I simply gave up counting the times Leland used ‘they.’ Leland mentioned ‘globalist theory’ and the ‘open society concept’ at the start of his hooey so perhaps they’re the ‘they.’ Suggested some sort of plan made two decades ago and how fighting a big war with Russia was necessary. Thus, ‘they’ needed to provoke Russia. At the end of Leland’s hooey, Dawson said, “That was the best summary of the whole thing I’ve heard.” Jesus wept.
The whole thing might be worth a watch. (My suggestion is to enable the transcript and you can read it quickly for any parts that might seem interesting/odious.) Around 17:20 where Dawson brags on how he and his 1819ers went to work on pushing ‘school choice’ via targeting ‘all the perverts’ and the ‘piss poor performance’ in public schools was among what I found notable. Remember kids, we’ve basically no idea who all/what is funding Dawson’s bullshit factory.
I’ll cover how Leland’s article seems rather flawed or weak/reaching in this post. The podcast episode, mostly the last part’s conspiracy kookery, will get some attention. As I’m prone to do, I’ll ramble, write poorly, etc. Mostly at the end I’ll try to suggest some options any readers of my musings might attempt when they’re interacting with people who will wander off, live in even I suppose, into conspiracy territory. The same applies to those we know or interact with who consume ‘conservative’ content. And around here certainly a decent chunk of the populace appears to avail themselves of the same.
The initial reason Leland’s latest 1819er article had caught my eye was that like him I’m also from Roanoke, Alabama. Technically I’m from the hills just north of Roanoke. A country boy who grew up (mostly, a long and somewhat sad story) looking down at the lights of Roanoke at night. That little town in east Alabama is from where the author is building much of his argument. Although he’s a couple of years or so younger than me, I knew Leland growing up. I wasn’t friends with him. I just knew who he was. Some buddies of mine roomed briefly with him at Auburn. I definitely knew his second wife and her family. We went to the same church, etc. In full disclosure, my recollection was Leland was needlessly nasty to me on social media several years back. I believe I told him something like we could continue the conversation in person. My expectation is that he’s conveyed oppo of varying veracity about me to some of his fellow travelers and performance artists in the ‘conservative’ camp. If so, so it goes. If not, my apologies. Regarding my ‘conversation in person’ memory I have, I’m older and I hope better situated now so that I could do better. I still don’t believe you necessarily need to take trash from anyone. It’s just that I now have a better handle on other options to process or handle situations where I might feel such is happening.
More importantly than any of that and finally getting to the meat of the matter, I know some of the history of the W.A. Handley Manufacturing Company or Handley Mill. Some of my understanding comes from talking with people, my old daddy certainly to be included, about what happened. And I’ve read a fair amount about that mill and similar ones sprinkled around the area. There’s that personal exposure and also, I hope at least a little understanding about economics, political economy, labor history, etc. I also grasp how time or a calendar works. More to follow on all those fronts later.
Leland started his 1819er op-ed with the following:
“The factory is closing.”
“There will be layoffs.”
Shocking words for generations of Americans out here in flyover county.
For decades my people had their livelihoods snatched from underneath them by callous decisions in Washington, D.C. I grew up in the shadows of the smokestacks of a closed textile plant. I could sit on the porch at night and see the bats flying in and out of those silent towers. When that factory was built, a town was built around it. On our main street were thriving grocery stores, beauty shops, a barber shop with one of those spinning poles, pharmacies, a hardware store, a movie theater, and the best cheeseburger I’ve ever tasted at the City Cafe.
From the day the plant closed, our area became a town in decline. Somehow, the town was able to coast off its former prosperity for a couple decades until a rapid acceleration of bad public policy led to an exodus. Now the town of my memories is gone.
It’s a story repeated throughout the textile South, the coal mines of Appalachia, the steel mill land of Pennsylvania, and the automotive heart of the Midwest. It’s a story that comes and goes from the oil drillers of the West. Whether we thrive or barely survive depends on some collective metaphoric Caesar in D.C. giving us a thumbs up or thumbs down.
To his credit, Leland next mentioned that “Bill Clinton teamed up with Republicans to pass NAFTA” and that’s far too rare. Seriously, you’ll sometimes get just the Clinton part. Some Dems definitely helped. Generally, however, it was Newt Gingrich and his Republican allies who passed NAFTA with Slick Willie signing it into law on 8 December 1993. Here’s the Wikipedia entry if anyone needs/wants its history, the voting breakdown, etc. Leland goofed, however, in putting CAFTA on Clinton. That’s something Dubyah Bush signed on 2 August 2005. Again, a few Dems voted for it. However, CAFTA was mostly a Republican-supported policy. FWIW, Alabama’s Richard Shelby who’d swapped horses over to the Republican side and matriculated up to the Senate by then voted against it. Shelby, back when he was down in the House, voted against NAFTA too.
