Remaking Oneself

"Blinded by the Right" is an interesting introspective autobiography by David Brock, a writer who began his career as a staunch conservative, writing scathing diatribes against liberals and liberalism, and working his way into the very heart of the right wing inner elite of Washington D.C. He wrote a popular book defaming Anita Hill, the unfortunate woman who had the audacity, you might remember, to accuse then Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. We all know where that got her; demonized by the right. long about 1997 Brock underwent a personal transformation of sorts, not only forsaking his conservative zealotry, but coming out of the closet as an openly gay man. Quite a journey. he never makes it clear exactly what his ideology evolved into; not doctrinaire liberalism; he was evidently finished with extremism of all kinds. Brock says that he simply got tired of living with himself, tired of hiding his gayness, tired of being an attack dog for an aggressive and intolerant ideology. So, it can happen late in life. For the first time in my life I now understand what a "neoconservative" is; nothing other than a converted liberal, of which there are now many, thanks probably to the charisma and popularity of Ronald Wilson Reagan. But the point is: if he can do it, anybody can do it. And not necessarily simply became a non conservative late in life, as if conservative were some sort of illness, which it most assuredly is not. One can remake oneself. And now, in our age of vituperative acrimony and ideological hatred, it might do us all good to remember that. We can become kinder, gentler, and more open minded.