Thomas Fleming (political writer)

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For other people of the same name, see Thomas Fleming (disambiguation).

Thomas Fleming (born 1945) is a

paleoconservative
political magazine.

Fleming has been described as a leading figure in developing neo-Confederate ideology.[1][2][3] He was a founding member of the League of the South, and a founding editor of Southern Partisan magazine in 1979, but later left both organizations.[1]

Biography

Thomas Fleming was awarded a doctorate in classics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, completing his dissertation on Attic Greek lyric poetry, and until joining a series of conservative groups, taught Latin at a small, private middle school in South Carolina.[specify][4] In addition to editing, Fleming has written on topics concerning the literature of pagan Greece as well as political issues.

Fleming was introduced to the paleoconservative public by Robert W. Whitaker of South Carolina in 1982.[citation needed] At that time, he was invited to contribute to Whitaker's book, The New Right Papers,[5] which put together ways whereby conservative populists could be elected to office through an alliance of people from both parties in the Republican Party.[6][third-party source needed]

Fleming was a founding member and board member of the League of the South, from which he was reported to have resigned in 2002,[7] as well as an affiliated scholar of its educational arm, the League of the South Institute.[8][third-party source needed] He was a founding editor of the Southern Partisan magazine in 1979, with Clyde Wilson. Its masthead included "a range of conservative figures from old segregationists to New Right leaders", as described by the academics Euan Hague and Edward Sebesta.[1] He left in 1983 after disputes at the magazine.[1] In 1985, after the death of author Leopold Tyrmand, Fleming became editor of Chronicles Magazine.[1] In 1988 he co-wrote The Conservative Movement with Paul Gottfried.[third-party source needed]

As of June 2015, Fleming retired as editor of Chronicles magazine,[9] but continued contributing articles on an occasional basis. As of the July 2015 issue of Chronicles, the magazine's former Senior Editor For Books, Chilton Williamson Jr., became editor for the publication.[10] In December 2022, Fleming returned once more to Chronicles to take the mantle of editorship at the magazine.[citation needed]

Views

Fleming has been described as a leading figure in developing neo-Confederate ideology.[1][2][3]

Immigration

Criticizing mass immigration into the United States, Fleming, in an essay in Immigration and the American Future, wrote that American elites peddle a form of propositionalism:[third-party source needed] "This abstract approach to assimilation derives, ultimately, from the conviction - as naive as it is chauvinistic - that America is an exceptional country, one not rooted in blood, soil, and kinship, but a nation 'dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal'. Proponents of this are quick to label the more old-fashioned view, that the nation is a metaphorical extended family, as bigotry, but no amount of repetition or rhetorical extravagance can disguise the dangerous logic that is at work. If I love my country because it is mine, I must be loyal to it, even when I disagree with its policies, but I do not necessarily regard it as superior to everyone else's country, and I may have no inclination to say that all other countries, to the extent that they are legitimate and worthy of respect, must approximate my own."[11][excessive quote]

He then explains how this type of American propositionalism impacts immigration: "But that this is exactly what the advocates of the "propositional nation" do insist upon. The United States is not only the best nation in the history of the world, but also it is the beacon to all mankind, the natural home of all the good and decent people in the world and the enemy to all regimes that deny their subjects equal rights. Thus, by the same argument, a propositional nation is obliged to open its borders to strangers "yearning to breathe free," but it is also justified in engaging in endless crusades to impose its propositions on the rest of the world."[12][excessive quote]

Ron Paul

Chronicles Magazine often runs news articles of interest to the old right.[third-party source needed] Writing on Congressman Ron Paul and his bid for the presidency, Fleming wrote: "Dr. Paul has his zany side: He believes in the Constitution of the old American republic, and he actually thinks it has some relevance for America today. God bless him, I would vote for him if only for pretending to embrace such a heartwarming fantasy. As it is, I am convinced he believes what he says. (His candor and sincerity alone are enough to disqualify him as a serious presidential candidate in these United States.) Paul not only wants, in principle, to restore the republic but also opposes the continued erosion of states' rights and U.S. sovereignty."[13][excessive quote]

Like Paul, Fleming favors

neoconservative foreign policy.[14][third-party source needed
]

