Media Matters insists that Elana Kagan’s thesis is not relevant to her nomination for the Supreme Court: “Kagan is not and was not a radical or socialist; her thesis explored historical questions about socialism.”
In the acknowledgments:
I would like to thank my brother Marc whose involvement in radical causes led me to explore the history of American radicalism in the hope of clarifying my own political ideas.
Here is a paragraph from the conclusion:
The story is a sad but also a chastening one for those who, more than half a century after socialism’s decline, still wish to change America. Radicals have often succumbed to the devastating bane of sectarianism; it is easier, after all, to fight one’s fellows than it is’to battle an entrenched and powerful’ foe. Yet if ‘the history of Local New York shows anything, it is that American radicals cannot afford to become their own worst enemies. In unity lies their only hope.
As blogger Soren Dayton writes, “I guess that all the Dems who attacked the McDonnell thesis are now saying Kagan’s is irrelevant.”
For what its worth, we have posted the thesis in its entirety below. All 134 pages. . .
