Томас Флеминг: Биография и политические взгляды

American writer and political commentator
other people of the same name

Thomas Fleming (born 1945) is a traditionalist Catholic writer, former president of the Rockford Institute, and former editor of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, a monthly paleoconservative political magazine. Fleming has been described as a leading figure in developing neo Confederate ideology. He was a founding member of the League of the South, and a founding editor of Southern Partisan magazine in 1979, but later left both organizations. In addition to editing, Fleming has written on topics concerning the literature of pagan Greece as well as political issues. Fleming was introduced to the paleoconservative public by Robert W. Whitaker of South Carolina in 1982. At that time, he was invited to contribute to Whitaker's book, The New Right Papers, which put together ways whereby conservative populists could be elected to office through an alliance of people from both parties in the Republican Party. Fleming was a founding member and board member of the League of the South, from which he was reported to have resigned in 2002, as well as an affiliated scholar of its educational arm, the League of the South Institute. He was a founding editor of the Southern Partisan magazine in 1979, with Clyde Wilson. Its masthead included "a range of conservative figures from old segregationists to New Right leaders", as described by the academics Euan Hague and Edward Sebesta. He left in 1983 after disputes at the magazine. but continued contributing articles on an occasional basis. As of the July 2015 issue of Chronicles, the magazine's former Senior Editor For Books, Chilton Williamson Jr., became editor for the publication. In December 2022, Fleming returned once more to Chronicles to take the mantle of editorship at the magazine.

Fleming has been described as a leading figure in developing neo Confederate ideology. He then explains how this type of American propositionalism impacts immigration: "But that this is exactly what the advocates of the "propositional nation" do insist upon. The United States is not only the best nation in the history of the world, but also it is the beacon to all mankind, the natural home of all the good and decent people in the world and the enemy to all regimes that deny their subjects equal rights. Thus, by the same argument, a propositional nation is obliged to open its borders to strangers "yearning to breathe free," but it is also justified in engaging in endless crusades to impose its propositions on the rest of the world."

Chronicles Magazine often runs news articles of interest to the old right. Writing on Congressman Ron Paul and his bid for the presidency, Fleming wrote: "Dr. Paul has his zany side: He believes in the Constitution of the old American republic, and he actually thinks it has some relevance for America today. God bless him, I would vote for him if only for pretending to embrace such a heartwarming fantasy. As it is, I am convinced he believes what he says. (His candor and sincerity alone are enough to disqualify him as a serious presidential candidate in these United States.) Paul not only wants, in principle, to restore the republic but also opposes the continued erosion of states' rights and U. S. sovereignty." Like Paul, Fleming favors non interventionism and has criticized the neoconservative foreign policy.

Fleming affirms the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy and has urged the Eastern Orthodox Churches to submit to the immediate, universal jurisdiction and absolute authority of the See of Rome. He notes, "The Eastern position, from fairly early on and down to fairly late, was unequivocal in acknowledging the primacy of the Roman bishop, and even today most Orthodox bishops and theologians I know concede that if the Church were reunited, the heir of Peter would preside over the meetings of the patriarchs – indeed, in some Eastern ecclesiastical disputes in recent years, appeals have been made to the Pope."