Horowitz Is Coming to Town

11 thoughts on Horowitz Is Coming to Town

1. you could always bring him a nice pie

2. It’s worth noting a streaker cut short — or at least interrupted — Horowitz’ academic terrorism up here at Purdue last night. For whatever that’s worth 🙂

3. Jam,

   I’ll pass on that, but I’m wondering what kind of pie would look best dripping down Horowitz’s beard.

   Chuck,

   Thanks for sharing that article. As far as the rhetoric goes (as it relates to their respective backgrounds), one can argue that David Horowitz is really the Ward Churchill of the neocons; or that Ward is the David of the ultra-ultra-left.

   And, honestly, they should both expect what they get.

4. As far as the rhetoric goes (as it relates to their respective backgrounds), one can argue that David Horowitz is really the Ward Churchill of the neocons; or that Ward is the David of the ultra-ultra-left.

   And, honestly, they should both expect what they get.

   really? so Mr. Churchill should expect to get killed for saying what he said?

   careful about nosebleeds up there….

5. NOTE: I’m being a cheat and reposting this on my blog here in a bit, perhaps expounding on it… thinking to myself hmmm, I do have some important work to be putting off. Anyway…

   — —————–

   *spits tea on the monitor*

   I’m sorry, I didn’t realize this was called “Silencing the Liberal Majority”. What kind of bullshit title is THAT? Holy crap. Like going into a church and starting a “Shutting the Goddamn Christans Up?” throwdown.

   He should at least call it “Sliencing the Nuanced Thinking”, becuase the only way one arrives at the stances like “intelligent design” (what a misnomer, eh?) in a scientific setting is by discarding science altogether. Creationism has a great way to skirt the scrutiny of science, because it roots its claims in supernatural and does not purport to be science. This ID baloney, though, is so audacious (“and by audacity I mean hubris, overweening pride!” — points if you can name that TV show) as to actually claim to be somehow scientifically valid. And that’s why it’s such bull.

   That’s precisely the reason we don’t talk about God making shit happen in a science classroom. It’s not science. You can talk about it in your philosophy of religion class or in your Bible as lit class. But it ain’t science.

   I didn’t talk about linguistics in my entomology (not to be confused wtih etymology) class back when I was still working on my undergrad studies, becuase they have nothing to do with one another. Which made me wonder why the hell I had to take an entomology class at all, but that’s for another day.

   So, too, does Genesis 1:1 not have the first valid input at all to provide to science. It’s not science. It’s a great story, and it might even be the first sentence in your Holy Book. But that still doesn’t make it science.

   OK, and “Liberal Majority”?

   I’m sorry. Dude, you’re fucking giving a talk in Indiana. Shut up.

6. Jam,

   I thought I was talking about pies and heckling. Ward has been heckled, y’know?

   It wasn’t some veiled threat, or anything, and I’m sorry you took it that way. Neither of these guys deserves to be killed for anything I’ve read or seen about them. I’m not pulling a Cornyn here.

7. Oh, and Chuck, the “Silencing the Liberal Majority” was just a joke name for what he’s doing. Considering the recent study that concluded that the vast majority of professors (throughout all disciplines) are self-described liberals, I thought it was funny.

8. I thought I was talking about pies and heckling. Ward has been heckled, y’know? It wasn’t some veiled threat, or anything, and I’m sorry you took it that way. Neither of these guys deserves to be killed for anything I’ve read or seen about them. I’m not pulling a Cornyn here.

   Ryan, i assumed you knew that Mr Churchill has had a bit more than heckling going on recently. in fact, the entire reason he’s been in the news lately is not due to some comment he made in a 3-year-old essay but because death threats were issued when he was scheduled to speak at Hamilton College.

   and he continues to receive death threats… he’s also in the process of having his job terminated & has suffered a national smear campaign. i don’t think Mr. Horowitz has been subjected to the same (except perhaps in his imagination where leftist terrorists engage in mimed masturbation & catcalling). and this is all not even to mention the fact that Mr. Churchill is a scholar (a rather serious & prolific one) while Mr. Horowitz is… how do you say… a cheap hack?

   i really don’t think their cases are at all similar & i found your conflation of them to be inappropriate & obfuscatory. and yes, i’m feeling a little touchy about the whole thing. why? to be frank, watching folks who i would assume care about freedom of speech (liberals, progressives, etc.) run & duck for cover, scrambling as fast as they can to distance themselves from Churchill & condemn him is not only maddening, it’s deeply depressing.

   thus far, Mr. Jensen is one of the few folks i’ve found that has discussed Churchill’s case with any sense whatsoever. for those of you who don’t feel like reading the whole thing, here’s the short version: solidarity.
   (critical solidarity, that is)

9. jam,

   You’re right. I thought I knew enough about the situation to make those comments. I was wrong.

   I’ve only flipped through a few of Churchill’s books, but I have the impression that he is a scholar. And after seeing Horowitz last night, the analogy was a sophomoric one at best.

   Honestly, in the hours after the attacks on the WTC, I felt the same way Churchill did when he wrote Some People Push Back. After getting over the initial denial, I could only conclude that the gov’t that represents us had it coming. I’m not ashamed of those thoughts, but I’ve admittedly realized become more moderate as I’ve studied the events leading up to 9/11.

   I would be openly outraged if Churchill lost his position for something he wrote. I recall hearing about charges of plagiarism concerning a set of paintings he sold decades ago, but I haven’t heard much else about that. (But hey, tenured professors should be able to get away with anything once.)

   So, I apologize for insulting you, jam. More on Horowitz later today, when my post finally goes up.

   I’ll have to wait to read Jensen’s aritcle in full. Thanks.

10. you know, since I teach college students and have for about 6 years, i think i’m seeing some of the fruit that horowitz’ efforts (and other folks) are starting to bear. one example: on my campus, there is an “interfaith” group that apparently is telling students how to deal with ideas that challenge their christian ideology, and it ain’t pretty. a friend of mine is teaching a composition class on a topic where students have to examine a bunch of scientitific arguments from different disciplines, all of which assume evolution as a valid theory. she’s got a bunch of christian kids in her class who sit together in a group, roll their eyes, refuse to answer her questions, and just generally make the class a nightmare for her. she feels that she’s being heckled. she’s not even asking them to believe in it, just to engage with the arguments. i haven’t seen this type of rebellion before… students are starting to really believe that we’re all a bunch of indoctrinators who don’t deserve their respect, and that they have the right to never be offended or challenged by an idea…

11. Ryan, dude, you didn’t insult me – i’m just a cranky ol’ bastard. also, while Mr. Churchill is often an egotistical blowhard, his writings on Native American affairs have had a profound impact on the way i understand the world (especially such works as “A Little Matter of Genocide” & “Agents of Repression”) – so, i tend to be a bit tetchy about his work…

    and i didn’t acknowledge you saying that you didn’t mean to really say that Churchill deserved death threats, which is what originally got my undies in a bunch. so, my apologies for that. sometimes i forget to be civil when i’m ranting.

    i’ve only heard a tiny bit about the plagiarism charges, but i admit to feeling a wee suspicious of the fact that they’re coming out right now when so many folk want to discredit him. but who knows? the guy ain’t no saint.

    i look forward to your Horowitz review. was there pie?

    peace.

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