Thus, a primary problem I see with Leland’s whole op-ed is that Handley Mill closed in the early 1980s. It was at least a decade or so before NAFTA came online. In the early 1970s it had declared bankruptcy and largely limped along until it was finally shuttered. Here’s a gift link to a New York Times piece getting into a good bit of its history. This piece covers how at this same time Roanoke was losing Rolane Manufacturing Company. They made panty hose. It’s definitely worth reading. Here’s a relevant section:
Since 1920, financial control of Handley Mills has been in New York. Its last owner was Frank B. Cavanagh, who acquired the mill in the early nineteen‐sixties and began to modernize its machinery and marketing policies.
In 1966 Mr. Cavanagh brought James R. Eichelberger to Handley as general manager. Mr. Eichelberger, whose parents had worked in the mill, went to Auburn University, where he earned a degree in textile engineering.
Mr. Cavanagh spent $6.5‐ million over a six‐year period upgrading the mill’s antiquated machinery. At times the interest cost was as high as $800,000 a year.
“We did real well in 1966 and 1967,” Mr. Eichelberger said. “But we began to hurt in 1968. It was always a struggle to stay a jump ahead of the import competition. Then in 1969 the bottom sort of fell out. We took a real bath.”
Do what you want if you made it here and this far down in the post. However, I recommend reading the whole piece. I didn’t see really anything remotely related to “some collective metaphoric Caesar in D.C. giving us a thumbs up or thumbs down.” That’s, after all, what Leland built most of his missive around. Plus, it’s something to set up Leland’s claim about how awesome it is that Elmo and ‘Big Balls’ and … are moving fast and breaking things. Here’s one of Leland’s representative sentences in that vein:
“The arrogant ones of Washington only consider it collateral damage when they ruin the lives of Americans with sore backs and dirty hands.”
Another article on Handley Mill and Roanoke that’s recommended reading is from the hometown paper there. The late Rhonda Baldwin wrote it. She did some EXCEPTIONAL work piecing together our past. A real treasure who died far too young. Here’s what looks like a relevant portion from Rhonda’s article:
During the life of the mill, bankruptcies interrupted the success on two occasions. In 1921, following the tremendous success of military contracts during World War I, the mill was devastated when the contracts ceased and no other orders in sight. The mill lost local ownership and was bought by the Cavanaugh family in New York in 1922. B.J. Barry became superintendent. Again, in 1971, Handley Mill fell on hard times as the foreign export of cotton manufacturing influenced American manufacturing. Handley Mill could no longer gain sufficient orders to remain open. Over 1,200 people were without jobs and the unemployment rate for Roanoke rose to 25 percent in one month. Canton Mills in Cherokee County, Ga., bought the mill and a few employees were hired back. For 12 years, the mill limped along and sought orders but never revisited the glory days prior to 1970. The building was eventually sold, dismantled and sold piece by piece up the New England coast to homebuilders. The smokestacks were blasted and the property is an open field today (2010).
The Palm Beach Company closed in 1984, contributing to the downfall of Roanoke’s local economy and the death of Main Street businesses. An example of the impact is found in the history of the Carter Shoe Store, which opened on Main Street in the early 1920s and closed just after the Handley Mill and Palm Beach closed.
Leland’s piece had also mentioned “thriving grocery stores, beauty shops, a barber shop with one of those spinning poles, pharmacies, a hardware store, a movie theater, and the best cheeseburger I’ve ever tasted at the City Cafe.” Thriving? I’m not so sure that’s accurate. Decent I’d guess. I can vaguely recall and also know the history on how we had a rather rough economy in the 1970s. Remember Ford’s WIN (Whip Inflation Now) slogan? The first fuel crisis? The next one? My wife recalls how run-down parts of Opelika, Alabama were in the 1970s. My bestie’s family owned one of those hardware stores and I know things were hardly awesome for their operation at times in that period. In the early eighties when Leland and I were in high school, several classmates had parents who were in jams due to the economy. I’ve done field research down in Valley and Lanett, Alabama and written a pretty solid paper on when the West Point Stephens factories shut down and how there was a shift into the ‘KIA Economy.’ I reviewed documents, talked with people, etc. For what it’s worth, that’s the area where Leland’s daddy was on the radio. And as those pieces shared above offered, Handley Mills was having trouble during all this time. As per Rhonda’s article above, Palm Beach finally closed in 1984. That’s also well before NAFTA was signed.
