Here's another selection of time-travel blogging, also from 1992. This one is from 11/30/1992, about the Republicans' "Mr. Morality" and professional scold, William Bennett. Bennett reportedly (by the pre-Murdoch Wall Street Journal) dated the legendary 1960s blues singer Janis Joplin when they were both in college in Texas. So, direct from 1992, maybe or maybe not with the help of H.G. Wells' time machine:**********
I just read two chapters from William Bennett's 1992 book, The Devaluing of America. Bennett is a "highbrow" version of Republican rightist. I read the chapter on race and the one on religion. What he has to say on race, after you cut through the rhetoric, is that he is opposed to enforcing the laws against racial discrimination in employment.
The chapter on religion starts out with some general platitudes about the country's overall religious heritage and values. Then he talks at length about the value of Catholic schools, making a pitch for shifting public funds away from public schools to private. After pages of deriding "the liberals", the "cultural elite", etc., for sneering at religion, he then launches into one of the most sweeping tirades against American churches I've ever seen.
The Catholic Bennett apparently thinks that, even for the politically and religiously ultraconservative Southern Baptists, American churches are dominated by leaders primarily motivated by leftwing political sentiments. Along with some factually questionable reporting, he claims that the "increasingly radicalized political faith" of mainstream church leaders is largely motivated by "an almost reflexive anti-Americanism".
This is ridiculous, and mostly serves to reduce respect for religion among people who might be inclined to find Bennett credible.
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I would add in the present day that I think the late Steve Gilliard is correct when he used to say that "cultural elite" is often used by the hard right as a synonym for "the Jews".
Tags: devaluing of america, william bennett
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