Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Oliver Kamm endorses opinion of Oliver Kamm - stoically, world carries on as before
"My description of the war as a clash of competing totalitarian ideologies is...one I unreservedly endorse. "
I've never understood Kamm's reputation for being self-satisified.*
The remark relates to the Spanish Civil War, which I seem to be returning to more and more of late.
This is so, apparently, partly because "...the 42,000 volunteers of the International Brigade were under the command not of a Canadian, as most of them assumed, but of a Red Army Commander...".
Just like the French Resistance (dominated, on the ground, as it was, by Communist - i.e. Stalinist - militants) was just one side in a battle between totalitarianisms, correct?
Further, Kamm informs us:
"...I am not only militantly anti-fascist but also militantly anti-Communist..."
Wow, not just anti-Communist, but militantly anti-Communist? Vietnam, Laos, China, Cuba, North Korea, fear his wrath. As for the USSR, well if you were still around you would definitely be well advised to fear it, too. Oh, yes, well advised indeed!
Maybe I'm just one side in a battle between equally anal pomposities, but personally I find Kamm's blog's tone intolerable.** The august pages of The Times are one thing. A blog can ill-afford taking itself quite so seriously.
*Clarification: this sentance is intended sarcasticly; its meaning is the opposite of that which appears on the surface.
**Had written "Kamm's tone" but didn't want to sound too "personal", even if the extra word is cumbersome. (Subtext: I don't put no thought at all into writing this stuff).
I've never understood Kamm's reputation for being self-satisified.*
The remark relates to the Spanish Civil War, which I seem to be returning to more and more of late.
This is so, apparently, partly because "...the 42,000 volunteers of the International Brigade were under the command not of a Canadian, as most of them assumed, but of a Red Army Commander...".
Just like the French Resistance (dominated, on the ground, as it was, by Communist - i.e. Stalinist - militants) was just one side in a battle between totalitarianisms, correct?
Further, Kamm informs us:
"...I am not only militantly anti-fascist but also militantly anti-Communist..."
Wow, not just anti-Communist, but militantly anti-Communist? Vietnam, Laos, China, Cuba, North Korea, fear his wrath. As for the USSR, well if you were still around you would definitely be well advised to fear it, too. Oh, yes, well advised indeed!
Maybe I'm just one side in a battle between equally anal pomposities, but personally I find Kamm's blog's tone intolerable.** The august pages of The Times are one thing. A blog can ill-afford taking itself quite so seriously.
*Clarification: this sentance is intended sarcasticly; its meaning is the opposite of that which appears on the surface.
**Had written "Kamm's tone" but didn't want to sound too "personal", even if the extra word is cumbersome. (Subtext: I don't put no thought at all into writing this stuff).
