Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Ward Churchill. It just happened that somebody in the audience at American University on Sunday asked for my opinion of Ward Churchill, and the recent controversy in which he was embroiled. It just happened that I had read his article on Sep. 11. You cannot read that "essay" and not conclude that Ward Churchill is simply, foolish. There is nothing deep or profound in what he said in that piece. It is, of course, offensive to try to attribute class motives to Al-Qa`idah terrorism. If Al-Qa`idah intends to attack capitalists, Usamah Bin Laden, and the Bin Laden family in general, is a logical target. And for Churchill to imply that the innocent victims of Sep. 11 were capitalists (he said worse than that) is again foolish. Indiscriminate attacks are, well, indiscriminate by definition. And for Churchill's information, street vendors, janitors, workers, clerks, were also among Sep. 11 victims, all of whom were innocent victims. Foolishness on the left is a great gift to the right. As an extremist leftist, I never understood why ultra-leftism has to be stupid or groundlessly conspiratorial. Having said that, no professor should ever be fired for a political word spoken or written, or a political position advocated. And if professors are going to be fired for foolishness and insensitivity, no professor will be left teaching, with the exception, of course, of...Angry Arab.