Truly, I’m lost of how “the arrogant ones in Washington” necessarily caused ANY of what went wrong in Roanoke. Or Valley/Lanett. Or … That’s true for those with “sore backs and dirty hands” as well as for others. As an aside and for what it’s worth, to my knowledge this ‘conservative’ provocateur, operative, radio talker … hasn’t ever worked in any ‘sore back or dirty hands’ area.
Leland also made mention of the last two Dem president’s ‘war on American energy’ and wasting billions on ‘green debacles.” Per Leland, lives were trashed in an instant. Per Leland, “His understudy, Joe Biden, tried to finish us off with pipeline closures and fracking bans. … They had a planet to save you see.” These are tired tropes. They’re overwrought but apparently relatively reliable bait in the waters where Leland fishes. His audience up on talk radio presumably finds such appealing. I’ll not take the time to explain how weak or flawed this portion is.
The closing part of his op-ed has Leland presenting Washington as some sort of company town where favors are traded. Sure, there’s something to this problem. In fact, he’d mentioned the opioid epidemic and the “corrupt pharmaceutical companies who paid Washington to look the other way.” In this exact area, I’m not sure if Leland has ever called out Alabama’s very own ‘Big Luther” Strange for his significant role in looking out after the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma. What Big Luther pulled by lobbying his Republican state attorneys general (RAGA) buddies seems like a fine example of what Leland could’ve focused on. Instead, he’d focused on “the cottage industry of street-level parasitic social services fraud” and “fake research” and … without citing any specific examples.
Leland presents the Beltway as a factory where “bad trade deals, reckless spending, unsustainable debt, insider dealing, kickbacks, pay-to-play political contributions, and choking regulations” are its products. Once again, there’s something to this. It’s just that it’s broad-brushing, overwrought, etc. Cite some examples please. Particular instances various ‘conservative’ politicians, operatives, performers … will share often turn out to be ones that aren’t as they’re presented to their gullible audiences.
And the idea of turning loose Elmo Musk and his crew, as well as other zealous ideologues, it seems to me is the antithesis of anything like circumspect conservatism. Various precautionary principles apply where risks need to be managed, limited or at least controlled for. Running roughshod over established, widely recognized, proven … ways of making wise decisions just doesn’t seem like anything to accept, much less cheer on.
My guess is that Leland is full of it. He’s been full of it for basically his entire career as a professional ‘conservative.’ He’s now supplying cover for foolishness and dodginess, likely illegal/unconstitutional actions by Trump 2.0 and Elmo Musk, etc. There’s a huge dose of conspiratorial silliness present in Leland’s close to his article. Like many of his ilk, he’d over-egged the pudding. Sure, there’s insider garbage, logrolling, etc. Nobody is disputing that some well executed and professionally driven efforts to root out waste and abuses aren’t needed. My understanding is that many agencies have (had?) such offices and systems in place. Admittedly, smoothing over mistakes and sweeping sordid stuff under the carpet can happen. That’s also true for private business leaders and others out there in the world away from DC.
Still, what’s especially weak is Leland’s effort to tie what happened at Handley Mill or probably many similar sites to “some collective metaphoric Caesar in D.C. giving us a thumbs up or thumbs down.” Sure, trade and other economic policies matter. We’ve rustbelt regions and other hollowed out areas as testaments to these decisions. But let the record reflect exactly what groups or interests have been pushing for ‘free trade’ and embracing market ideologies during recent decades. While neoliberal ‘logic’ definitely has a bipartisan component, it’d seem to me that no honest broker could deny it’s mostly been a Republican or ‘conservative” project. (Just in case anyone is wondering, I’ll often put conservative in quotes because I’m not sure what’s passed for conservative in recent decades is all that conservative. It’s certainly not that Kirkean, etc. The ‘old school’ conservatism of Peter Viereck, Robert Nisbet, Christopher Lasch … has largely been disappeared from their ranks.) I’m not going to take the time and keystrokes to nail this all down because I doubt that anyone that’s legitimate or authentic would argue with me here.
And again, neoliberalism or market logic has often been the dominant ideology in the last few decades. ‘Free trade’ has been something many people have embraced. (For the record, I wasn’t among those embracing. Yup, right once again. Like the rushed invasion of Iraq, etc.) Regarding neoliberal ‘logic,’ it’s something that has slithered into a whole lot of our daily lives, our thinking, etc. Neoliberalism’s rationalities have been compared to an operating system upon which damn near everything runs.
