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as an old sds-er, i found it hard to see tom hayden go. however meandering his path, he was at the heart of radical history in the 60s, an erstwhile companion, if not always a comrade, on the route of every boomer lefty. 




one of his finer moments for me, which i<u+2019>ve never seen mentioned (including among this week<u+2019>s encomia) since he wrote it, was his 2006 article , published on counterpunch with an introduction by alexander cockburn, in which he apologized for a <u+201c>descent into moral ambiguity and realpolitick that still haunts me today.<u+201d> it would be respectful of hayden<u+2019>s admirers and critics, on the occasion of his passing, to remember which of his actions <u+201c>haunted<u+201d> him the most. 




the title of the article says it clearly: <u+201c>i was israel<u+2019>s dupe.<u+201d> in the essay, hayden apologizes for his support of the israeli invasion of lebanon in 1982, which was for him that <u+201c>descent into moral ambiguity<u+201d> more importantly, he explains why he did it, in a detailed narrative that everyone should read. 




hayden sold out, as he tells it, because, in order to run as a democratic candidate for the california state assembly, he had get the approval of the influential democratic congressman howard berman. berman is a guy who, when he became chairman of the house foreign affairs committee, was proud to tell the forward that he took the job because of his <u+201c>interest in the jewish state<u+201d> and that: <u+201c>even before i was a democrat, i was a zionist.<u+201d> 




hayden had to meet with<u+2026>
tom hayden<u+2019>s haunting
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