Terry Eagleton at Commonweal:
One curious aspect of the more scurrilous stories about oneself is that one hears much the same fables about other well-known figures on the political left. This would suggest either a robot-like uniformity of discreditable conduct among radicals or a certain paucity of imagination on the part of their critics. Those of us who are not serial philanderers are either incurable drunks, former members of the IRA, or both, which may explain why so many of the IRA’s operations were mercifully bungled. William Hazlitt, who knew that in a world like ours one cannot speak the truth uncontroversially, remarked that those who are unable to find a flaw in your reasoning will quickly do so in your reputation. Many left-wingers have had a taste of the vindictiveness of the established order when it feels under threat, though why it should feel so menaced by a minority is unclear.
Yet just as ideology generally has a nucleus of truth, so scandalous rumors may have some basis in fact.
More here.
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