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{{Short description|American political commentator (1946–2010)}}
{{Infobox person {{infobox person
⚫ |name = Joseph Sobran
|image = Joseph Sobran.jpg | name = Joseph Sobran
|birth_name = Michael Joseph Sobran Jr. | image = File:Joseph Sobran.jpg
| caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1946|2|23}}
⚫ | birth_name = Michael Joseph Sobran Jr.
⚫ |birth_place = ], ]
|death_date = {{death date and age|2010|9|30|1946|2|23}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1946|2|23}}
⚫ | birth_place = ], U.S.
⚫ |death_place = ], ]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2010|9|30|1946|2|23}}
⚫ |party = ]
⚫ | death_place = ], U.S.
|alma_mater = ]
| education = ] (], ])
| employer = {{plainlist|
* '']'' (1972–1993)
* ] (1988–2007)
}}
⚫ | party = ] (2000–2010)
| children = 4
}} }}
'''Michael Joseph Sobran Jr.''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|oʊ|b|r|æ|n}}; February 23, 1946&nbsp;– September 30, 2010) was an American journalist. He wrote for the '']'' magazine and was a ] columnist. ] called Sobran "perhaps the finest columnist of our generation".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/1010/1010sobran.htm|title=Remembering Joe Sobran|author=W. James Antle, III|date=October 4, 2010|publisher=Enter Stage Right|access-date=2011-06-06}}</ref>


'''Michael Joseph Sobran Jr.''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|oʊ|b|r|æ|n}}; February 23, 1946&nbsp;– September 30, 2010), also known as '''M. J. Sobran''', was an American ] journalist and ] columnist. He wrote for the '']'' magazine from 1972 to 1993.
⚫ == Life and career ==
⚫ Sobran was born in ] into a devoutly Roman Catholic family. He graduated in 1969 from ] in his native Ypsilanti with a Bachelor of Arts in ]. He studied for a graduate degree in English, with a concentration on ]an studies following his graduation. In the late 1960s, Sobran lectured on Shakespeare and English on a fellowship with the university.


In his columns, Sobran was moralistic, opposed to ], and an ] critic of ]. When he fired Sobran from his longtime job at '']'' in 1993, publisher ] termed some of Sobran's writings "contextually ]". In the early 2000s, Sobran was a speaker for the ] group ].<ref name="tstanley" /><ref name="Grimes" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rudin |first=Ken |date=2010-12-29 |title=Political Powerhouses: Remembering Those Who Died |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2010/12/29/132406492/remembering-those-who-left-us-in-2010 |access-date=2022-07-11}}</ref>
In 1972, Sobran began working at ''National Review''. During the 1970s, he frequently used the byline M. J. Sobran. He stayed for twenty-one years, eighteen as senior editor, before he was removed from the publication amidst controversial charges of ]. Aside from his work at ''National Review,'' Sobran spent twenty-one years as a commentator on the ] '']'' program series. He was a syndicated columnist, first with the '']'' and later with the ]. In 2007, he discontinued circulation of his newsletter by mail. {{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}


== Biography ==
From 1988 to 2007, Sobran wrote the column "Washington Watch" for the ] weekly '']''. He had a monthly column that appears in ''].'' He wrote the "Bare Bodkin" column for the ] '']'' magazine. Additionally, his essays have appeared in '']'', ''Celebrate Life!'' and ''The Free Market''. Sobran was a media fellow of the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=639|title=The Free Market &#124; Mises Institute|website=Mises.org|access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.mises.org/14087/joseph-sobran-1946-2010|title=Joseph Sobran, 1946-2010|website=Blog.mises.org|date=2010-09-30|access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref>


=== Early life ===
⚫ == Departure from ''National Review'' ==
Michael Joseph Sobran Jr. was born in ], on February 23, 1946, to Doris (] Prevost, 1924–1997), a department store clerk, and Michael Joseph Sobran (1916–1994), an autoworker. His paternal grandparents were from ], and his mother was of ], ] and ] ancestry.<ref name="FamilySearch">{{cite web |title=Michael Joseph Sobran Jr. (1946–2010) |url=https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/about/LV8W-3QF |website=FamilySearch.org |publisher=FamilySearch |access-date=May 6, 2024}}</ref> Sobran was raised in a ] family.
In 1993, Sobran was fired from ''National Review'' for a series of columns that the then-publisher ], considered "contextually anti-Semitic".<ref name=context>{{cite web|title=Wills Watching|first=Michael|last=McDonald|url=http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Wills-watching-7069|date=June 2011|publisher=]|access-date=2011-06-06}}</ref>


