“We Will Burn and Loot and Destroy”: The Weather Underground and Its Legacy

Jay Nordlinger

 

In 1972, James Merrill wrote a poem called “18 West 11th Street.” That is an address in Greenwich Village, New York City. At the beginning of his poem, Merrill refers to “the Aquarians in the basement.” Later, he speaks of the house at large as “dear premises,” which have been “vainly exploded” and are “vainly dwelt upon.” Let’s dwell upon them.

Merrill was born in that house—a townhouse—in 1926. His father, Charles, was the founder of Merrill Lynch, the investment bank. The family moved from the house when the future poet was five. The house passed through several hands, including those of James P. Wilkerson, an advertising executive.

In the early months of 1970, Wilkerson was on vacation in the Caribbean. His daughter Cathy, age 25 and a political radical, asked whether she could use the house in his absence. She needed a place to convalesce from the flu, she said. Her father agreed. The house at 18 West 11th Street became a base for the Weather Underground Organization.

Cathy Wilkerson moved in with several of her comrades. They were planning to commit a mass murder at Fort Dix, in New Jersey. They were also planning to blow up the administration building at Columbia University. At Fort Dix, there was to be an NCO dance—a big party, where non-commissioned officers would dance with their dates. The “Aquarians in the basement” were preparing a nail bomb.

Clumsy, they blew up themselves and the house. This was shortly before noon on March 6; the dance was scheduled for that night.

Two of the bombmakers, Terry Robbins and Diana Oughton, died in the basement. A third, Ted Gold, died when the façade collapsed on him. He had run an errand and was returning to the house. Two others—Cathy Wilkerson and Kathy Boudin—were on upper floors. They managed to escape the house, although, of course, they were badly shaken. One was naked, one partially so. Evidently, the blast had blown their clothes off.

A neighbor helped the young women. She was Susan Wager, an ex-wife of Henry Fonda. She offered the women a shower and gave them fresh clothes to wear. Then the women went to a different home: the home of Kathy Boudin’s parents, where they spent the night. Kathy’s father, Leonard Boudin, was a prominent left-wing lawyer.

The next day, the women—disappeared. They would be on the lam for ten years, and on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List..................To Read More...

My Take - One thing becomes abundantly clear: Those who were in college at this time became mentally, emotionally and philosophically corrupted with leftist insanity, and then became the nation's leaders.  This piece is a clear demonstration of how far we've descended into the leftist sewer of insanity, inhumanity, tyranny and ultimately, dystopia.  

 

The author ends saying: 

 

Yes, it can all break down, quickly. Constant vigilance is wearying, perhaps. But there is no better alternative.