Some time ago I did a series of articles for worldview, each concerned with some aspect of what I termed the “nuclear obsession.” I used the phrase to highlight an example of what seemed to me a tendency of the liberal community to become so preoccupied with a single issue, or value, as to lose sight of the damage done to other values held by the same community.

As one constantly fascinated with contradictions, I want now to examine the stunning and total contradictions of the two principal positions taken by some adherents of the “New Politics.”