⚫ Sobran graduated from ] in 1969 with a ] in ]. He studied for a Master of English degree with a concentration on ]an studies. In the late 1960s, Sobran lectured on Shakespeare and English on a fellowship with Eastern Michigan.<ref name="Grimes" />
] wrote that "Joe Sobran's columns anti-Semitic in themselves, and not merely 'contextually{{'"}} and Buckley disagreed with Podhoretz's accusation, instead "deem Joe Sobran's six columns contextually anti-Semitic. By this I mean that if he had been talking, let us say, about the lobbying interests of the Arabs or of the Chinese, he would not have raised eyebrows as an anti-Arab or an anti-Chinese".<ref>William F. Buckley Jr." {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060223080027/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n24_v43/ai_11810753|date=2006-02-23 }}", ]'', December 30, 1991.</ref>


=== Columnist ===
One such comment was that '']'' "really ought to change its name to ''Holocaust Update''".<ref>Jim Naureckas, , FAIR, November/December 1995.</ref> Sobran claimed that Buckley told him to "stop antagonizing the Zionist crowd" and Buckley accused him of ] and moral incapacitation.<ref>Ralph Z. Hallow, "War of words raging at National Review," ''],'' October 7, 1993.</ref> Sobran also complained of "a more or less official national obsession with a tiny, faraway socialist ]", meaning ].<ref>"In Pursuit of Anti-Semitism," ''National Review,'' 16 March 1992.</ref> In his syndicated column for '']'' in August 1993, Sobran had defended ] against charges of antisemitism and concluded that comparisons of ] to antisemitism is a ].{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}
In 1972, while at Eastern Michigan, Sobran published rebuttals of criticisms from other faculty of an upcoming campus visit by ], publisher of the ''National Review'' and a prominent conservative. After reading Sobran's comments, Buckley hired him as a columnist at the ''National Review''. After three years, Buckley promoted Sobran to senior editor.<ref name="Grimes" /> They had a long friendship.<ref name="tstanley" />


Aside from his work at ''National Review,'' Sobran spent 21 years as a commentator on the CBS Radio '']'' program series. He was a syndicated columnist, first with the '']'' and later with the ]. From 1988 to 2007, he wrote the column "Washington Watch" for the traditionalist lay Catholic weekly '']''. He also wrote a monthly column for the traditionalist '']'' (a publication considered anti-Semitic by the ]<ref>{{Cite web |title=12 Anti-Semitic Radical Traditionalist Catholic Groups |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2007/12-anti-semitic-radical-traditionalist-catholic-groups |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en}}</ref>) and the "Bare Bodkin" column for '']'' magazine. He was a media fellow of the ].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Free Market &#124; Mises Institute |url=https://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=639 |access-date=2016-07-25 |website=Mises.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2010-09-30 |title=Joseph Sobran, 1946-2010 |url=http://blog.mises.org/14087/joseph-sobran-1946-2010 |access-date=2016-07-25 |website=Blog.mises.org}}</ref><ref name="Grimes" />
⚫ Sobran was named the ]'s vice presidential nominee in 2000, but he withdrew in April 2000 because of scheduling conflicts with his journalistic commitments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politics1.com/constitution.htm|title=Archived copy|access-date=2008-05-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510151909/http://www.politics1.com/constitution.htm|archive-date=2008-05-10}}</ref>