Religion

Fleming affirms the

Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy and has urged the Eastern Orthodox Churches to submit to the immediate, universal jurisdiction and absolute authority of the See of Rome.[third-party source needed] He notes, "The Eastern position, from fairly early on and down to fairly late, was unequivocal in acknowledging the primacy of the Roman bishop, and even today most Orthodox bishops and theologians I know concede that if the Church were reunited, the heir of Peter would preside over the meetings of the patriarchs – indeed, in some Eastern ecclesiastical disputes in recent years, appeals have been made to the Pope."[15][excessive quote
]

Racism controversy

Fleming has made several controversial statements regarded by some as racist in nature, although he denies that he and most paleoconservatives support racism. Examples of incendiary comments include the following statements taken from his columns in Chronicles:[third-party source needed]

The

neo-Confederate movement.[18] In a 2002 article on the paleoconservative trend in right wing politics, the SPLC stated: "While mainstream neo-conservatives are tight with the GOP, so-called paleocon intellectuals have carved a niche for themselves as staunch, old-right traditionalists who romanticize the pre-civil rights era South. Fleming, who is Chronicles' editor, has gone so far as to describe the 19th century Ku Klux Klan as a 'national liberation army.'"[19]

Fleming has strenuously denied these allegations, writing: "It is an easy trick of propaganda to portray all natural affections in the dark colors of prejudice. Why would anyone like the South if it were not for slavery and

New York Times? These people have lies in their mouths, blood on their hands for the great genocides of the 20th century, and guilt on their consciences for the seduction of the innocent and the destruction of our civilization. Our task, as our late friend Mel Bradford put it, is to remember who we are and stop our ears against the siren songs of the revolutionists, which have proved to be not the anthems of a new dawn but a message of hate and filth that leads to destruction."[20][excessive quote
]

Books

  • "Old Rights and New Right" in The New Right Papers, Robert W. Whitaker, Ed. (1982)
    ISBN 0-312-56927-0
    .
  • The Conservative Movement (1988, with
    ISBN 0-8057-9724-6
    .
  • West Point: Blue and Grey (1988)
    ISBN 1-59687-356-6
    .
  • The Politics of Human Nature (1993)
    ISBN 1-56000-693-5
    .
  • Fleming, Thomas (2002). Montenegro: The Divided Land. Rockford, Illinois: Chronicles Press.
    ISBN 9780961936495
    .
  • The Morality of Everyday Life: Rediscovering an Ancient Alternative to the Liberal Tradition (2004)
    ISBN 0-8262-1509-2
    .
  • Socialism (2007)
    ISBN 0-7614-2632-9
    .

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780292779211
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7006-2869-8
    .
  3. ^ a b Piggott, Stephen (26 January 2016). ""Mainstream" Conservatives With Large Audiences Promote White Nationalists". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  4. ^ Advertisement in Chronicles Magazine
  5. ISBN 0-312-56927-0
  6. ^ "Whitaker OnLine Home: WhitakerOnline.org Bob Whitaker". www.whitakeronline.org. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  7. ^ "'Goodbye, League of the South'". Southern Poverty Law Center. 18 June 2002. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  8. ^ The League of the South Institute
  9. ^ "Obiter Dictum". www.chroniclesmagazine.org. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2018. After leading Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture for over 30 years, Dr. Thomas Fleming is retiring. His last issue as editor is the June number.
  10. ^ "Contributors - Archives". 8 May 2022.
  11. Chilton Williamson
    , p. 217.
  12. ^ "Up Mexico Way," in Immigration and the American Future, ed. Chilton Williamson, p. 217.
  13. ^ -----, "Our Open (Borders) Secret" Archived 7 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Chronicles Magazine, online edition, 18 March 2008. Accessed: 2009.3.27
  14. ^ "Rumors of Wars".
  15. ^ -----, comments to "Ignatius II" Archived 12 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine in Chronicles Magazine, online edition, 21 May 2008.
  16. ^ "Credo for Conservatives Part III: Order, Tradition, and Loyalty : Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture". Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  17. ^ "Clean Jim, Dirty Harry, and Barry the Beer-Drinker : Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture". Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  18. ^ Heidi Beirich and Mark Potok, "Ideologues" in Intelligence Report, online edition, Winter 2004.
  19. ^ Lee, Martin A. (20 September 2002). "Patrick Buchanan's Reform Party Begins to Unravel". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  20. ^ Fleming, Thomas (1 July 2004) Hatemongers Archived 5 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Chronicles
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