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INSTITUTES OF LOWER LEARNING

by Stefan Kanfer

A hypocrite despises those whom he deceives, but has no respect for himself. He would make a dupe of himself, too, if he could.

William Hazlitt

   Last Columbus day, a group of protesters blocked the parade in downtown Denver. “Columbus was a slave trader and a killer of Indians,” said a spokesman. “They are not charges against Columbus. What we say about Columbus is historical fact. When I read in the newspaper that we ‘allege’ or we ‘charge’ that Columbus engaged in a genocide, that’s tantamount to saying that blacks, African-Americans in this country ‘allege’ that there was slavery. That’s tantamount to saying that Jews ‘allege’ that six million people were killed by Hitler.”

     Asked whether the parade was a free speech issue, another protester spoke out. As reported by the Denver Post, he said that the first amendment did not protect hate speech, citing a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows states to ban cross burnings.

     That man’s name is Ward Churchill. Poor chap, he could not make the distinction between the rights of the parade organizers to march, just as his gang had the right to peaceful protest.  Such subtleties might well be beyond him—he is, after all, a professor.

     The Colorado University instructor did not stay out of the headlines for long. If he is about as nuanced as an anvil, he was outdone by one Nancy Rabinowitz, who asked him to lecture at Hamilton College.  Earlier, she had invited Susan Rosenberg to teach “Resistance Memoirs: Writing, Identity and Change” in a month-long seminar. A firestorm promptly broke out. Seems that Ms. Rosenberg, once a member of the Weather Underground, a group of credit-card revolutionaries of the 1960’s, had been given a 58 year jail sentence. Her crime: possession of some 700 lbs of explosives “with intent to kill and injure.” She was released from quod thanks to President Bill Clinton who pardoned her on his last day of office. But Clinton could not erase her past. The controversy swirling around Rosenberg’s appointment grew so loud that the invitation was revoked.

     Not to worry. The ever-resourceful Ms. Rabinowitz recently asked Ward Churchill to come aboard. He would lecture the Hamilton students on current events, with particular emphasis on his internet essay, “Some People Push Back.” This screed had an interesting quote. The U.S. deserved to be bombed, and its buildings destroyed. What’s more, the people murdered in those buildings—clerks, waiters, secretaries, executives—were all “little Eichmanns.” In other words, killers, architects of mass murder.

    This kind of imbecility has a place on campus—in frosh dorms, until a sophomore opens the window and lets the pot smoke out. But coming from a CU prof it has the stench of the gas ovens about it.

     Naturally, there was another firestorm. Naturally Churchill’s invitation was revoked. Naturally Ms. Rabinowitz was the first to warble about First Amendment rights, and naturally, she was echoed by some students who think the Constitution was the name of a ship.

      As for Churchill, he has resigned as head of his department and his future is in doubt. It shouldn’t be. He can stand for a long, long time as the poster boy for hypocrisy—I’m morally correct so I have a right to speak my piece. You disagree with me so shut up. If you don’t, I’ll compare you to a mass murderer so often and so loud that someone will eventually embarrass her college and invite me to talk. Is this a great country, or what?