In reply to my article on Stage 2 of the Mantra, Jason naturally asked whether I would have stage 3.

Let me answer that what I call Stage Two is a bit of fluke. I have been on this road many times, and I just noticed that the Big Names are still depending on the Silence and hoping they can keep the Mantra out with that.

This explains why, AT THIS STAGE, criticism is coming from those on our side who advocate a different approach.

It hit me that this piece of irony occurred just as my approach, be it with Russia or the Space Telescope, just began to be successful. When my stuff made real gains, the attacks came from my side.

If you read a cover article in National Review in 1976, you will find a cover article attacking my going for the “Wallace vote,” which, when it won in 1980 suddenly became “the Reagan Democrats” in both liberal and respectable conservative parlance.

As Bill Rusher, NR’s publisher, and others switched to my strategy, it was the other paycheck conservatives who feared we would ruin their highly profitable and constantly losing respectable conservatism.

The same thing happened when I, listening samizdats, insisted on the term Evil Empire, which writers removed from the President” speeches the way “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this Wall,” was removed three times behind his back.

In fact I think it was constant back-stabbing movement to remove the “Evil Empire” phrase that got Reagan to look very carefully in this speech. I decided to call this Period, when the total other side is still using the Silence and, as with BUGS, the only noise comes from our end of the spectrum, which I just NOTICED, the second phase.

A week ago I didn’t realize my history included a second phase.