http://www.iconoclast.ca/MainPage.asp?page=/newPage3.asp ROOSTING CHICKENS -- Ward Churchill's Goose Is Cooked! by Lin Anderson [blog at http://www.rabbitbrush.com/lin] What a week. Howard Dean (Howard Dean!) takes over the reins of the Democratic National Committee and newly-charged Secretary of State Condi Rice has France melting like a souffle at a Howard Dean soundalike contest. It is quite instructive to note the defining rhetoric these quite divergent political figures brought to their individual new tasks. Dr. Rice offered a plea to her Gallic audience that, "It is time to turn away from the disagreements of the past. It is time to open a new chapter in our relationship, and a new chapter in our alliance." Meanwhile, the rather more mercurial Dr. Dean, addressing a meeting of DNC faithful, commented that, "You think the RNC could get this many people of color into a single room? Maybe if they got the hotel staff in there." In other words, "Let's just keep on writing the same old chapter. It's easier that way." My guess is Dr. Demento's absurdly racist comment about "people of color" somehow didn't make it to your daily newspaper. It's the sort of quote that makes liberal editors wince before they delete it and go back to making sure the story on that Republican "person of color" over there trying to shore up the NATO alliance isn't cast in too favorable a light. Wouldn't want any claims of bias, now would we? But while Deans and Rice made for a delightful side-dish at our political table, the soup du jour was surely the briskly simmering cauldron in which University of Colorado Ethnic Stuidies Professor Ward Churchill found himself stewing, over some rather ill-chosen comments about 9/11 victims. The controversy actually erupted in late January when students at Hamilton College in -- of all places -- Clinton, New York, protested a scheduled appearance by Churchill based upon assertions he had made in an essay entitled "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens." "As for those in the World Trade Center," Churchill wrote, "well, really, let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break." Leaving aside for the moment the burning question of whether "gimme a break" is proper professorial nomenclature, Churchill continued blithely smearing the dead by declaring that Trade Center workers were -- surprisingly enough -- "little Eichmanns," charged with greasing the wheels of an imperial -- well, you know the drill. If you don't know the drill, scan a few Students for a Democratic Society pamphlets from 1969 or thereabouts. The drill hasn't changed much, and nor has Churchill, judging from his official faculty photograph. Most even partially sane people -- particularly those who work for a living -- are well aware that the World Trade Center victims were men and women from all walks of life who happened to have the lousy luck to show up for the job that morning. Many of them probably thought Eichmanns were those delicious pre-made cakes in the dairy case down at Kroger. Thus, the vast majority of Americans had an easy time discerning that Mr. Churchill was being just a trifle uncharitable here. His argument was something along the lines of blaming tourists killed in the recent Tsunami for being able to afford the vacation. It is intriguing to note that, in the same essay, Mr. Churchill also managed to offend some in his more radical audience by proclaiming that the 9/11 attacks were mounted in response to -- drumroll! -- U.S. and U.N. policy in Iraq. Across the nation, girls with hemp backpacks and their pale, stringy-haired boyfriends were left speechless, for once, finally managing to croak, "But, um, ah, we're s'posed to like this Churchill guy cause he's all way cool and vaguely ethnic, but, um, ah, we're also s'posed to believe that there was no connection between 9/11 and Iraq and ... Oh, sweet Gaia, I'm gonna heave!" It really is too bad Churchill isn't in charge of the Multitasking Studies Department at the University of Colorado. The ability to tick off both the right and left wings at the same time is a quality hitherto reserved only for Richard Simmons. Now, some might observe that this versatility indicates "balance" on Mr. Churchill's part. And, indeed, it does appear to be the sort of "balance" that Mr. Karl Wallenda exhibited just a few seconds before his tragic plunge. But, as they say on late-night television, "That's not all!" The Nutty Professor also managed to set off the Native American community -- never a good idea, see "Horn, Little Big" -- by virtue of the fact that there is scant evidence extant that he is an actual Native American, even though his entire academic career is founded upon that supposition. Writing in the Rocky Mountain News, Paul Campos outlines the conundrum: ===> "Churchill has said at various times that he is either one-sixteenth or three-sixteenths Cherokee, yet genealogical reporting by the Rocky Mountain News and others has failed to turn up any Cherokee ancestors - or any other Native Americans - in Churchill's family tree. "Why should we care one way or another? We should care because Churchill has used his supposed Indian heritage to bully his way into academia. Indeed, Churchill lacks what are normally considered the minimum requirements for a tenure-track job at a research university: he never earned a doctorate, and his only degrees are a bachelor's and a master's from a then-obscure Illinois college." <=== This is the academic equivalent of Robert Blake as Little Beaver. Leave it to Ward. Churchill also claims to be a leader in the American Indian Movement, but no less an authority than the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council, led by real-life famous actual deeply-serious Indian activist Russell Banks, says that's a loin cloth-load, calling Churchill an "academic, literary, and Indian fraud." When the controvery broke, AIM issued a terse statement to that effect: "Ward Churchill has been masquerading