Returning to that conspiratorial ending of their podcast, I was again thinking about how there are some probably some arguable nuggets or threads in what was being batted around. I was also thinking a little about Robert W. Cox or Immanuel Wallerstein or Saskia Sassen or … as I listened to Leland’s conspiracy kookiness. International political economy or foreign relations isn’t among my areas. Still, I’ve been exposed to snippets through the decades. And I again come back to neoliberalism, capitalism, the structural stuff, how hegemonic interests or capital operates, the foreign policy blob, etc. That’s something I can talk or write about even though I’m still a dabbler in many respects. I’ll name names. No use of a vague ‘they’ or offering up some crank conspiracy silliness from me.
I can’t recall where I read or heard it, but I also believe there’s some scholarship around how some conspiracy theories might serve as a form of crude or vulgar critical theory. If I recall this idea correctly, the thinking is that it’s perhaps safe to do an oblique critique of capitalism or the hegemony or power or … if one will wrap it sufficiently in conspiracy. Then again, that might be a generous interpretation. I definitely don’t want to endorse anything like even a red (and/or black)-brown détente. No sympathy for the fash! And I believe Leland favorably mentioned Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni once or twice. She’s Fratelli d’Italia and that’s potentially notable given his fanboy framing. Seriously, I don’t know if that crude or vulgar critical theory idea, assuming I am recalling it reasonably well, holds up. I’ve a few folks I know (and even still love in a few instances) who’ll go off into conspiracy territory when we’re talking.
My feeling is sometimes that they’re displacing various frustrations onto something or someone they can imagine or (mis)understand. And they’re apparently getting exposed to some of the silliness via ‘conservative’ (or worse!) content various algorithms or sources are sharing with them. Yup, their stuff is far too often laced with something along the lines of liberals, lefties, Democrats … are basically the spawn of Satan.
Related to that podcast episode, the 1819ers’ Dawson around 45:20 in said he’s been reading Return of the Strong Gods by R.R. Reno (2019). For what it’s worth, Dawson again later credited Pat Buchanan’s The Death of the West for getting him into … My memory is vague on whether he read Buchanan’s book when he was in prison out in Colorado for dealing and/or stealing and/or beating some guy, a suspected snitch it seems like, with a lock on a chain or something another. For a view into how jacked up that book is, a ‘Behind the Bastards’ podcast episode titled ‘How Pat Buchanan, Secret Nazi, Paved The Way For Donald Trump’ might be worth listening to. That’s an Apple podcast link. Here’s YouTube version. Returning to Reno, he’s someone worth Googling about on. I’ve not read the book. From what I could gather from my ‘extensive’ research, some of what he’s focusing on seems worth considering. However, ‘it depends’ applies to multiple interpretations, solutions, etc. Plenty of particularities appear to be missing or breezed past. Multiple pieces I read pointed out some apparent inconsistencies as well. However, as I’m prone to do I can’t help but first think about how neoliberalism (an application of market ‘logic’ to more and more aspects of our existence is generally my lens used for that term), consumerism, mammonism … applies to Reno’s professed worries. And hasn’t Wendell Berry covered a good bit of this? Others too? Sure, they’re mostly not household names or going to be featured on the boob tube or certainly not up on ‘conservative’ media. But they’re out there for those who seek them.
All of the above offered, here’s what might be ‘blamed’ for what befell Handley Mill or … if that’s what’s needed. Try capitalism. Or just Schumpeter’s creative destruction if questioning capitalism is too uncomfortable for you. Because Leland has earned a living as a professional ‘conservative’ so long he’s more than capable of crafting a tale of some villains and their victims. Yup, it’s always in some form or fashion the dastardly Dems, the lamestream media, etc. While there are nuggets of truth or accurate assessments in his tale, it’s overwrought and couched in a way to rile people up/collect GOP votes instead of educating or empowering them. It delivers huge doses of persecution complex. His performance distracts people away from much better targets of their anger. It reduces or limits the beliefs that citizens can act together to do all that much in a solidaristic, collaborative way to push back against power. Instead, it’s I fear encouraging Joe and Jill Sixpack to look to their own ‘Red Caesar’ so that he and his can do what’s required. If anything, it’s the type of silly slop that’s liable to make some people more confused, gullible, docile … after reading/listening to it. Then again, some won’t be that docile when it comes to defending their ‘Red Ceasar’ and what they’ve been riled up on. That’s an even more worrisome feature flowing out of this foolishness.
