Monday, August 24, 2015

Pinkos!

FBi kept files on Ray Bradbury: "Definitely slanted against the United States": "The general aim of these science fiction writers is to frighten the people into a state of paralysis or psychological incompetence bordering on hysteria," the informant warned. "Which would make it very possible to conduct a Third World War in which the American people would believe could not be won since their morale had seriously been destroyed."

16 comments:

Deb said...

Meanwhile, organized crime flourished, people were lynched for having the wrong skin color, and voting rights were being suppressed, but the FBI's focus was science fiction writers. I've said it before and I'll say it again, that J, Edgar Hoover had some crazy priorities!

Ed Gorman said...

I did a novel The Marilyn Tapes in which J Edgar baby was a major figure. (Available cheap on Kindle. Plug.) In my research I learned that J Edgar put agents on both Rock Hudson and Liberace for many years. I believe this may be what Deb is referring to as "some crazy priorities." Not to mention huge wastes of taxpayer money. If I've ever seen a Rooskie agent was Liberace! It's also true that when he traveled the vehicles that carried him were never permitted to make left turns--his travels had to be planned out in advance to eliminate them. He was a sad joke but I absolutely do not believe he was a cross dresser. That is a fiction invented by a hack UK movie biographer to sell books. (Though I would like to see a pic of him in a bustier.)

mybillcrider said...

I've read THE MARILYN TAPES and recommend it! But I don't want to see a pic of J. Edgar in bustier.

Jerry House said...

J. Edgar's Bustier WBAGNFARB.

Mike Doran said...

Life's Little Ironies:

In the last years of his life, Ray Bradbury became about as right-wing as anybody could imagine.
Among his friends, he became notorious for his hatred of Bill and Hilary Clinton. Mark Evanier has documented this in his own blog.
Bradbury's feelings about Barack Obama were about the same, maybe a little less intense (also documented in many places).

This is something I've noticed a lot, especially in recent times: People who hold extreme views in one direction suddenly shift to the other extreme, with little or no advance notice.
The main reason I've stayed in the political middle my whole life ...

Deb said...

Ed's comment reminded me of this book that I put on my tbr list years ago, but never got around to reading:

http://www.amazon.com/No-Left-Turns-Joseph-Schott/dp/0345250133

RK said...

Seems to me if you could only make left turns you might end up where you started.

Todd Mason said...

Same thing with only right turns. And, Mike Doran, you might be surprised at how many centrists have been suddenly converted to one sort of strangeness or another...Nazi Germany definitely comes to mind...and never mistake a mild liberal (say, an Al Capp or a Ray Bradbury) for a leftist...even before they become irascible old reactionaries...

Deb said...

The one that surprised me was e.e. cummings. Based on the themes in his poetry, I'd assumed he was a liberal lefty, but he was apparently quite a reactionary, big supporter of Joseph McCarthy, etc.

/What can I say? Mislead by poetry...again!

Todd Mason said...

Ezra Pound, notably, as well...he and Eliot were definitely avant grade artistically without being remotely leftist.

Deb said...

Oh neither of them ever struck me as progressive; and both if them were raging anti-Semites.

Todd Mason said...

Yup. And cummings seemed a bit devout, at least, in his work as I've read it...which of course doesn't require rightwing sentiment, but he struck me as having the same sort of skepticism about humanity at the same time as someone like Chesterton.

Cap'n Bob said...

J. Edgar also spent a lot of FBI time and money trying to determine if the lyrics to Louie, Louie were obscene.

Todd Mason said...

And sent agents out to interview Martha Reeves to determine how much she hoped to incite riots with the code in "Dancing in the Streets."

Todd Mason said...

I have to love a spell-checker that decides I meant Avant Grade.

Unknown said...

AH.... but can you prove Bradbury was NOT a commie agent working to sap American morale, whose plans were nipped in the bud by an alert government?