⚫ === Firing from ''National Review'' ===
In 2001 and 2003, Sobran spoke at conferences organized by ] and shared the podium with ], ] and ], director of the ], a leading Holocaust-denying group. In 2002, he spoke at the Institute for Historical Review's annual conference.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ihr.org/conference/14thconf/sobranconf.html |title=For Fear of the Jews |website=Ihr.org |date=2002-06-22 |access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref> In his speech which he also reprinted in his newsletter, Sobran addressed the subject of ]:
In 1993, in a column in ''The Wanderer'', Sobran attacked Buckley for his support of the ] Already unhappy with Sobran's columns on ] and ], Buckley was reportedly angered that Sobran had used information from their private conversations and decided to fire him as senior editor. Buckley said he considered some of Sobran's columns to be "... contextually anti-Semitic. By this I mean that if he had been talking, let us say, about the lobbying interests of the Arabs or of the Chinese, he would not have raised eyebrows as an anti-Arab or an anti-Chinese".<ref name="context">{{cite web |last=McDonald |first=Michael |date=June 2011 |title=Wills Watching |url=http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Wills-watching-7069 |access-date=2011-06-06 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>"In Pursuit of Anti-Semitism," ''National Review,'' 16 March 1992.</ref> In response to his firing, Sobran claimed that Buckley told him to "stop antagonizing the Zionist crowd" and accused him of ] and moral incapacitation.<ref>Ralph Z. Hallow, "War of words raging at National Review," ''],'' October 7, 1993.</ref> In his own assessment, Columnist ] wrote that Sobran's columns were "anti-Semitic in themselves, and not merely 'contextually{{'"}}.<ref>William F. Buckley Jr." {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060223080027/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n24_v43/ai_11810753|date=2006-02-23 }}", '']'', December 30, 1991.</ref>


⚫ In 1994, he founded "Sobran’s: The Real News of the Month", a newsletter that published until 2007.<ref name="Grimes" /> Sobran was named the ]'s vice presidential nominee in 2000, but withdrew later that year due to scheduling conflicts.<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |date=2000 |title=PRESIDENCY 2000 |url=http://politics1.com/constitution.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510151909/http://www.politics1.com/constitution.htm |archive-date=2008-05-10 |access-date=2008-05-08 |website=politics1.com}}</ref>
<blockquote>I am not, heaven forbid, a "Holocaust denier." I lack the scholarly competence to be one. Why on earth is it 'anti-Jewish' to conclude from the evidence that the standard numbers of Jews murdered are inaccurate, or that the Hitler regime, bad as it was in many ways, was not, in fact, intent on racial extermination? Surely these are controversial conclusions; but if so, let the controversy rage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sobran.com/fearofjews.shtml|title=Sobran's - "For Fear of the Jews"|website=Sobran.com|access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref></blockquote>


=== Institute for Historical Review ===
Referring to his appearance at the Institute for Historical Review conferences, historian ] wrote: "Mr. Sobran may not have been an unequivocal denier, but he gave support and comfort to the worst of them".<ref>Deborah Lipstadt , '']'', October 5, 2010.</ref>
⚫ In 2001, ] offered Sobran a column in Buchanan's new magazine '']''. (After Sobran's death, Buchanan called him "perhaps the finest columnist of our generation".<ref>{{cite web |author=W. James Antle, III |date=October 4, 2010 |title=Remembering Joe Sobran |url=http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/1010/1010sobran.htm |access-date=2011-06-06 |publisher=Enter Stage Right}}</ref>) However, the magazine's editor, ], withdrew the offer when Sobran refused to cancel his appearance before the ], a leading Holocaust-denying group.<ref name="tstanley">Timothy Stanley, ''The Crusader: The Life and Tumultuous Times of Pat Buchanan'' (New York City: ], 2012), p. 359; {{ISBN|978-0-312-58174-9}}</ref>


Writing in ''National Review'', ] said: "His appearance before that sorry outfit a few years ago remains impossible to explain, at least if you're trying to absolve him".<ref>Matthew Scully, "", ''National Review Online'', October 16, 2010.</ref> In 2001 and 2003, Sobran spoke at conferences organized by ] and shared the podium with ], ], and ], director of the ]. In 2002, he spoke at the Institute for Historical Review's annual conference.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ihr.org/conference/14thconf/sobranconf.html |title=For Fear of the Jews |website=ihr.org |date=2002-06-22 |access-date=2016-07-25 |archive-date=2016-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712194516/http://www.ihr.org/conference/14thconf/sobranconf.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Referring to Sobran's appearance at the conferences, historian ] wrote: "Mr. Sobran may not have been an unequivocal denier, but he gave support and comfort to the worst of them".<ref>Deborah Lipstadt , '']'', October 5, 2010.</ref> Writing in ''National Review'', ] said: "His appearance before that sorry outfit a few years ago remains impossible to explain, at least if you're trying to absolve him".<ref>Matthew Scully, "", ''National Review Online'', October 16, 2010.</ref>


