News Desk- Moving Far, Far to the Right

There was considerable in the ensuing years after September 11th about 'September
11th Neocons,' these were people who went from being liberals to conservatives seemingly overnight as a result of the terrorist attacks.

Among those who have been most cited for this radical change of art are celebrites like Jon Voight, who won an Oscar for playing a paraplyegic Vietnam War vet in "Coming Home" (1978) (pictured here). Voight has gone from being an early global warming advocate to a Tea Partier. His "Coming Home" co-star Jane Fonda has become more politically moderate in recent years, but she has made it clear that she is still very much a progressive.

Other actors who have experienced this sea change include the since-deceased Ron Silver, Dennis Miller and James Woods as well as playwright/film director David Mamet.

But, in Europe, there are at least two people who have even more radical, draconian shifts than that.

Both of these examples are quite mind-boggling in scope. And, somehow, I imagine neocon pundit Bill Kristol would fully agree with me on this.

For starters, there is Hans Mahler, 75, who was a founding member of the militant far-left terrorist group RAF in the 1970s in then-West Germany. Today, the man who was involved with shameless plots to spread his Marxist ideals is now a far, far right Holocaust denier.

In fact, Mahler is now serving a 12-year jail sentence for inciting popular hatred and he maintains that 'he has not changed' because 'the enemy is still the same.'

Then, there is the more surreal case of Louise Frevert, 58, a lesbian who was an adult film star in Denmark during the 1970s when Scandanavia had a thriving pornographic film industry. Frevert is now a spokesperson for the far-right group Dans Foleparti.

Truth is indeed, as the old cliche goes, stranger than fiction. But, most liberals, including myself, have maintained their political views in the ten years since 9-11, and our efforts, which lead to the election of President Barack Obama, have ertainly in my view been well worth-while.