There is a distressing tendency especially, but not exclusively, on the
Liberal/Leftist segment of the political spectrum to engage in McCarthyite
tactics of political correctness when challenged on a number of issues
(e.g., immigration, the threat of radical Islam, Russian behavior, etc.)
The following e-mail text and texts of unpublished letters to the editor
outline my views on this matter which you, as a Michigan voter, have
a right to know in evaluating my candidacy to be your next US Senator.
If elected to that office, I will continue to fight these tendencies which
are destroying good governance in this country
.Following is a link to an op-ed piece which appeared in the
WSJ on Friday November 17,2017. It is another example
of the McCarthyism that has seized our public “discourses”
on which I want to make some comments after the link
with an invitation to reply. JHW
http://sarasotapatriots.org/Williams.html
If you look at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website you
will find that they list Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Daniel Pipes as
anti-Muslim extremists. In addition, they label Dr. John Tanton,
the publisher of the Social Contract to which I have contributed,
as the “racist architect of the modern anti-immigration movement.”
The New York Times in at least two articles that I have seen have
picked up on that and implied that Tanton is a racist. I know him
personally and regard that as an outrage. I don’t know Ayaan Hirsi
Ali or Daniel Pipes personally, but have the highest regard for them
and their intellectual integrity. But it doesn’t stop there. I have
listen several times to Trump’s infamous comment about
Charlottesville which as far as I can determine was accurate and
don’t understand how our mainstream press can label that as
racist though when General John Kelly made his reference to
compromise and the Civil War, he too was tarred as being of the
same ilk. Aside from a few honest liberals, not an oxymoron, few
liberals are speaking out about this. My following unpublished
letter to the New York Times may also be of interest. I think that
the current McCarthyism is worse than the original. I would
appreciate any comments. Please feel free to share. Regards.
John Howard Wilhelm
.
4 West Eden Court
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
Tel. 734/477-9942
November 2, 2017
letters@nytimes.com
To the Editor:
At the time of the Civil War there were abolitionists who had
great reservations about the lack of compromise which led to
war as a means of solving the problem of slavery; Alexander
Campbell of the Disciples of Christ being an outstanding
example.
Your response (editorial, Nov. 2, 2017) to John Kelly’s
comment about “the lack of an ability to compromise” leading
to the Civil War is at best an example of intergenerational
chauvinism and at worst an example of the McCarthyite
political correctness that in our own time is engendering
an unwillingness to compromise in our own public forums.
Isn’t it about time for our important media and members
of both major parties to speak up about the paths each
are taking which is destroying governance in this country?
Or do we have to wait for a “civil war” type disaster before
something is done?
Sincerely yours,
John Howard Wilhelm, Ph.D.,
Economics
4 West Eden Court
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
Tel. 734/477-9942
April 26, 2017
letters@nytimes.com
To the Editor:
Your description of Dr. John Tanton (article April 25, 2017), which
is clearly taken from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website
that describes Dr. Tanton as “the racist architect of the modern
anti-immigration movement,” should not go unchallenged. Like
former governor Richard Lamm and others who have had similar
concerns about immigration, Dr. Tanton’s concerns stem from
the works and writings of Garrett Hardin, the author of the classical
article “The Tragedy of the Commons,” not racism.
Given how well the Club of Rome’s projections have held up after
more than forty years and given the fact that fracking, whose
rate of decline is very steep, now accounts for about half of U.S.
oil production, it is clear that in the not too distant future we face
an even greater oil shock than the one that was the catalyst
for the Great Recession. The consequences of this will be to
underline the truth of the immigration concerns of a Dr. Tanton
about whom a newspaper concerned with truth ought to be
more careful.
Sincerely yours,
John Howard Wilhelm, Ph.D.,
Economics
For purposes of transparency, I need to let you know that
I have published in Dr. Tanton’s quarterly journal “The
Social Contract” The attached of one of my articles in
that publication reflects concerns expressed in my second
paragraph above. The publications of my articles in his
journal occurred because of the concerns that Dr. Tanton
had and has and not racism.