⚫ In the ], Sobran endorsed Constitution Party candidate ].<ref>{{cite web |last=Sobran |first=Joseph |date=November 3, 2008 |title=Joseph Sobran |url=http://www.amconmag.com/article/2008/nov/03/00036 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030021427/http://www.amconmag.com/article/2008/nov/03/00036 |archive-date=2008-10-30 |access-date=2008-11-04 |website=The American Conservative}}</ref>
Sobran also wrote:
<blockquote>What, exactly, is "anti-Semitism?" One standard dictionary definition is "hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious or racial group." How this applies to me has never been explained.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sobran.com/fearofjews.shtml|title=For Fear of the Jews|website=Sobran.com|access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref></blockquote>


=== Death and legacy ===
Sobran critiqued Buckley's book ''In Search of Anti-Semitism'':
⚫ Sobran was twice married and divorced. He had four children. Sobran died in a nursing home in ], on September 30, 2010, of ] due to ].<ref name="tstanley" /><ref name="Grimes" />
<blockquote>Its real message is not that we should like or respect Jews; only that we should try not to hate them. But this implies that anti-Semitism is the natural reaction to them: If it's a universal sin, after all, it must be a universal temptation. When he defends Jews, I sometimes feel like saying: "Bill! Bill! It's all right! They're not that bad!"<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://archive.is/20130927112239/http://www.gnosticliberationfront.com/how_i_was_fired_by_bill_buckley.htm |title = How I Was Fired by Bill Buckley}}</ref></blockquote>


== Views ==
⚫ After his removal from ''National Review'', Sobran penned columns for paleoconservative journals such as ''Chronicles''. In 2001, Pat Buchanan offered Sobran a column in Buchanan's new magazine '']''. Editor ] withdrew the offer when Sobran refused to cancel his appearance before the Institute for Historical Review.<ref name=tstanley>Timothy Stanley, ''The Crusader: The Life and Tumultuous Times of Pat Buchanan'' (New York City: ], 2012), p. 359; {{ISBN|978-0-312-58174-9}}</ref>


== Political philosophy == === Philosophy ===
Throughout much of his career, Sobran identified as a paleoconservative like his colleagues ], ] and Peter Gemma. He supported strict interpretation of the ]. In 2002, Sobran announced his philosophical and political shift to ] (] ]) and cited inspiration by theorists ] and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sobran.com/reluctant.shtml|title=Sobran's - The Reluctant Anarchist|website=Sobran.com|access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref> He referred to himself as a "theo-anarchist".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weekendinterviewshow.com/InterviewDisplay.aspx?i%3D55|title=Archived copy|access-date=2007-01-15|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061113073053/http://weekendinterviewshow.com/InterviewDisplay.aspx?i=55|archive-date=2006-11-13}}</ref> Throughout much of his career, Sobran identified as a paleoconservative like his colleagues ], ], and Peter Gemma.{{Third-party inline|date=July 2022}} He claimed to support a strict interpretation of the ]. He asserted that the ] meant that almost every federal government act since the Civil War had been illegal.<ref name="Grimes" /> In 2002, Sobran announced his philosophical and political shift to ] (paleolibertarian ]), citing inspiration by theorists ] and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sobran.com/reluctant.shtml|title=Sobran's - The Reluctant Anarchist|website=Sobran.com|access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref> He referred to himself as a "theo-anarchist".<ref>{{cite web |title=Joseph Sobran's Bio |url=http://www.weekendinterviewshow.com/InterviewDisplay.aspx?i%3D55 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061113073053/http://weekendinterviewshow.com/InterviewDisplay.aspx?i=55 |archive-date=2006-11-13 |access-date=2007-01-15 |website=weekendinterviewshow.com}}</ref>


Sobran asserted in the ] '']'' magazine that ]'s dream had become an "American nightmare" because civil rights had encouraged, in Sobran's words, "black thugs".<ref>{{Citation |last=Hague |first=Euan |title=7. Neo-Confederacy and Education |date=2008-12-31 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7560/718371-010 |work=Neo-Confederacy |pages=202–225 |publisher=University of Texas Press |doi=10.7560/718371-010 |isbn=9780292793873 |s2cid=243776146 |access-date=2022-07-11}}</ref>
⚫ In the ], Sobran endorsed Constitution Party candidate ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amconmag.com/article/2008/nov/03/00036|title=Archived copy|access-date=2008-11-04|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030021427/http://www.amconmag.com/article/2008/nov/03/00036|archive-date=2008-10-30}}</ref>


