If Socrates was the original gadfly, irritating ancient Greek government officials with uncomfortable questions and commentary, then surely Bob Kaufman was his direct descendant. Nobody in Baltimore was more intent on upsetting the status quo and shaking up the city's politics for the past 60 years. He started picketing at age 16 - his first target a city theater that refused to admit blacks - and never looked back.
Mr. Kaufman's death last week leaves a big hole in the activist community. Even at age 78, he loved to shake things up. Rare is the newspaper reporter who hasn't gotten a good tongue-lashing from Mr. Kaufman over his or her failure to cover one of his protests or otherwise adequately express his customarily dissenting views.
Those who complain that President Barack Obama is steering the nation toward socialism should have had a talk with Mr. Kaufman to at least more accurately calibrate the political spectrum. He was a genuine socialist, and even in a city as liberal as Baltimore, Mr. Kaufman usually expressed views far left of the majority.
But not going along with the prevailing view seemed fine with him. Mr. Kaufman may have been a frequent candidate for public office with a perfect record - he never came close to winning - but his real value was in questioning conventional thinking.
More than anything else, Mr. Kaufman brought passion to debates. His beliefs were deeply held, and he was willing to shout them from the rooftops (or the back of a hearing room) until he was satisfied that he'd been heard.
"I will be a pain in the ass until I die," he told The Baltimore Sun in a 1998 interview.
He was true to his word. And he will be missed.
-
Peter Jensen
So true. Thanks for the remembrance.
Debbie in Parkton
Bob Kaufman WAS a pain in the ass ... those of us who knew him well, we knew that he just too many times disrupted, despite how beautifully he wrote and articulated his views in the letters to the editor; this was HIM - his schtick.
We couldn't get along with him any more than the right.
The thing is: Those in the Tea Party movement? They protest against the government without a program. Bob? He had a program, for socialism - the way forward that involves the people against Wall Street and capitalism.
I read The Sun's blog all the time and NEVER see well reasoned arguments from the right against Obama, against health care reform ... against a warfare state - which is what we have. It's always veiled in rhetoric.
I can see where the right wing is coming from - I can feel their pain - BUT, in the end, they do not seem to be philosophically astute. We suffer a Wall Street gamesmanship-brinksmanship collapse about every ten years. Remember the savings and loan crisis? And another one awaits us down the road.
Isn't it time to consider a new approach? (An approach which the left has very carefully spelled out?!?!?)
david eberhardt
Movement politics was not an appropriate vehicle for Kaufman, he should have been on "Star Search" or "American Idol" as he always lusted for attention and self-promotion. He exploited radical politics to promote himself and get attention for himself. Of course he cared about the issues, but in his world, he would ride in on a white horse and save us all from ourselves.
He was individualistic and did not care for or about anyone around him in the movement as he did not even see them. He only saw himself saving the day; he truly did not believe in the power of movements, only in the power of himself as an individual. He very well may have had some power, were it not for his extreme narcissism. He never had any interest in hearing what others had to say; he was always interested in just talking at people.
He was a rabid self-promoter and whined about being a "martyr" when people on the Left did not want to work with him. The activists interviewed in the wake of his death know this about him, but they are just being nice because he is now dead.
He is overrated, and The Sun is too dumb to understand that there are better activists who are actually worthy of attention.
anonymous