How long are we going to hear “Let America be America” and Hughes references before someone, other than Bill Buckley, points out exactly what sort of America Hughes was hoping to see? This sounds like it’s turning into the official Kerry-Edwards slogan, good enough I guess, assuming you have to borrow, and I guess it’s a nice poem and all, but apparently someone forgot to tell someone else that Langston Hughes was not just a poor, black, populist poet, but a Marxist one. The America he was looking for is an interesting one. Guys, you gotta vet the poets you quote.
From “Goodbye Christ” (1932) — Langston Hughes
Goodbye, Christ Jesus Lord God Jehovah,
Beat it on away from here now.
Make way for a new guy with no religion at all –
A real guy named
Marx Communist Lenin Peasant Stalin Worker ME.” – More feedback on the Letters Page.