Letters

When Bradley Smith asked me via e-mail if I would write a statement supporting the subscription drive of Smith's Report, I replied okay “but please first advise me. Do you object to being described as 'the sort of crank we can't do without', or something like that? That is how I actually view you.” Bradley seemed a bit miffed by this but, perhaps partly out of curiosity, replied that he could “go with crank, or something like that.”

I believe my explanation for holding this view will constitute the desired endorsement. I think the main outward features of a crank are (1) promotion of a cause that seems outlandish to general society and (2) great perseverance over many years in promoting this cause and (3) great displays of energy in intruding into forums whose overseers don't want him there and (4) little prospect of personal gain from such activities. Bradley's activities have all of these features.

Since the label “crank” is usually applied by those who don't like the cause involved, and since they are still in the majority in relation to Bradley's, at least in the centers of power and influence, I see no objection to those who support his cause accepting the label but adding that “we can't do without” this crank.

New readers of Smith's Report, or even those who have been reading it for a few years, may not appreciate his perseverance and energy in working to open up the “Holocaust” to rational examination. I have been able to observe his activities since 1980, and they have almost always pleased me. Nobody else comes close to playing the role he does. For example IHR is primarily a publisher and has never been significantly active on college campuses.

Everybody will agree on one thing about a crank. The only thing that might stop his activities is final success. That is why Smith's Report and Bradley's other Holocaust revisionist activities should be studied and supported by all.