Radicals -- Portraits of a Destructive Passion (2012) by David Horowitz is physically a relatively thin tome but it is a stout book in ideas and in deciphering the mentality of the left-wing radicals influencing and re-making American society -- from the late 1960s to the present. Horowitz paints incisive psychological and biographical portraits of several radicals and interprets their nihilistic philosophy of hatred towards American freedom in contrast to the inexcusable affinity for America's totalitarian enemies. Horowitz masterfully describes the destructive legacy these radicals have left in their wake.
Portrayed are Christopher Hitchins, a celebrated maverick commentator and seemingly rudderless author; Bettina Aptheker, an acclaimed professor and feminist accuser who blames everyone else for the ills of American society and her own failures; Cornel West, a celebrated academic, highly praised, but of questionable intellectual capacity, a reflection of lower academic standards and the precipitous decline in the prevailing American (liberal) culture; Kathy Boudin and Susan Rosenberg, unrepentant terrorist bombers pardoned by President Clinton in his last day in office; Susan Lydon, a liberated woman caricatured and praised in her obituary for her alleged feminism and sexual liberation agenda, not the real person, and for the wrong reasons; and finally Saul Alinsky, a radical chameleon and Machiavellian political activist, who has had and continues to have immense influence in liberal politics.
In fact, Alinsky, the radical "community organizer," profoundly influenced both the Clintons, and the sitting president, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. Alinsky's lessons included the pursuit, attainment, and maintenance of political power by any means, including using subterfuge and forming alliances with other political groups, as long it is to the ultimate benefit of gaining political power. While reading about these radical luminaries, we also encounter and are regaled with dozens of other "fellow travelers" we meet along the way.
Radicals is eloquently written with artistic flare, brilliant turn of phrases, words precisely chosen, magnificently constructed prose. Yet, Horowitz's observations are profound, astutely unlocking the mind of radicals and exposing their modus operandi with psychoanalytic and surgical precision. Radicals, in short, is highly recommended for the historical and political information, as well as for enjoying the masterful literary style in which it was written.
The reviewer Dr. Miguel Faria is a retired Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery, medical historian, and an Associate Editor in Chief and World Affairs Editor of Surgical Neurology International (SNI). He is the author of numerous articles on politics, history, and science, including "Stalin's Mysterious Death" (2011) and "The Political Spectrum -- From the Extreme Right and Anarchism to the Extreme Left and Communism" (2011.
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