[lit-ideas] Re: A Genuinely Useful Thought

LH:
According to the dust jacket, "David Horowitz is a nationally known author and lifelong civil rights activist..."<< 

According to the dust jacket????????  Surely you jest.


Wikipedia bios DH thusly:
David Joel Horowitz (born January 10, 1939) is an American conservative writer and activist. A prominent supporter of Marxism and a member of the New Left in the 1960s, Horowitz later rejected Leftism and now identifies with the right wing of the political spectrum. He is a founder of the David Horowitz Freedom Center (formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture), a writer for the conservative magazine NewsMax, and the editor of the popular conservative website FrontPageMag.com. He founded the activist group Students for Academic Freedom and is affiliated with Campus Watch, and frequently appears on the Fox News Channel as an analyst.
Do you see that last? "and frequently appears on the Fox News Channel as an alnalyst." That should tell you all you need to know about David Joel Horrorwitz -- oh, sorry, Horowitz. 

further:
"noted for his staunch opposition to affirmative action policies, as well as reparations for slavery. [4] Horowitz is also known for his support for a proactive, interventionist foreign policy associated with the "neoconservatives", a label that Horowitz rejects as a smear. FrontPageMag.com, his right-leaning website, carries editorials from many authors who were and are strongly supportive of the war on terror and the war in Iraq. However, Horowitz personally opposed American intervention in the Kosovo War, arguing that it was unnecessary and harmful to US interests. [5]" 

if that's not bad enough, try this:
"In 2004, Horowitz launched Discover the Networks, a conservative watchdog project that monitors funding for, and various ties among, individuals and organizations of the left. Part of the motivation for Discover the Networks is Horowitz's view that leftist individuals and groups support, whether consciously or not, Islamic terrorism, and thus require ongoing scrutiny. This theme is explored in Horowitz's 2004 book, Unholy Alliance." Hey, Lawrence, that should be right up your alley. 

but then there's this:
"An agnostic Jew, Horowitz has rejected the tendency of social conservatives to support sodomy laws, and attacked laws that were still existing on the books. He criticized the Republican Party for being unwilling to gear itself towards the civil rights of homosexuals, noting that more homosexuals voted for George W. Bush in 2000 than did blacks or Jews. While Horowitz disagrees with the gay marriage movement, he believes homosexuals have a fundamental right to privacy and that the term "homosexual agenda", common among right-wing pundits, is an "intolerant" one. [9]" 

in other words, he's gay for sure.  Can you live with that, Lawrence?

some people do have some criticisms of Horowitz:
Chip Berlet, writing for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), identified Horowitz's Center for the Study of Popular Culture as one of 17 "right-wing foundations and think tanks support[ing] efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable." Berlet accused Horowitz of blaming slavery on "'black Africans ... abetted by dark-skinned Arabs'" and of "attack[ing] minority 'demands for special treatment' as 'only necessary because some blacks can't seem to locate the ladder of opportunity within reach of others,' rejecting the idea that they could be the victims of lingering racism."[ 

yep, sounds like a true conservative, so does this:
"Tim Wise, self-described "anti-racist essayist, lecturer and activist" criticized [14] Horowitz in the left-wing publication, Znet for associating with alleged racists, pointing to his acceptance of funding from the Bradley Foundation, which supported the publication of The Bell Curve, as well for running a modified piece by white nationalist Jared Taylor on the media treatment of black-on-white murders. When Horowitz ran the piece, he admitted that the decision to do so would be controversial, but denied that Taylor was a racist, instead arguing that his "racialism" was an example of identity politics precipitated by an intellectual surrender to multiculturalism; Horowitz denied that he and his publication share the agendas of Taylor. [15]" 

ah, that old race card again.  But this I think captures Horowitz best:
"Finally, Horowitz has referred to the case of a student named Ahmad al-Qloushi, whose professor allegedly responded to an "irrational[ly]" "pro-American" essay by failing him and threatening to visit the Dean of International Admissions (who had the power to take away student visas) to make sure he received regular psychological treatment.[25] [26] His professor admits suggesting al-Qloushi visit a counselor, but for anxiety resulting from events that had happened to al-Qloushi in Kuwait ten years before rather than any irrationalty of al-Qloushi's politics, and denies mentioning the Dean." 

In short, Horowitz is the crack pot, not Cindy Sheehan.
There was a lister on Phil-Lit who used to brag that he was once a leftie, TH it was, but I shan't say his name. He would bring it up as if to say: I too was once as stupid as you. Yes, he was and still is, I'm afraid. 



Mike Geary










------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

Other related posts: