[Marxism] The Churchill/Horowitz Debate at George Washington University

[Brian Shannon <brian_shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.pirateballerina.com/files/First%20HvsC%20Debate.htm

This is posted on a right-wing blog devoted to attacking Churchill.

It was generally acknowledged ahead of time that the debate would be  
a stand-off. Since right-wingers are saying that was the result, it  
probably was a Churchill victory, especially in light of the  
audience, which was 95% pro-Horowitz.

There are uncountable blogs on this. From time to time, I have been  
sending out versions of this comment devoted to Horowitz's method.

Brian
_________________

Horowitz’s most recent book is “The Professors: The 101 Most  
Dangerous Academics in America.” He continues his well-worn path of  
cherry-picking comments and situations to whip up a right wing audience.

In the past, most of us did not hear a vigorous political critique on  
contemporary events from professors, nor do students today. That  
doesn’t hold Horowitz back. Instead, he takes some examples that he  
has heard of (some of which don’t amount to much) and appeals to  
those already prejudiced against academics and students.

The overwhelming majority of professors, right and left (in the past  
as well as today) let you know their beliefs, but try to keep them  
out of the classroom or at least present them in a manner that is  
fair to those who disagree. Horowitz finds some exceptions, makes an  
amalgam of them with the fact that most teachers today are liberals  
(the result of the fight against the Vietnam War and for human rights  
in the 1960s and 1970s) and then attacks the universities who hire them.

Even the examples that Horowitz presents are only random bits of  
excited language and are not a balanced assessment of the  
individual’s views or value as a teacher. It is as if your worse  
enemy found some fault in your life and then spread that around as a  
definition of your whole personality.

One of Horowitz’s most recent forays was at Temple University.

This was his claim: “I can say this with confidence because I have  
interviewed at least a hundred students in this state and every one  
of them has been in a class or in several classes in which their  
professors have railed against George Bush, the war in Iraq, and the  
policies and attitudes of Republicans and conservatives.”
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=20855

Knowing what we all know now and many of us knew then, it is no  
surprise that some teachers might express some degree of outrage over  
the transparent lies and false premises that were used to justify the  
invasion of Iraq.

However, I don’t believe that Horowitz, who has a lot to do,  
interviewed a hundred students in Pennsylvania. If he or his  
associates did and for this purpose, wouldn’t he have a record to  
show for it, i.e., a tape of his interviews or at least a listing of  
the interviews or events so one could check it out?

If he doesn’t, why doesn’t he? Without it, we are to accept him on  
faith—that is to say, his right-wing followers are to accept him. He  
assumes that no one will challenge him and, like McCarthy in the  
early 1950s, he throws out a smear and moves on. We have to catch up  
with him after he leaves the building.

Brian Shannon








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