This past Wednesday was the fifteenth anniversary of FredHJr’s death
[NOTE: The following is a somewhat revised version of a post that has appeared previously on this blog.]
Unbelievable that it’s been fifteen years since commenter FredHJr died suddenly and tragically. As time passes, the number of readers here who don’t remember Fred must necessarily increase, so for those of you who don’t know who FredHJr was, please see this and this, as well as these.
Fred’s death was extremely tragic for his family. But it was tragic for this blog, too, because he was an invaluable and irreplaceable member of our community, a “changer” who knew a lot about the Left, and a keen observer of politics, history, religion, culture—of life itself. I still think about him at times, wondering what he’d have to say about everything that’s happened in these last fifteen years.
Every year around the anniversary, I offer some excerpts from his many comments here.
This comment is from October 18, 2008, just a few weeks before Obama was elected president for the first time:
It’s the Marxist/Leninist ethics of expediency. No regrets. Whatever it takes to discredit anything the other side does and excuse the sins of your own side.
…this reveals a lot about who is about to take power and how they will wield it against the rest of us. They get away with it and many will not at all be troubled by it because they are shaped by the post-modernism, cultural Marxism that they imbibed during their formative and educational experience. If we as a people cannot name this accurately and expunge its corrosive influence over our lives, then down into the wages of perdition and disaster we go.
The comment is from October 28, 2008. The election was getting close:
Obama is part of a nexus of interests. What the American dopes who will put him in office are getting is a NETWORK of alliances and interests, running the gamut from Finance (Soros) to academia to media to law. Thus far, in order to appeal to the Middle Muddle he has been packaged as a moderate or centrist. But once in office the venomous swarm of this network will burst out of the nest and devour the host. You wait and see. And I’m not eager for the moment to say “I told you so.” I really would it be the case that it never happens at all.
This was a comment of Fred’s from the very beginning of the Obama presidency, but I think it’s worth mulling over today:
For me, Western Civilization is an incredibly complex work that has eclectically and also seamlessly borrowed the excellence and the virtues of Athens, Jerusalem, Rome, and the Enlightenment. The High Middle Ages and the Renaissance also made important contributions. In its totality it is a meritocracy and a liberation of humanity that has resulted in ever greater learning and material prosperity and health for most of the people who live under it. It is not an unblemished history. Yet in its totality it gleams with advancement when juxtaposed against civilizations which enslave humanity.
I think the beginning of the end of our civilization began with the French Revolution and The Terror. It was the beginning of the elaboration of totalitarian thought and throughout the 19th century this kept on finding newer permutations of elegant, intellectual terror. The 20th century was the culmination of the barbarity of totalitarianism.
These are chosen somewhat randomly, but so very much of what I looked at that Fred had written was on target.
RIP Fred, and may your family be comforted in their grief. We miss you.
Over the years there have been other commenters here who probably have died, and I would like to mention them too, but for no one else did I actually get official word of that person’s death. So it’s hard to be specific. One commenter who comes to mind is “strcpy,” who announced that he was very ill and then disappeared shortly thereafter, about fourteen years ago. I wrote him an email but never heard back, and I fear he’s gone. But I don’t know for sure. Another prolific commenter who disappeared many years ago was Occam’s Beard. I was never able to contact him after that, and so I fear something tragic may have happened. Same for parker.
There may be others, as well. I wouldn’t necessarily find out. Sometimes people just stop commenting here because they get busy or they get tired or they get turned off. But it stands to reason some of them will have died. So I’ll take this opportunity to say RIP for all of them.
Dear Neo:
Thank you so much for today’s introduction to Fred. I am so sorry I was not here when he was alive, but I am very grateful for the posts that you have reprinted today. He had it exactly right!
Thanks for the memories.
He was prescient. A great loss.
While we’re at it, commenter “PA Cat” isn’t around any more, unless I missed a post or two.
Neo’s audience, I believe, tend to be a lot of us old farts (I’m 72). I doubt many younger people even have the patience to read a blog such as this. Prove me wrong if there are any here.
Given our age, yes, we will all slowly go away.
I do miss all those who Neo mentioned. I’m just a physicist who learns al lot from those more versed in history and politics.
I must have shown up just after he left. I would have liked him, I believe.
I’m pretty new here so I missed all of Fred’s comments. But there are so many excellent commenters here that make me glad to have found this site, and also often reluctant to cast my feeble thoughts into this sea of wisdom.
What an amazing host you are, Neo, for noting the passing of any of your readers, even to the point of reaching out to commenters who’ve suddenly gone dark. I admire your humanity. Mind you, I still believe ballet is the root of all evil in the dance world.
Jerry:
Thanks!
As for ballet, well, I’m resigned to having a few naysayers, alas.
“I admire your humanity.” – Jerry
Amen. Neo’s b log is truly a personal labor of love. Like others have commented, my knowledge and understanding of many fields in which I’m not well educated has been increased by Neo and her erudite commenters.
I remember FredHjr and his clear insight into the left. He certainly had a good sense of where they were headed. I found it hard to believe they wanted to destroy our republic and constitution. Now we all can see that Fred was right. RIP FredHjr.
I have been reading your Neo posts for a long time and I do remember FredHjr and his insight into the problems created by the Obama-ites that we have been living with for years. A lot of those comments by Fred were eye openers for me and the old Chicago gang that were pulling Obama’s strings have been keeping the zombie president going for the last four years, it will be interesting to see next player they run out on the field. Anyway thank you Neo for posting great stuff for years and yours is the first site I open every morning as I have my first sip of coffee.
Fifteen years ago…
I can’t quite believe it. I try to check my pulse first thing in the morning just in case.
Best to FredHJr, doing recon for the rest of us.
Thank you for your reminder. I anticipate it every year, but this year circumstances caused me to buzz right by it. I agree, it’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years. Prayers and good thoughts for Fred and his family.
I’m not sure whether I was reading this blog in 2009 or not. I may have read some of FredHJr’s comments at the time, or maybe I just know him from your (Neo’s) tributes to him. But anyway: that second comment of his in the post, the one beginning “Obama is part of a nexus…” is astonishingly accurate. We’re living in the world that really got up to speed with Obama’s administration. It had been in the works for some time, and he was the perfect vehicle for expanding it to a position of real dominance.
I would like to know more about FredHJr’s background and his political change.
He’s right about the French revolution, too.
I still remember Fred and his consistently excellent posts. Gone too soon!
I remember FredHjr – but had forgotten the fact that I hadn’t seen him around here in a long time. He was a good one.
This blog thing is weird. I’ve been coming here since apparently not too long after the blog got started – I can’t remember exactly when. Some of my old favorites are gone – Protein Wisdom, Belmont Club, Jane Galt’s place (Asymmetrical Information, yes?). And yes, I know I can find Jeff Goldstein and Richard Fernandez and Megan McArdle elsewhere. Some changed (or I changed) to the point where I seldom visit any more – Instapundit (I feel bad, as he probably led me to all the others, but I can’t take the comments), Power Line, Chicago Boyz (they might not have changed as much as my interests have). But I’m so grateful this blog is still here and still presenting the content it presents. This and Althouse are my only regulars.
I also have no idea how I kept up with all those plus The Anchoress, Gay Patriot, No Pasaran, VodkaPundit… I had three little kids back then!
RIP FredHjr, strcpy if you’re gone, ditto Occam’s Beard, PA Cat, Gahrie from Althouse.
Thank you, Neo, for remembering FredHjr. I was just think about him in the last month, trying to remember how long he had been gone. I am surprised that it’s been 15 years. I would have guessed 8-9 years. I still miss his clear explication of political developments. RIP, Fred.