as an Indian for years behind his dark glasses and beaded headband," it noted. "He waves around an honorary membership card that at one time was issued to anyone by the Keetoowah Tribe of Oklahoma. Former President Bill Clinton and many others received these cards, but these cards do not qualify the holder a member of any tribe." Churchill is, then, approximately as Indian as Bill Clinton. The mind just reels. How appropriate that the University of Colorado's mascot is the buffalo. There certainly seems to be a whole lot of buffaloin' going on here. Not being an actual Native American and in fact completely cheesing off Native American leadership doesn't seem to have affected Churchill's zeal for championing Native American causes, however. A puff-piece on one of Churchill's books, Acts of Rebellion, declares that Churchill "skillfully dissects problematic depictions of Indians in American culture, including Columbus Day, Dances with Wolves, and the Washington Redskins." The issue of sports teams named for Native Americans keeps popping up when things get quiet around the ol' cultural corral, but most everyone seems to agree by now that the teams were not originally named in an intentionally demeaning manner, but as a method of honoring fight and determination, as embodied by the Indian. This could well be a passe concept, and in need of re-evaluation, but Churchill's essay on the subject is so over-the-top it actually needs to deeply insult another ethnic minority to get its point across. "First, as a counterpart to the Redskins, we need an NFL team called 'Niggers' to 'honor' Afroamerica," Churchill writes. "Halftime festivities for fans might include a simulated stewing of the opposing coach in a large pot while players and cheerleaders dance around it, garbed in leopard skins and wearing fake bones in their noses." Certainly a reasoned, rational argument coming from an Ethnic Studies professor and all. What this hopeless screed amounts to, however, is an egregious example of the kind of contention one finds in essays composed by eighth graders. "I'll show you how bad this is by comparing it to something, er, badder." In other words, this is the sort of discourse you can only get away with if you have tenure. It is surely amazing that we have traveled this far down the trail of tears without mentioning our old friends the Raelians. You remember the Raelians -- the organization that claims to be engaged in human cloning with the assistance of our benevolent Space Brothers? Yeah, those guys. Questing to be relevant to all, the Raelians recently announced they have bestowed an "Honorary Priest Title" on Churchill, which will no doubt look spiffy on the office wall there at Ethnic Studies. It has just got to be some sort of transformative experience to get the smackdown from AIM and an Honorary Priesthood from the Raelians all in the same week. Good lord, that's a rock-solid quinella on anybody's career track. As with most seriously stupid things, l'affaire Churchill did not have to happen. In fact, it wouldn't have happened at all if, as seems apparent, Jessica Simpson wasn't heading up the Personnel Department when Ward Churchill showed up at Colorado, looking for a gig. I'd probably get a lot of flak for calling Churchill an "affirmative action hire," but save the emails since that is precisely what he was. Floating around the 'Net is an "Affirmative Action & Services" form accompanying Churchill's selection for an associate professorship in 1991. Eleven candidates for the position -- including Churchill -- are listed on the form as "Native American." It appears they hired the Native American long-haired white guy. Just like the American press, American academia is stuffed to the creaking rafters with refugees from the 1960s who journeyed from torching campuses to teaching at them. Churchill -- who also may or may not have been an Army Ranger and a member of the Weather Underground during his tour of duty with Captain Munchausen -- would seem to be a prime exemplar of this bunch, currently fighting irrelevance with all they've got as they slowly -- but God knows not quietly -- sink into old age. An illustration of the precding point may be found in the resignation of Nancy Rabinowitz, director of Hamilton College's "Kirkland Project for the Study of Gender, Society and Culture," who hired Churchill to speak at Hamilton in the first place. This was just a couple of months after Nancy attempted to get 1960's radical Susan Rosenberg a teaching position following Rosenberg's release from prison after serving 16 years for participating in an armored car robbery which left three people dead. If Charlie Manson had somehow been granted parole, Nancy Rabinowitz probably would had him carving meat in the cafeteria. "I would have preferred," said Ms. Rabinowitz, "to stay on until I took my long-awaited sabbatical." Earth to Nancy: You're on sabbatical; it just doesn't have the usual paycheck for doing nothing attached. Sixties refugees have a conspicuous lack of sense, unless it's the sense of entitlement. That one's firing on all cylinders. What our beleagured nation needs most, perhaps, is a good, long, sabbatical from the remaining avatars of the '60s generation, whose mission statement in 2005 was long ago aptly outlined by that other Churchill, Winston, when he joked that, "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it." The dark problem with Ward Churchill, and the other shrill revisionists out there, is that they're not joking when they play fast and loose with the past. The bright side is that the American public, which tired so badly of their antics it felt the need to turn to disco in the 1970s, seems to be on to their game again. Churchill will no doubt argue vociferously about his freedom of speech, and that is certainly his right, but no one is compelled to listen to this particular little Eichmann. His chickens have come home to roost. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