=== Catholic teachings ===
⚫ Sobran said Catholic teachings are consistent with his opposition to ] and the ]. He argued that the ] were a result of the United States government's policies in the Middle East. He claimed those policies are formed by the "Jewish lobby".<ref name="Grimes">{{cite news|last=Grimes|first=William|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/books/02sobran.html|title=Joseph Sobran, Writer Whom Buckley Mentored, Dies at 64|date=October 1, 2010|website=The New York Times|access-date=February 7, 2019}}</ref>
Sobran said Catholic teachings were consistent with his opposition to ] and the ].{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} Asked to summarize his views, Sobran said once, "I won't be satisfied until the Church resumes ]" — a remark that Buchanan's biographer Timothy <!-- not ]--> Stanley described as "funny, offensive and honest".<ref name="tstanley" />


⚫ === Jews and Israel ===
Sobran considered ] to be at least in part a Jewish phenomenon, writing:
⚫ Sobran frequently used his columns to criticize ], the Holocaust and ]. In one column, Sobran wrote that '']'' "really ought to change its name to ''Holocaust Update''".<ref>Jim Naureckas, , FAIR, November/December 1995.</ref> In a 1992 column, he complained of "a more or less official national obsession with a tiny, faraway socialist ]", meaning ]. Sobran argued that the ] were a result of the United States government's policies in the ]. He claimed those policies are formed by the Jewish lobby.<ref name="Grimes">{{cite news|last=Grimes|first=William|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/books/02sobran.html|title=Joseph Sobran, Writer Whom Buckley Mentored, Dies at 64|date=October 1, 2010|website=The New York Times|access-date=February 7, 2019}}</ref>
<blockquote>Christians knew that Communism – often called "]" – would bring awful persecution with the ultimate goal of the annihilation of Christianity. While the atheistic Soviet regime ], murdering tens of thousands of Orthodox priests, it also showed its true colors by making anti-Semitism a capital crime. Countless Jews around the world remained pro-Communist even after Stalin had purged most Jews from positions of power in the Soviet Union.<ref name=jews>{{cite web|url=http://sobran.com/jewid.shtml|title=The Church and Jewish Ideology |website=Sobran.com|access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref></blockquote>


In 2002, Sobran wrote, "My chief offense, it appears, has been to insist that the state of Israel has been a costly and treacherous ‘ally’ to the United States. As of last Sept. 11, I should think that is undeniable. But I have yet to receive a single apology for having been correct."<ref name="Grimes" /> Sobran said he lacked the "scholarly competence" to be a ]. He also claimed that the official number of Holocaust victims was inaccurate and that ] was not intent on racial extermination.<ref>{{cite web |title=For Fear of the Jews |url=http://www.sobran.com/fearofjews.shtml |access-date=2016-07-25 |website=Sobran's: The Real News of the Month}}</ref>{{Third-party inline|date=July 2022}} He said his attitude was not anti-Semitism but "more like counter-Semitism".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Weisberg |first=Jacob |date=1990-10-22 |title=The Heresies of Pat Buchanan |magazine=The New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/69035/the-heresies-pat-buchanan |access-date=2022-07-11 |issn=0028-6583}}</ref>
== Shakespeare authorship theory ==
⚫ In a book entitled ''Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time'' (1997), Sobran espoused the ] that ] was the true author of the plays attributed to ] of ].<ref name="Grimes"/>


== Personal life == == Published works ==
⚫ Sobran was twice married and divorced. He had four children and was survived by ten grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He died in a ] in ] on September 30, 2010 as the result of kidney failure spurred by ].<ref name=tstanley/><ref name="Grimes"/>


