We shouldn't ask why (or whether or not) Chomsky disappointed "paying customers" - interesting how Weiss felt the need to emphasize this fact when the amount, five dollars, was rather small and when Chomsky wasn't the evening's entire focus.
The real question is why Weiss is making such a big deal over a "disappointing" performance from a man who, by Weiss' own admission ("Chomsky does email all day long, answering questions. He answered one of mine once...") has been delivering stellar performances for decades and who continues to offer up much of his time for little or no compensation.
It's odd for an adult - a person who, one would hope, has done a bit of living and gathered some perspective and perhaps even a portion of pressure-resistant grace - to express such disappointment and then proceed to list 6 potential explanations, clumsily teetering back and forth between admiration and condemnation, like a sports fan calling into a talk radio show to discuss the whys and wherefores of his favorite team's failure to win.
Unintentionally, the piece tells us much more about Weiss' crestfallen fanboy moment than anything useful about the aged Chomsky.
.d.
I've told you a million times...never repeat yourself.
Papa Smurf ...................... http://monroelab.net/blog/