David Horowitz/reparations for slavery

[Gordon Fitch]

berlin at socrates.Berkeley.EDU:
> ... 
>  I'm trying to get Horowitz to debate Tim Wise at UC Berkeley. Do you
> think that is a good idea. I think I can get the campus conservatives to
> fund it, because they are funded by outside organizations. On one level,
> you should just ignore him and then people won't notice, but he's going on
> this campaign this week, and he's going to be on the o'reilly factor on
> March 6th, and I can't stand this game where he defines the parameters of
> debate, and always acts like people are out to silence him. When I was at
> his book talk, he called my friend a totalitarian idealist potential
> stalinist because we questioned his assertion that all liberals of every
> stripe would be potential gulag guards if transplanted in time and
> location - and my friend brought up right wing atrocities, but he said we
> must be the campus thought police to have come to his talk. 

My experience of attempting to discuss things with Horowitz
in the babble section of _Salon_, and observation of others'
similar attempts, is that he won't really debate anything.
He mostly abuses his opponents and avoids anything involving
evidence and reason.  I got the idea that he might not be very
bright, actually, so this would be the best strategy for him
to take in a debate sort of situation.  I consider discussing
things with such people to be a waste of time, but others
seem to regard it as a sport, so I guess it's _de_gustibus_.
I suppose a clever rhetorician could make him look pretty
bad.

It will not be an enlightening evening, that's for sure.