Thomas Fleming (author)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Fleming is a traditionalist Catholic
writer, president of the Rockford Institute
, and editor of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture
, a political commentary periodical, published monthly, and directed at a paleoconservative audience.
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
, completing his dissertation on Attic
lyric poetry, and until joining a series of conservative groups, taught Latin
at a small, private middle school in South Carolina. In addition to editing, Fleming writes 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. At that time, he was invited to contribute to Whitaker's book, The New Right Papers,
which put together ways whereby conservative populists
could be elected to office through an alliance of people from both parties in the Republican Party
. (Whitaker later joined the Reagan administration
as a junior member.)
Now a recognized name in the conservative movement of the region where he lived, Fleming became a founding member and board member of the League of the South
, from which he later resigned when controversy arose, as well as an affiliated scholar of its educational arm, the League of the South Institute. He was the founding editor of the Southern Partisan
magazine, started in 1979, until he left when controversy arose there as well. In 1985, after the death of author Leopold Tyrmand
, Fleming became editor of Chronicles Magazine, and in 1988 co-wrote The Conservative Movement with Paul Gottfried
.
And then shows how it relates to immigration:
and his bid for the presidency, Fleming states:
; urging for the submission and reunion of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the authority of the Catholic Church he states:
Since the official position of Eastern Orthodoxy is that it has never lawfully been under Roman authority, Orthodox Christians who acknowledged such claims for supremacy over the East would be schismatic. Srđa Trifković
, a veteran contributing editor of Chronicles and Serbian Orthodox Christian, resigned in December of 2008 and his column has been removed from the banner header.
:
The Southern Poverty Law Center
has listed Fleming as a key intellectual in what it calls the "neo-Confederate
" movement. 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.
Fleming has strenuously denied these allegations, writing:
Traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholics who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgical forms, public and private devotions and presentations of Catholic teachings which prevailed in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council...
writer, president of the Rockford Institute
Rockford Institute
Rockford Institute is a conservative think-tank associated with paleoconservatism, based in Rockford, Illinois. It is known for the John Randolph Club, and publishes Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture....
, and editor of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture
Chronicles (magazine)
Chronicles is a U.S. monthly magazine published by the Rockford Institute. Its full current name is Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. The magazine is known for promoting anti-globalism, anti-intervention and anti-immigration stances within conservative politics, and is considered one of...
, a political commentary periodical, published monthly, and directed at a paleoconservative audience.
Background
Thomas Fleming was awarded a doctorate in ClassicsClassics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, completing his dissertation on Attic
Attic Greek
Attic Greek is the prestige dialect of Ancient Greek that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek, and is the standard form of the language studied in courses of "Ancient Greek". It is sometimes included in Ionic.- Origin and range...
lyric poetry, and until joining a series of conservative groups, taught Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
at a small, private middle school in South Carolina. In addition to editing, Fleming writes 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. At that time, he was invited to contribute to Whitaker's book, The New Right Papers,
which put together ways whereby conservative populists
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
could be elected to office through an alliance of people from both parties in the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. (Whitaker later joined the Reagan administration
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
as a junior member.)
Now a recognized name in the conservative movement of the region where he lived, Fleming became a founding member and board member of the League of the South
League of the South
The League of the South is a Southern nationalist organization, headquartered in Killen, Alabama, which states that its ultimate goal is "a free and independent Southern republic." The group defines the Southern United States as the states that made up the former Confederacy...
, from which he later resigned when controversy arose, as well as an affiliated scholar of its educational arm, the League of the South Institute. He was the founding editor of the Southern Partisan
Southern Partisan
Southern Partisan is a right-wing political magazine published in the United States founded in 1979 that focuses on its Southern region and those states that were formerly members of the Confederate States of America. Its first editor was Thomas Fleming...
magazine, started in 1979, until he left when controversy arose there as well. In 1985, after the death of author Leopold Tyrmand
Leopold Tyrmand
Leopold Tyrmand was a Polish novelist and editor. He studied architecture for a year at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris before the war, and during the war was a resistance fighter in Poland, a waiter in Germany , and a prisoner in a Norwegian concentration camp...
, Fleming became editor of Chronicles Magazine, and in 1988 co-wrote The Conservative Movement with Paul Gottfried
Paul Gottfried
Paul Edward Gottfried is Horace Raffensperger Professor of Humanities at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and a Guggenheim recipient...
.
Immigration
Criticizing mass immigration into the United States, Fleming, in an essay in Immigration and the American Future, writes how American elites peddle a form of propositionalism:
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.
And then shows how it relates to 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.
Ron Paul
Chronicles Magazine often runs news articles of interest to the old right. Writing on Congressman Ron PaulRon Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
and his bid for the presidency, Fleming states:
- 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.
Religion
Fleming supports Papal supremacyPapal supremacy
Papal supremacy refers to the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered: that, in brief,...
; urging for the submission and reunion of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the authority of the Catholic Church he states:
- 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.
Since the official position of Eastern Orthodoxy is that it has never lawfully been under Roman authority, Orthodox Christians who acknowledged such claims for supremacy over the East would be schismatic. Srđa Trifković
Srđa Trifković
Srđa Trifković is a Serbian writer on international affairs and foreign affairs editor for the paleoconservative magazine Chronicles. He was director of the Center for International Affairs at the Rockford Institute until his...
, a veteran contributing editor of Chronicles and Serbian Orthodox Christian, resigned in December of 2008 and his column has been removed from the banner header.