Let me be clear, some folks seem to start stupid, confused, gullible, etc. Dawson, the King of the 1819ers, might not be all of that. My guess, however, is that he definitely is – plus he’s presumably making a decent living at the helm of his 1819er dark money-funded agitprop outfit. I categorize this guy as a true believer. While there might be some grifter component to him, I worry he’s legitimately dumb and devoted enough to do damn near anything his zealotry pushes him toward.
Or maybe it’s not just silly slop that Leland served up via the 1819ers. Call it fascistic if you want. I’m generally not inclined to label the Leland Whaley and Bryan Dawson types, the Rick Burgess or Jeff Poor or ‘Dale Jackson’ performer characters too for that matter, that way. To me, I’m guessing they’re more of the grifter, lost souls, deeply damaged … persuasion. Again, Dawson appears to definitely be a zealot and possibly might be the most bent of the bunch. I’d probably put Burgess second on any zealot list. Beats me where Leland is. I don’t think he’s dumb. In the podcast I’d shared, at times he occasionally sounded relatively sharp. In fact, I felt some disappointment when he finished up with all that conspiracy kookiness. It’s not like I was surprised. I just was wondering if perhaps Leland had ‘grown’ or experienced something similar enough.
My only interest in any of these characters is in how they’re influencing citizens here. There’s effectively little, if any, alternative to the constant agitprop they’re vomiting out constantly across the state. Between the 1819ers, the Yellowstainers, and a few other outlets/personalities, Alabama is inundated with crappy takes. While it’s taken me far too much time to piece this post together that might get as few as 10ish views, possibly ever fewer, multiple other crappy takes have been blasted across the state on multiple platforms that’ll get hundreds or thousands of views. I don’t profess to be any sort of guru or proper messenger, much less a clear or concise writer, but I’d like to think I’m among multiple people across the state with relatively informed, reasoned, and judicious views. What Joe and Jill Sixpack are unfortunately getting is often exactly the opposite. They’re getting way too much garbage. Even with our better outlets and voices out there, these bad faith types have a form of bullshit artillery that’s hurting our state/nation. I’m not making one thin dime doing this. In fact, I’ve never been paid to do political type work in Alabama. There are multiple menaces here in Alabama making a living doing damage with their terrible takes. They’re seemingly being paid to distract and divide us with bullshit and crank conspiracy slop while voices that inform us (for the record I’m not including myself here and instead am referencing legit journalists and the like) are struggling, having to scrape by, etc.
As a brief aside, if I’m being charitable enough to think Leland was at all motivated by anything remotely related to a search for honest analysis regarding his factory article, which I’m hardly inclined to extend to pretty much anyone engaged in professional ‘conservative’ work at this point, I can accept that there’s been a steady building out of … PMCs, bourgeoise liberal types, etc. Problems related to elite capture, opportunistic maneuvering for work in an economy that’s increasingly tight even for the quite well educated … exist. Getting a government or NGO gig is in some ways likely a survival strategy for some people. That’s a discussion to be had. That’s not what Leland’s lashing out introduced.
Lastly, and I’m about done, what are some ways to handle people you know or interact with when they go off into conspiracy territory? (The same applies if they’re deeply deeply MAGAfied. That’s likely even more true given how Trump 2.0 is shaping up.) First, it’s probably wise to accept that you’re likely too late or limited in being able to reach them. Often, they’re too far gone. Once they’re warped by a steady supply of silliness and stupidity, you’re likely never going to be able to reach them. Returning to that idea of vulgar or crude critical theory, however, it MIGHT be that listening to them and trying to talk some about structural stuff or deeper, better explanations could help. This is generally my approach, at least with people I care about. The same applies for people I sense might be relatively decent, intelligent, etc. Those that are deep in, however, are just tolerated or occasionally used for intelligence gathering, etc. And I hope I’ve learned something about their frustrations, fears, etc. Occasionally I’ll even have some fun by seeing how twisted up they can get. This is especially true when they might not know me and apparently view me as a fellow traveler given my looks or vibe. For your friends/family or people you have to interact with like work colleagues or neighbors, my advice is to rarely, if ever, truly lock horns with them or get into a fuss. While I’ve had to draw the line at hard racism or antisemitism with a few folks, I generally want to keep the lines of communication open ‘just in case.’ I truly try to do the ‘disagree agreeably’ routine when all else fails. There’s always hope some people might start to climb out of their misunderstandings and view me as a resource. And while it’s difficult to do, giving them some room to ‘save face’ and otherwise extending some grace to them to let them continue climbing is probably the best approach.
Alrighty then. That’s enough. Way more than enough. As always, I reserve the right to amend my post. Feel free to comment if it’s done in the right spirit. Thanks for reading my mess. john