Good to see San Francisco writer and rabble-rouser David Talbot back in action after suffering a devastating stroke late last year.
Talbot in a Facebook post gives a searing/inspirational account of his recovery, which continues.
One of the founders of Salon, and author of the brilliant history of San Francisco, "Season of the Witch," Talbot is one of the nation's leading left-wing conspiracy theorists. As a temporary columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, he battled for the city's poor, elderly and working class against the corporate forces of gentrification and cultural uniformity.
His book "The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA and The Rise of America's Secret Government" examined the Dulles-led CIA's involvement in other nations' politics, ending with evidence of the spy agency engineering the John F. Kennedy assassination. I wasn't fully convinced by Talbot's case, but the book is fascinating.
It's curious that conservatives now censure the FBI and CIA as destructive "deep state" agents, appropriating terms that Talbot and other left-wing writers used for years. With the Mueller investigation and allegations about Donald Trump's Russian connections, some on the left now glorify the governmental agencies that for years sought to destroy progressive organizations.
Talbot's heart-felt appreciation for the nurses and doctors who helped him through his ordeal show a different side of him. His care-givers represent different cultures and sexual identities, and showed him the best of human concern for each other. Still ready to battle Trump and destructive policies of wealthy conservatives, Talbot has a deeper reverence for the value of each day.
Welcome back, Mr. Talbot.
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