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 ChroniclesChronicles (magazine)
Chronicles is a U.S. monthly magazine published by the Rockford Institute. Its full current name is Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. The magazine is known for promoting anti-globalism, anti-intervention and anti-immigration stances within conservative politics, and is considered one of...
:
- "In South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
, it is hard to understand the position taken by EnglishEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
liberals whose efforts on behalf of Africans reached entirely predictable conclusions. In the post War SouthSouthern United StatesThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, a very basic struggle was engaged between Whites and Blacks. The old BourbonsBourbon DemocratBourbon Democrat was a term used in the United States from 1876 to 1904 to refer to a member of the Democratic Party, conservative or classical liberal, especially one who supported President Grover Cleveland in 1884–1888/1892–1896 and Alton B. Parker in 1904. After 1904, the Bourbons faded away...
—who were hardly less racist than the populists who succeeded them—made some attempt to protect the interests of Black people, especially the small middle class and those whose families had been attached to them. There was also a sense of noblesse obligeNoblesse obligeNoblesse oblige is a French phrase literally meaning "nobility obliges".The Dictionnaire de l’Académie française defines it thus:# Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly....
. These honorable sentiments, however, seemed a bit antiquated in the midst of Reconstruction, and the ill effects of the Second ReconstructionSecond ReconstructionSecond Reconstruction is a term, coined by historian C. Vann Woodward, that refers to the American Civil Rights Movement. In many respects, the mass movement against segregation and discrimination that erupted following World War II, shared many similarities with the period of Reconstruction which...
, still being experienced in acute form in most of the USA, is a warning against social revolution." - "What is racial profilingRacial profilingRacial profiling refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement...
, if not an acknowledgment that different racial and ethnic groups are statistically more likely than other groups to engage in different sorts of illegal behavior. The IrishIrish peopleThe Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, who have a genetic weakness for alcoholAlcoholismAlcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, are too prone to get into fights, while Sicilians and South Italians have demonstrated an amazing ability to organize extortionExtortionExtortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, protectionProtection racketA protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a criminal group or individual coerces a victim to pay money, supposedly for protection services against violence or property damage. Racketeers coerce reticent potential victims into buying "protection" by demonstrating what will happen if they...
, prostitutionProstitutionProstitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, and gamblingGamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
rackets. When O.J. Simpson kills a white womanO. J. Simpson murder caseThe O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
or engages in other violent acts, he is simply living up to a statistical stereotype that informs us that African Americans, who make up less than 15% of the population, commit roughly 50% of violent crimes. And, O.J. is as exemplary a representative of his group's criminality as Bernie Madoff, John GottiJohn GottiJohn Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
, Mohammed Atta, and Joaquin 'El Chapo' Loera Guzman (a billionaire Mexican drug lord who made the exclusive Forbes list in 2009Forbes list of billionaires (2009)This list of billionaires is based on the annual ranking of the world's wealthiest people compiled and published by Forbes magazine on March 11, 2009. The listed net worth represents the estimated value of assets less debt as of February 13, 2009. The list does not include heads of state whose...
) are of theirs."
The Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
has listed Fleming as a key intellectual in what it calls the "neo-Confederate
Neo-confederate
Neo-Confederate is a term used by some academics and political activists to describe the views of various groups and individuals who have a positive belief system concerning the historical experience of the Confederate States of America, the Southern secession, and the Southern United...
" movement. 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
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
as a 'national liberation army.
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 Jim Crow? Who but an antisemite objects to the slaughter of the (semitic) Palestinians? Only a communist or a Jew would oppose the FührerFührerFührer , alternatively spelled Fuehrer in both English and German when the umlaut is not available, is a German title meaning leader or guide now most associated with Adolf Hitler, who modelled it on Benito Mussolini's title il Duce, as well as with Georg von Schönerer, whose followers also...
. . . .
The average American does have a conservative heart, but his mind has been so addled by bad teachers, bad books, and bad ideas that he often feels guilty if he prefers to limit his charity to his neighbors, if he resents the money squandered on public schools, if he does not share in the general glee over the massive immigration that is transforming the country of his fathers into something he cannot recognize. He is easily intimidated when the left condemns this vague, inchoate mixture of family loyalty and patriotism as the bigotry of the “extreme right.” In fact, the ultraleft Southern Poverty Law Center is always railing against “right-wing extremism,” by which they mean everyone to the right of the New RepublicNew RepublicNew Republic may refer to:* The New Republic, an American political commentary magazine* The New Republic , an 1878 satirical novel by William Hurrell Mallock...
—up to and including Matthew HaleMatthew F. HaleMatthew F. Hale , more commonly known as Matt Hale, was the third Pontifex Maximus of the white supremacist religion, Creativity, and the founder of the group formerly known as the World Church of the Creator and now known as The Creativity Movement. The organization's headquarters were based in...
. . . .
Why should any conservative care if he is attacked by the leftists of the SPLC and ADLAnti-Defamation LeagueThe Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
or those of the 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 BradfordMel BradfordMelvin E. "Mel" Bradford was a conservative political commentator and professor of literature at the University of Dallas....
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.
Books
- "Old Rights and New Right" in The New Right Papers, Robert W. Whitaker, Ed. (1982) ISBN 0-3125-6927-0
- The Conservative Movement (1988, with Paul GottfriedPaul GottfriedPaul Edward Gottfried is Horace Raffensperger Professor of Humanities at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and a Guggenheim recipient...
) 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
- Montenegro: The Divided Land (2002) ISBN 0-9619364-9-5
- 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