== Books and other publications == === Books ===
⚫ * ''Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions'' (1983, Arlington House)
⚫ At the time of his death, Sobran was working on two books, namely one concerning ]'s presidency and the United States Constitution and another about de Vere's poetry.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}
* ''Pensées: Notes for the reactionary of tomorrow'' (1985, Arlington House)
⚫ * ''Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time'' (1997, Free Press) Sobran espoused the ] that ], wrote the plays attributed to ] .<ref name="Grimes" />
⚫ * ''Hustler: The Clinton Legacy'' (2000, Griffin Communications)
* ''Sobran's: The Real News of the Month'' (monthly newsletter)
* ''Joseph Sobran: The National Review Years'' (selections of his work during his time at National Review, edited by Fran Griffin, 2012, Griffin Communications)


⚫ At the time of his death, Sobran was working on two books, one concerning ]'s presidency and the United States Constitution and another about de Vere's poetry.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}
Sobran is also the author of the following books:
⚫ * ''Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions'' – Human Life Press – 1983
* ''Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time'' – Free Press 1997
⚫ * ''Hustler: The Clinton Legacy'' – Griffin Communications 2000


=== Articles and speeches ===
Sobran has produced a number of published articles and speeches, including the following:
His essays appeared in '']'', ''Celebrate Life!'' and ''The Free Market''.
⚫ * ''Anything Called a Program is Unconstitutional'' – Griffin Communications – 2001
* ''The Church Today: Less Catholic Than the Pope?'' – National Committee of Catholic Laymen – 1979 * ''The Church Today: Less Catholic Than the Pope?'' – National Committee of Catholic Laymen – 1979
* , ''Sobran's'', n.d. * ''How Tyranny Came to America'', ''Sobran's'', n.d.
* '']'', December 31, 1985. (extended essay) * ''Pensees: Notes for the reactionary of tomorrow'', '']'', December 31, 1985. (extended essay)
* ''Power and Betrayal'' – Griffin Communications – 1998 * ''Power and Betrayal'' – Griffin Communications – 1998
⚫ * ''Anything Called a Program is Unconstitutional'' – Griffin Communications – 2001


== References == == References ==
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==External links== ==External links==
* {{C-SPAN|josephsobran}} * {{C-SPAN|16022}}
*
* {{findagrave|100876248|Michael Joseph Sobran, Jr}}
*


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Latest revision as of 22:57, 8 January 2025

American political commentator (1946–2010)
Joseph Sobran
BornMichael Joseph Sobran Jr.
(1946-02-23)February 23, 1946
Ypsilanti, Michigan, U.S.
DiedSeptember 30, 2010(2010-09-30) (aged 64)
Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
EducationEastern Michigan University (BA, MA)
Employers
Political partyConstitution (2000–2010)
Children4

Michael Joseph Sobran Jr. (/ˈsoʊbræn/; February 23, 1946 – September 30, 2010), also known as M. J. Sobran, was an American paleoconservative journalist and syndicated columnist. He wrote for the National Review magazine from 1972 to 1993.

In his columns, Sobran was moralistic, opposed to big government, and an isolationist critic of U.S. foreign policy. When he fired Sobran from his longtime job at National Review in 1993, publisher William F. Buckley Jr. termed some of Sobran's writings "contextually anti-semitic". In the early 2000s, Sobran was a speaker for the Holocaust denial group Institute for Historical Review.

Biography

Early life

Michael Joseph Sobran Jr. was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on February 23, 1946, to Doris (née Prevost, 1924–1997), a department store clerk, and Michael Joseph Sobran (1916–1994), an autoworker. His paternal grandparents were from Austria-Hungary, and his mother was of English, French-Canadian and Irish ancestry. Sobran was raised in a Roman Catholic family.

Sobran graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He studied for a Master of English degree with a concentration on Shakespearean studies. In the late 1960s, Sobran lectured on Shakespeare and English on a fellowship with Eastern Michigan.

Columnist

In 1972, while at Eastern Michigan, Sobran published rebuttals of criticisms from other faculty of an upcoming campus visit by William F. Buckley Jr., publisher of the National Review and a prominent conservative. After reading Sobran's comments, Buckley hired him as a columnist at the National Review. After three years, Buckley promoted Sobran to senior editor. They had a long friendship.

