[Marxism] Leftist Hero David Horowitz Comes to David Corn's Aid...say what?

["M. Junaid Alam" <mjunaidalam@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Corn got canned from speaking in Arkansas for having anti-Bush ads on
his website by a state functionary, and Horowitz intervenes on his
behalf. How does this square with Horowitz being part of the mafia thug
hit squad going after Massad et al. at Columbia and Churchill at
Colorado? If I was Corn I'd be feeling a little ashamed, like when
Emerson was thrown in jail and Thoreaeu asked "what are you doing in
jail", to wihch he responded "what are you doing *out* of jail?"

http://thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=2305

I've been Ward-Churchilled. In a way.

This week I was scheduled to give a speech at Arkansas State University
Mountain Home, a two-year college in the northern part of the state. But
several weeks ago, Mick Spaulding, the vice chancellor for development,
contacted my speakers bureau and canceled the contract. He said that the
decision had been precipitated by material on my personal blog at
www.davidcorn.com <http://www.davidcorn.com>.

I was peeved by this. The booker at the speakers bureau had called me
about a year ago and said that he often tries to coax his speakers to go
to ASUMH, which is a good distance from any major airport and which does
not have the money to pay the customary speaker fees. Consider this a
form of public service, he said. I was reluctant but decided to do him
and the school a favor. No good deed goes unpunished.

Several days after Spaulding killed my gig--which was to be part of an
ongoing lecture series underwritten by trout fishing resort owners Jim
and Jill Gashton--Spaulding's assistant emailed me the offending
material that had appeared on my blog. It was an ad for anti-Bush gear
<http://www.cafepress.com/beatbushgear/> that flashes such witty lines
as "Don't blame me, I voted for Kerry," "51 percent is NOT a mandate,"
"He's still not my president," and "Asses of Evil."

Banned in Arkansas because of a politically-pointed ad on my blog? That
sounded fishy to me. I sent Spaulding an email:

/Apparently, this [ad] was the only material that affected the decision
to cancel the speech.   And this causes me to be rather curious about
your decision....Now why would this lead to the cancellation of my
speaking engagement? I am well-known as a journalist who is critical of
President Bush. That is why Fox News hired me as a contributor. It is no
secret that I wrote a best-selling book called "The Lies of George W.
Bush." /

/On my blog, I accept ads from all sorts. Advertisers have included
Amnesty International, PBS and the United Church of Christ. I have an
open-door policy and post ads from any person or entity, as long as the
ad is not obscene or extremely objectionable. In the six months I have
been publishing ads on my site, I have not rejected one. /

/So why would displaying an ad from an outfit peddling anti-Bush gear
cause me to be banned from your campus? If this company advertised on
CNN, would you not allow Larry King to speak at Arkansas State
University Mountain Home? /

/....Can you please explain what happened?/

Spaulding did not reply. A few days later, I resent the email and asked
for a response. He then did answer:

/The option to cancel our obligation was clearly spelled out in the
contract. We followed the letter of the contract, cancelled within the
thirty-day grace period, and have paid the [kill] fee that was necessary
to close the business agreement./

This was not much of an explanation. I tried once more:

/Thank you for responding. I was not questioning your right to cancel
the speaking engagement under the terms of the contract. But I was
looking for an explanation of the cancellation. Would you be so good as
to tell me why you did so?/

No, Spaulding essentially said. That is, he did not reply.
====
SNIP
====

*UPDATE, April 7, 2005*: The banned-in-Arkansas controversy continues.
Students from ASUMH report there's been something of an uproar on campus
over the cancellation of my speaking engagement. In a short interview
with the /Baxter Bulletin/, the chancellor of the school refused to
provide an explanation for giving me the heave ho. (Click here
<http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050407/NEWS01/504070322/1002>.)
An Arkansas state legislator contacted me and asked for more
information. And David Horowitz has come riding into the storm. He and
Sara Dogan, the national campus director of Sudents for Academic Freedom
<http://thenation.com/capitalgames/www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org>,
an outfit Horowitz started, sent a letter to Mick Spaulding, the vice
chancellor for development at ASUMH. They wrote:

