Opinion of Huey Long

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Always good to start evaluations of our populist legacy in the age of Trump.

[Phony Moderate]

If he hadn't been assassinated then he would have been (in another sense) by FDR not long after.

[(Still) muted by Kalwejt until March 31]

Major HP.

[Antonio the Sixth]

We need people like him in the Democratic party more than ever right now.

[Blue3]

I've been thinking of starting a Huey Long versus Donald Trump thread...

[Mr. Smith]

We need people like him in the Democratic party more than ever right now.

[White Trash]

Fantastic man. Love everything he has done for Louisiana.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Always good to start evaluations of our populist legacy in the age of Trump.

Please do not put Huey and Trump in the same sentence.

[dead0man]

HP

[Lechasseur]

Fantastic man. Love everything he has done for Louisiana.

I have to say that Huey Long was an FF. An absolute legend in Louisiana politics.

[RINO Tom]

HP

[LLR]

One of my favorite politicians ever. A true Freedom Fighter! (Center)

[Intell]

Huge FF!

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

FF. A major fighter for the poor and the number one enemy of the klan. He makes Bernie look like a moderate.

[The_Doctor]

Forerunner of Donald Trump in some authoritarian and populist senses, and need for approval. HP.

[Intell]

Forerunner of Donald Trump in some authoritarian and populist senses, and need for approval. HP.

[RogueBeaver]

Major HP.

[dead0man]

Forerunner of Donald Trump in some authoritarian and populist senses, and need for approval. HP.

I don't know if the need for approval part is true, but certainly the other two are.  Which is why he is an HP, just like Trump.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

My king is not alive

[Kleine Scheiße]

One of my absolute favorite political figures of all time. Massive FF.

[Devout Centrist]

Major HP.

[Crumpets]

Why did I somehow know that lefties on Atlas would see someone FDR called "one of the two most dangerous men in America" and who said that anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer Charles Coughlin "has a damned good platform and I'm 100% percent for him...What he thinks is right down my alley," overwhelmingly positively?

Although I will say, I wish he hadn't been assassinated. Either he could have become a major force of workers' rights at a time when they needed it most, or he would have embraced full authoritarianism and been left in the historical gutter.

[RINO Tom]

Why did I somehow know that lefties on Atlas would see someone FDR called "one of the two most dangerous men in America" and who said that anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer Charles Coughlin "has a damned good platform and I'm 100% percent for him...What he thinks is right down my alley," overwhelmingly positively?

Although I will say, I wish he hadn't been assassinated. Either he could have become a major force of workers' rights at a time when they needed it most, or he would have embraced full authoritarianism and been left in the historical gutter.

The American Left, in so much as it can be defined as the group committed to stopping moneyd interests, insuring an egalitarian economy or standing up for "the little guy," seems to go through phases with how it remembers dead politicians, IMO.  A leftie in the '60s would have had no problem claiming Andrew Jackson as one of their own proudly and likely would have shrugged off his racism as 1) a product of his upbringing (much like Clinton did with Robert Byrd), 2) tried to judge within the context of their time (like Jefferson) and 3) figured other positive works overshaddowed an unfortunate racial/cultural problem (see FDR and interning Japanese people, putting a Klansman on the court, etc.).  I think this attitude naturally went out of favor as Republicans became more intertwined with the South and Democrats gave us the first Black President, honestly.  Maybe the more traditional view of history by the left is coming back into style now that Trump's actions make a lot of people realize things like small government or states' rights (which are often brought up in discussions of racial history) can be used for both conservative or liberal causes.

I think the same applies to Long.  He might have said some crazy things, but he did a lot the left would really like.

[Intell]

Why did I somehow know that lefties on Atlas would see someone FDR called "one of the two most dangerous men in America" and who said that anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer Charles Coughlin "has a damned good platform and I'm 100% percent for him...What he thinks is right down my alley," overwhelmingly positively?

Although I will say, I wish he hadn't been assassinated. Either he could have become a major force of workers' rights at a time when they needed it most, or he would have embraced full authoritarianism and been left in the historical gutter.

Charles Couglin was not-at all anti-semitic when Long was around, that was a progression later. But of course objective reasoning is not found anywhere.

I

[Crumpets]

Why did I somehow know that lefties on Atlas would see someone FDR called "one of the two most dangerous men in America" and who said that anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer Charles Coughlin "has a damned good platform and I'm 100% percent for him...What he thinks is right down my alley," overwhelmingly positively?

Although I will say, I wish he hadn't been assassinated. Either he could have become a major force of workers' rights at a time when they needed it most, or he would have embraced full authoritarianism and been left in the historical gutter.

Charles Couglin was not-at all anti-semitic when Long was around, that was a progression later. But of course objective reasoning is not found anywhere.

I

Looks like you're right. I didn't know that. I'm curious about people like him and, in a different sense, Oswald Mosley who seem to be fairly typical left-wing populist politicians before one day seeming to just wake up massively racist and supporting fascism, but still with a significant amount of continuity in their policies and support base.