Aside from his work at National Review, Sobran spent 21 years as a commentator on the CBS Radio Spectrum program series. He was a syndicated columnist, first with the Los Angeles Times and later with the Universal Press Syndicate. From 1988 to 2007, he wrote the column "Washington Watch" for the traditionalist lay Catholic weekly The Wanderer. He also wrote a monthly column for the traditionalist Catholic Family News (a publication considered anti-Semitic by the Southern Poverty Law Center) and the "Bare Bodkin" column for Chronicles magazine. He was a media fellow of the Mises Institute.

Firing from National Review

In 1993, in a column in The Wanderer, Sobran attacked Buckley for his support of the 1991 Gulf War. Already unhappy with Sobran's columns on Israel and anti-Semitism, Buckley was reportedly angered that Sobran had used information from their private conversations and decided to fire him as senior editor. Buckley said he considered some of Sobran's columns to be "... contextually anti-Semitic. By this I mean that if he had been talking, let us say, about the lobbying interests of the Arabs or of the Chinese, he would not have raised eyebrows as an anti-Arab or an anti-Chinese". In response to his firing, Sobran claimed that Buckley told him to "stop antagonizing the Zionist crowd" and accused him of libel and moral incapacitation. In his own assessment, Columnist Norman Podhoretz wrote that Sobran's columns were "anti-Semitic in themselves, and not merely 'contextually'".

In 1994, he founded "Sobran’s: The Real News of the Month", a newsletter that published until 2007. Sobran was named the Constitution Party's vice presidential nominee in 2000, but withdrew later that year due to scheduling conflicts.

Institute for Historical Review

In 2001, Pat Buchanan offered Sobran a column in Buchanan's new magazine The American Conservative. (After Sobran's death, Buchanan called him "perhaps the finest columnist of our generation".) However, the magazine's editor, Scott McConnell, withdrew the offer when Sobran refused to cancel his appearance before the Institute for Historical Review, a leading Holocaust-denying group.

In 2001 and 2003, Sobran spoke at conferences organized by David Irving and shared the podium with Paul Fromm, Charles D. Provan, and Mark Weber, director of the Institute for Historical Review. In 2002, he spoke at the Institute for Historical Review's annual conference. Referring to Sobran's appearance at the conferences, historian Deborah Lipstadt wrote: "Mr. Sobran may not have been an unequivocal denier, but he gave support and comfort to the worst of them". Writing in National Review, Matthew Scully said: "His appearance before that sorry outfit a few years ago remains impossible to explain, at least if you're trying to absolve him".

In the 2008 presidential election, Sobran endorsed Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin.

Death and legacy

Sobran was twice married and divorced. He had four children. Sobran died in a nursing home in Fairfax, Virginia, on September 30, 2010, of kidney failure due to diabetes.

Views

Philosophy

Throughout much of his career, Sobran identified as a paleoconservative like his colleagues Samuel T. Francis, Pat Buchanan, and Peter Gemma. He claimed to support a strict interpretation of the United States Constitution. He asserted that the Tenth Amendment meant that almost every federal government act since the Civil War had been illegal. In 2002, Sobran announced his philosophical and political shift to libertarianism (paleolibertarian anarcho-capitalism), citing inspiration by theorists Murray Rothbard and Hans-Hermann Hoppe. He referred to himself as a "theo-anarchist".

Sobran asserted in the neo-Confederate Southern Partisan magazine that Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream had become an "American nightmare" because civil rights had encouraged, in Sobran's words, "black thugs".

Catholic teachings

Sobran said Catholic teachings were consistent with his opposition to abortion and the Iraq War. Asked to summarize his views, Sobran said once, "I won't be satisfied until the Church resumes burning for heresy" — a remark that Buchanan's biographer Timothy Stanley described as "funny, offensive and honest".

Jews and Israel

Sobran frequently used his columns to criticize Israel, the Holocaust and Zionism. In one column, Sobran wrote that The New York Times "really ought to change its name to Holocaust Update". In a 1992 column, he complained of "a more or less official national obsession with a tiny, faraway socialist ethnocracy", meaning Israel. Sobran argued that the 9/11 attacks were a result of the United States government's policies in the Middle East. He claimed those policies are formed by the Jewish lobby.

In 2002, Sobran wrote, "My chief offense, it appears, has been to insist that the state of Israel has been a costly and treacherous ‘ally’ to the United States. As of last Sept. 11, I should think that is undeniable. But I have yet to receive a single apology for having been correct." Sobran said he lacked the "scholarly competence" to be a Holocaust denier. He also claimed that the official number of Holocaust victims was inaccurate and that Nazi Germany was not intent on racial extermination. He said his attitude was not anti-Semitism but "more like counter-Semitism".