/Dear Dr. Spaulding, /

/I am the national campus director of Students for Academic Freedom, a
student organization dedicated to promoting academic freedom,
intellectual diversity, and civility on American university campuses. We
currently have chapters at 150 institutions of higher learning nationwide. /

/It has come to my attention that ASUMH recently cancelled a speech that
was to be given by David Corn, a political writer and editor and author
of the book "The Lies of George W. Bush." Corn claims that you told him
that the cancellation was brought about because of material on his
personal blog www.davidcorn.com which contains ads for anti-Bush
apparel, advertisements for his book, and other left-leaning items,
which led him to believe that you cancelled his speech due to his
leftist political views. He states that he has tried to contact you
several times seeking further explanation for the cancellation, but has
not been able to obtain a straight answer. /

/If Mr. Corn is correct that you cancelled the speech due to his
outspoken leftist political views, this is a gross violation of the
principles of academic freedom which call for free and open discussion
on our college campuses. The Academic Bill of Rights proposed by our
organization states that "An environment conducive to the civil exchange
of ideas being an essential component of a free university, the
obstruction of invited campus speakers, destruction of campus
literature, or other effort to obstruct this exchange will not be
tolerated." /

/However distasteful Mr. Corn's views may be to you, he was an invited
speaker and has the right to his opinions. It is the responsibility of
educational institutions like Arkansas State University Mountain Home to
provide their students access to a wide range of views and teach them to
respond in a civil and reasoned way. To withdraw an invitation from an
invited speaker sends exactly the wrong educational message to students. /

/We believe that an apology to Mr. Corn is in order and request that
your office launch an inquiry to be followed by a public clarification
into the reasons why Mr. Corn's speech was cancelled. /

/We further recommend that Arkansas State University Mountain Home
consider adopting the Academic Bill of Rights to ensure that
intellectual diversity and respect for all viewpoints remain guiding
principles of the institution./

Oh, to have Horowitz on my side. What a pleasant surprise. I look
forward to ASUMH's reply to him and Dogan. I don't know if this will
turn into a larger controversy. Paul Begala emailed to say that he was
going to criticize the school on /Crossfire/ for giving me the heave-ho.
But if you want to get involved, feel free to contact ASUMH Chancellor
Ed Coulter at ecoulter@xxxxxxxxx and ask him why the school told me to
take a hike. You might also suggest that he teach his students one of
the most valuable lessons anyone can learn: admit when you've made a
mistake. I'm sure he's a very nice fellow, so please be polite.

*******************

IT REMAINS RELEVANT, ALAS. SO DON'T FORGET ABOUT DAVID CORN'S BOOK, /
The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception/
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1400050677/ref=lpr_g_1/102-5395711-0131302?v=glance&s=books>
(Crown Publishers). A /NEW YORK TIMES/ BESTSELLER! An UPDATED and
EXPANDED EDITION is *AVAILABLE in PAPERBACK*. The /Washington Post/
says, "This is a fierce polemic, but it is based on an immense amount of
research.... [I]t does present a serious case for the president's
partisans to answer.... Readers can hardly avoid drawing...troubling
conclusions from Corn's painstaking indictment." / The Los Angeles
Times/ says, "David Corn's / The Lies of George W. Bush/ is as
hard-hitting an attack as has been leveled against the current
president. He compares what Bush said with the known facts of a given
situation and ends up making a persuasive case." / The Library Journal/
says, "Corn chronicles to devastating effect the lies, falsehoods, and
misrepresentations.... Corn has painstakingly unearthed a bill of
particulars against the president that is as damaging as it is
thorough." And GEORGE W. BUSH SAYS, "I'd like to tell you I've read [/
The Lies of George W. Bush/], but that'd be a lie."

For more information and a sample, go to www.davidcorn.com
<http://www.davidcorn.com>. And see his WEBLOG there.




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