Lincoln Idolatry, Imperialism, and ‘Venomous Homophobia’

That’s the agenda of the Claremont Institute, as this article from The Nation magazine explains.  It appears that the Institute’s Dr. Strangelove, Harry Jaffa, high priest of the Lincoln Cult, is also a rather obsessed homophobe, and has been for decades.  He bases such views on a unique version of “natural rights” that he adopted from his mentor, the atheistic numerologist Leo Strauss.  This is not the “natural rights” theory of Jefferson and other founders, but a counterfeit version.

This explains why two fellow academics called me a couple of years ago to ask me the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid question about the Claremontistas:  “Who are those guys?”  They called after presenting a paper at an academic conference in which they argued that Lincoln was bisexual (not my field of expertise), and were taken aback at how some Straussian Claremontistas in the audience responded with over-the-top personal attacks as opposed to the normal academic debate.  They discovered that I had also dared to disagree with The High Priest over his (mis)interpretations of Lincoln, and was subjected to similar childish behavior.  I explained to them that Claremont is a cult, whereby Jaffa has taken the place of Strauss.  As with all cults, the cult leader espouses The Official Truth, and the job of his minions is to smear, attack, and denigrate all doubters.  That’s why they belong in a circus, not in academe.

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6:24 am on October 13, 2010