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[[Image:Sobran.gif|frame|right|Joseph Sobran]]

'''Joseph Sobran''' (born [[February 23]] [[1946]], [[Ypsilanti, Michigan]]) is an American journalist and writer, formerly with ''National Review'' and currently a syndicated columnist.

==Academic and professional career==

Sobran graduated from [[Eastern Michigan University]] and received a [[bachelor's degree]] in English. He studied for a graduate degree in English, concentrating on Shakespearean studies, following his graduation. In the late 1960s, Sobran spent time lecturing on Shakespeare and English on a fellowship with the university.  

In 1972, Sobran started working at [[William F. Buckley Jr]]'s ''[[National Review]]'' magazine. (During the 1970s, he frequently used the byline M.J. Sobran.) He stayed twenty-one years, eighteen of them as senior editor, before being removed from the publication amidst controversial charges.  

Along with his work at ''National Review'', Sobran spent 21 years as a commentator on the [[CBS Radio]] "Spectrum" program series, and is still a syndicated columnist, first with the [[Los Angeles Times]] and later with the [[Universal Press Syndicate]]. He is currently distributed by the [[Griffin Internet Syndicate]]. Sobran also contributes to the [[Roman Catholic]] newsweekly ''[[The Wanderer (newspaper)|The Wanderer]]'', where he contributes a weekly column entitled ''Washington Watch,'' and writes a monthly column which appears in ''[[Catholic Family News]]''.

Sobran was named the Constitution Party's vice presidential nominee in 2000, but withdrew from the race.

==National Review Controversy==
Sobran was fired from ''[[National Review]]'' in 1993 and was accused of being an [[Anti-Semitism|anti-Semite]] (most notably by neoconservative writer [[Norman Podhoretz]]). Podhoretz wrote that "Joe Sobran's columns...[are] anti-Semitic in themselves, and not merely 'contextually.'"  Buckley disagreed with Podhoretz's accusation, noting that he, 
:''deemed Joe Sobran's six columns contextually anti-Semitic. By this I mean that if he had been talking, let us say, about the lobbying interests of the Arabs or of the Chinese, he would not have raised eyebrows as an anti-Arab or an anti-Chinese.''<ref>[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n24_v43/ai_11810753/]Buckley, William F., Jr. "In search of anti-Semitism: what Christians provoke what Jews? Why? By doing what? - And vice versa."''[[National Review]]''. 30 December 1991.</ref>

The [[Stephen Roth Institute]] criticized his appearance at a 2001 conference hosted by the [[Institute for Historical Review]], which it described as the "most active Holocaust denying organization in the United States". 

Both the Roth Institute and Tom Palmer, a senior fellow at the [[Cato Institute]] link Sobran to [[Holocaust denier]] [[David Irving]], since both appeared at the same event.<ref>[http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw2001-2/usa.htm]"Country Report: USA." Stephen Roth Institute. 2001. </ref>

==Political philosophy==
Through much of his career, Sobran identified as a [[paleoconservative]] and supported strict interpretation of the [[U.S. Constitution]]. In 2002, Joseph Sobran began promoting [[paleolibertarian]] [[anarchocapitalism]]. In December 2002 he announced his philosophical and political shift to anarchism,<ref>[http://www.sobran.com/reluctant.shtml]Sobran, Joe. "The Reluctant Anarchist." ''Sobran's''. December 2002.</ref> citing inspiration by theorist [[Murray Rothbard]].  

Sobran says [[Roman Catholic]] teachings are consistent with his opposition to [[abortion]] and the [[Iraq War]].  He also argues that the [[9/11 attacks]] were a result of the U.S. Government's policies regarding the [[Middle East]]. He claims those policies are formed by the "Jewish-Zionist powers that be in the United States". <ref>[http://www.sobran.com/issuetexts/2002-04.htm]Sobran, Joe. "West Meets East, Again." ''Sobran's''. April 2002.</ref>

==Books and other publications==
Sobran is the author of many books, including one about [[William Shakespeare]], ''Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time'' (1997), where he endorses the [[Oxfordian theory]] that [[Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford|Edward de Vere]], the 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of the plays usually attributed to William Shakespeare of [[Stratford-on-Avon]].  He is currently working on two books: one concerning [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s presidency and the [[United States Constitution]], and another about de Vere's poetry.

He is also the author of:

* ''[[Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions]]'' - [[Human Life Press]] - 1983
* ''[[The Conservative Manifesto]]'' - [[Empire Books]] - 1984
* ''[[Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time]]'' - [[Free Press]] 1997
* ''[[Hustler: The Clinton Legacy]]'' - [[Griffin Communications]] - 2000

Sobran has produced a number of published articles and speeches, including:

* ''Anything Called a Program is Unconstitutional'' - Griffin Communications - 2001
* ''The Church Today: Less Catholic Than the Pope?'' - [[National Committee of Catholic Laymen]] - 1979
* [http://www.sobran.com/articles/tyranny.shtml ''How Tyranny Came to America''], ''Sobran's'', n.d.
* [http://www.wildwestcycle.com/f_pensees.htm ''Pensees: Notes for the reactionary of tomorrow'']  ''[[National Review]]'', [[December 31]] [[1985]]. (extended essay)
* ''Power and Betrayal'' - Griffin Communications - 1998

==See also==
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
===Sobran's writings===
*[http://www.sobran.com/ Sobran's: The Real News of the Month] — Official site.
*[http://www.sobran.com/columns/archive.shtml Archive of Joseph Sobran's articles.] 
*[http://www.sobran.com/issuetexts/ Archive of Joseph Sobran's newsletter.] 
*[http://www.fpp.co.uk/Sobran/index.html The Writings of Joseph Sobran] hosted on [[David Irving]]'s Focal Point Publications website.

===Articles dealing with the anti-Semitism charge===
*[http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0502/0502sobran.htm Joe Sobran: Anti-Jewish?] by Charles A. Morse
*[http://www.mecfilms.com/universe/articles/fired.htm How I Was Fired By Bill Buckley] by Joseph Sobran.
*[http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v07/v07p373_Weber.html Joseph Sobran and Historical Revisionism] by [[Mark Weber]] published in the [[Journal of Historical Review]] of the [[Institute for Historical Review]], Fall 1987.
*[http://www.ihr.org/conference/14thconf/sobranconf.html For Fear of The Jews] presentation at the 14th conference of the [[Institute for Historical Review]] 2002
*[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n24_v43/ai_11810753/print In search of anti-semitism, National Review, 12/30/91, William F. Buckley, Jr.]

== References ==
*Joseph Sobran. ''Jewish Power'', The Journal of Historical Review, Vol. 18 #1 (January/February, 1999), p. 28.
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[[Category:1946 births|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:Living people|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:American columnists|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:American constitutionalists|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:American journalists|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:Anarcho-capitalists|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:Irish-Americans|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:Michigan writers|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:Paleoconservatives|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:Paleolibertarians|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:People from Ypsilanti|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic activists|Sobran, Joseph]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic journalists|Sobran, Joseph]]