[lbo-talk] Marc Cooper's flipping out over Churchill

jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net
Mon Feb 7 11:37:21 PST 2005



> > Why do you have such a great understanding for people being alienated
> > against the left in this issue?
> >
> > John Thornton
>
> Because the left embodies the only hope for combating this whole disaster,
> and the left is very small and very weak and totally dependent on being
> ethically superior to the right. Hence, when a dolt like Churchill uses his
> relative fame to endorse and re-endorse Al Qaeda and the targeting of
> civilians, it hurts the only chance human beings have for solving this
> problem. The supposedly Eichmannic population of the United States already
> understands that it's wrong and illegal to target civilians. If the left
> starts talking like Churchill, they will lose that understanding and side
> with the right. Part of the left's job is to insist on preserving and
> expanding the principle, while searching for ways to crack open the media
> system that keeps people from connecting the dots about "our" own actions.
> It's a very tough job, but it's the only one in town.
>
> Why can't you see this? You don't seem to be one of the loons who think
> Churchill's statement helps us.

I don't think anything worthwhile came from Churchills essay but I think the only damage done was to his reputation. The left doesn't need to start speaking in hyperbolic ways about "little Eichmanns" because if they did that would be damaging. But they aren't about to start doing this because of his essay. If his essay was picked up by the majority of progresssives then I would be worried. I will discuss the errors in Churchills essay but I won't attack him and I won't say what he wrote damages progressive causes. He simply does not have that much influence. If Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky and Eric Alterman all wrote essays saying the WTC victims deserved what they got I would be worried. That would be damaging but those authors are far more widely read then Ward.


> I'm all in favor of staying on guard against racist attacks, but this isn't
> a racist attack. It just isn't.
>
> Michael Dawson

I disagree for the reasons I've already stated. You are entitled to your opinion but I have not seen an explaination of why, in spite of the admittedly little evidence presented in this forum, you hold this belief. Racism doesn't always hit you over the head like a club. It takes on a much more subtle and less easily discerned face these days. If someone is publically stating that Ward should "go back to his trailer and get drunk" and there is no protest over this blatantly racist comment it seems a stretch to say there is not a racist motivation in some of this attack.

John Thornton



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list