Published works

Books

  • Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions (1983, Arlington House)
  • Pensées: Notes for the reactionary of tomorrow (1985, Arlington House)
  • Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time (1997, Free Press) Sobran espoused the Oxfordian theory that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays attributed to William Shakespeare .
  • Hustler: The Clinton Legacy (2000, Griffin Communications)
  • Sobran's: The Real News of the Month (monthly newsletter)
  • Joseph Sobran: The National Review Years (selections of his work during his time at National Review, edited by Fran Griffin, 2012, Griffin Communications)

At the time of his death, Sobran was working on two books, one concerning Abraham Lincoln's presidency and the United States Constitution and another about de Vere's poetry.

Articles and speeches

His essays appeared in The Human Life Review, Celebrate Life! and The Free Market.

  • The Church Today: Less Catholic Than the Pope? – National Committee of Catholic Laymen – 1979
  • How Tyranny Came to America, Sobran's, n.d.
  • Pensees: Notes for the reactionary of tomorrow, National Review, December 31, 1985. (extended essay)
  • Power and Betrayal – Griffin Communications – 1998
  • Anything Called a Program is Unconstitutional – Griffin Communications – 2001

References

  1. ^ Timothy Stanley, The Crusader: The Life and Tumultuous Times of Pat Buchanan (New York City: St. Martin's Press, 2012), p. 359; ISBN 978-0-312-58174-9
  2. ^ Grimes, William (October 1, 2010). "Joseph Sobran, Writer Whom Buckley Mentored, Dies at 64". The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  3. Rudin, Ken (2010-12-29). "Political Powerhouses: Remembering Those Who Died". NPR. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  4. "Michael Joseph Sobran Jr. (1946–2010)". FamilySearch.org. FamilySearch. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  5. "12 Anti-Semitic Radical Traditionalist Catholic Groups". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  6. "The Free Market | Mises Institute". Mises.org. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
  7. "Joseph Sobran, 1946-2010". Blog.mises.org. 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
  8. McDonald, Michael (June 2011). "Wills Watching". The New Criterion. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
  9. "In Pursuit of Anti-Semitism," National Review, 16 March 1992.
  10. Ralph Z. Hallow, "War of words raging at National Review," The Washington Times, October 7, 1993.
  11. William F. Buckley Jr."In search of anti-Semitism: what Christians provoke what Jews? Why? By doing what? – And vice versa Archived 2006-02-23 at the Wayback Machine", National Review, December 30, 1991.
  12. "PRESIDENCY 2000". politics1.com. 2000. Archived from the original on 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  13. W. James Antle, III (October 4, 2010). "Remembering Joe Sobran". Enter Stage Right. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
  14. "For Fear of the Jews". ihr.org. 2002-06-22. Archived from the original on 2016-07-12. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
  15. Deborah Lipstadt "'Skeptical' on the Holocaust?", The New York Times, October 5, 2010.
  16. Matthew Scully, "Bard of the Right", National Review Online, October 16, 2010.
  17. Sobran, Joseph (November 3, 2008). "Joseph Sobran". The American Conservative. Archived from the original on 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  18. "Sobran's - The Reluctant Anarchist". Sobran.com. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
  19. "Joseph Sobran's Bio". weekendinterviewshow.com. Archived from the original on 2006-11-13. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
  20. Hague, Euan (2008-12-31), "7. Neo-Confederacy and Education", Neo-Confederacy, University of Texas Press, pp. 202–225, doi:10.7560/718371-010, ISBN 9780292793873, S2CID 243776146, retrieved 2022-07-11
  21. Jim Naureckas, "The Philadelphia Inquirer's New Spectrum: From Centrism to Anti-Semitism", FAIR, November/December 1995.
  22. "For Fear of the Jews". Sobran's: The Real News of the Month. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
  23. Weisberg, Jacob (1990-10-22). "The Heresies of Pat Buchanan". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2022-07-11.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded byHerb Titus Constitution nominee for Vice President of the United States
Withdrew
2000 		Succeeded byCurtis Frazier
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