the ways of the world and sophomoric in their political thinking. But one would have thought better of intellectuals who cut their teeth on political ideas, social issues and historical developments.
The generic left/liberal/intellectual reaction to the tragedy of 9/11 demonstrates that there is really no excuse for the monumental shallowness of the highly educated. They may write impeccable prose, compose excellent poetry, paint striking works of art, elaborate involuted theories—but as thinking human beings honestly struggling to come to terms with a cruel and maddening world, they often fail to transcend the level of mediocrity and dubious partisanship. Thomas Sowell goes even further in his litigation against those who are presumed to know. In his recent Intellectuals and Society, he lays it down that the intellectual’s “unaccountability to the external world is not simply a happenstance but a principle.”
Specific talents, curricular knowledge and academic laurels are no guarantee of genuine intelligence, of the ability, in Matthew Arnold’s famous phrase, “to see life steadily and see it whole.” The only lesson to be gleaned from the folly and exaggerated self-regard of these appeasers and quislings is that there is no substitute for common sense, character and clarity of feeling, which, unfortunately, cannot be taught.
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I happen to believe that FEAR is the essence of Left-wing motivations to appease Islam. Surely anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism play important roles, but fear is the main one…and not just fear of violence, but the fear of being hated, such is the delicate sensibility of the typical Left-winger.
If the Left were honest, they would say "yes, we're afraid and we'd rather give them what they want so they don't attack us." Such honesty would be politically indefensible, so instead, they contort reality: "Islam is peace" and other platitudes are designed to give intellectual and moral justification for their appeasement.
Seeing my first reply got deleated. let me say that you hit the nail on the head and it is exactly what what is wrong with America right now. Fear in what ever form it comes in and running from it instead of facing it. Smart post..elmore
Great post ….and I encourage all to read Dr. Jamie Glazov's "United In Hate" for a superb and further analysis of the bewildering and dangerous attitudes of America's political Left. This comment is completely on track. Fear and a sometimes disguised, deep self hatred bolstered and symbolized by a hatred of America, are further symptoms of this doomed mentality..
I agree with you about "United in Hate". It's an outstanding book, one that should receive much more recognition. In fact, it should be required reading for anyone who wants truly to understand where the Left has invested its collective soul.
In the years leading up to 9/11/2001, I remember reading accounts of the tyranny of the Taliban in Afghanistan. How people were ordered to paint their windows black if women were living in their homes, so outsiders couldn't see in. How women were not allowed to hold jobs outside the home. How women whose husbands had died, were not even allowed to beg for sustenance for their children. If 9/11/2001 hadn't given us a raison d'etre to finally go in and take down that horrid regime, Afghanistan would today be the Islamic equivalent of North Korea. The way it is today, that may yet happen in Iraq or Afghanistan, or both.
But there is hope. I read this past week that Fidel Castro has finally admitted that " … Communism doesn't work for us anymore."
Wow. After 50 years of imprisoning and killing those who posed any threat to his regime, F.C. finally decided to man up and admit what a failure it all was and is. Who knows — maybe Osama Bin Laden will someday admit "Islam isn't working for us anymore".
Afraid not Alex. Islam is a political ideology that has a 1400 year history of world domination. 50 years of something that didn't work isn't to much different than most peoples lives.Right now even the short history of America is being threaten by Islam's political mandate…elmore
The hypocrisy of the left came into full focus last week. freedom of religion should trump any offense the public feels about the mosque. Then, freedom of religious expression (burning the koran) must be suspended if it offends our enemies.
BTW, nothing does a better job of burning korans than a Big Green Egg.
did you mean to write "perpetual victims care more about life than things"?
did you mean they care about their own physical survival, more than quality of life and principles?
The Left believes that the US had 9/11 coming. Many, including Obama's father believed the US has taken the place of the former western imperialist empires. We have ruthlessly exploited Africa, Asia and the Mideast for their minerals and other products. If you consider this premises, it would explain Obama's apology tour, his hostility toward western nations, his aid to Brazil. Israel is the creation of the west, hence Obama's hostility toward it and his tilt toward the Palestinians. To punish and transform the US, Obama has been knocking the US down to size militarily but also economically. Why does he hate the rich? He believes they got their wealth due to exploitation of poorer peoples of the world. That is why he believes in a transfer of the wealth. 9/11 means nothing to him. To him, the Trade Towers were the symbol of imperialist American capitalism. That mosque will be built before the Freedom Tower. That will be a betrayal to its victims, but to Obama, it shows the world, his priorities are with them rather than his own country which to him is the root of all the world problems.
I disagree about the fear. I think most leftists and liberals are, in fact, standing up for their principles. They *think* they're willing to sacrifice anything rather than sacrifice their version of freedom. They're defending us from what they believe is the biggest threat: the American political right. To them, the odds of home-grown fascists taking over the government is much more immediate and terrifying than the threat of foreign terrorists attacking us or Islamists injecting Sharia into our government and culture. To them, unity and patriotism are a dangerous combination that lead inevitably to Nazi-like conformity.
So when something like 9/11 happens, their instant reaction is not to unite with the rest of the country but to "dissent." If the rest of the country is angry, they'll tell us to calm down. If the rest of the country is calm, they'll ask "Where's the outrage?" If the rest of the country feels victimized, they'll tell us we deserved it. If the entire country is celebrating a victory, they'll remind us of all the reasons we shouldn't celebrate. Anything to keep us fragmented, arguing, disputing each other. Unity, for a leftist, is only for the left. If us "regular folks" ever get together, it'll be wars abroad and secret police & pogroms at home.
That's my theory, anyway.
The Left fears fascism on the Right? The true danger comes from the anti-democratic elements in the Left. Anti-democratic ????? Explain to me how democracy is illustrated by CARD CHECK. The Right looks at Leftists as Socialists, trying to increase the size of government. This comes at the people's expense, THE LOSS OF THEIR LIBERTIES. They reject Globalism. The Right does not try to silence dissent. Look at the Left during the Bush administration. The Left would love to impose the Fairness Doctrine on talk radio and Fox. They believe they are the elites and know better. Look at how they passed the Stimulus and ObamaCare. As for principles, a number are followers of Saul Alinsky. (Rules for Radicals – any means justify the end, which is power) The old Democrats, that party no longer exists. The Leftists and the radicals from the anti-war SDS and other organizations are in charge. They have no use for the "regular people."
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
Thomas Jefferson
"Ideological termites tunneling away at the very structure and foundations of Western civilization” that is one of the greatest analogies I have heard,. I hope you forgive me if I plagiarize the hell out of the phrase!
The so-called "Left" seek tyrannical power, heirs of Maximillian Robespierre who sat on the left in the semicircular seating arrangement of the National Convention. Like him, they are convinced of their own virtue and the evil of any who disagree with them.
Well if you point out a terrorist on the battlefield unambiguously to the marines, maybe they'll shoot him, but lots of times you don't know who is a terrorist, or just a terrorist sympathizer, or someone who is just cowed by the terrorists. And on top of that, you have civilians who have been indoctrinated with terrorist ideals – if you look at the PA and Hamas, for example, you see that they put a priority on teaching their children to hate. And its no accident that so many of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, a country that teaches some radically anti-infidel ideas. So what, Robert, are you advocating?