i just got done listening to “professor” ward churchill’s Q&A with reporters in hawaii. the first four-fifths of the discussion are relatively normal, if you disregard the screeching introduction offered by the host, which sounded more like a rousing international A.N.S.W.E.R. protest than a civilized, academic Q&A.
but as the Q&A went on, the fawning churchillites dropped back into the pack and some tough questions actually got asked. showing his maturity, churchill became enraged at a question about his disputed ethnicity and abruptly ended the meeting by leaving the room.
When asked by Hawaii Reporter in a Feb. 21, 2005, press conference if he is American Indian, Churchill became enraged by the question, said it was irrelevant and would not answer. When pressed by Hawaii Reporter and other media present on the American Indian issue, Churchill called the question “racist,” and asked if President George W. Bush should have to confirm he is white. When KITV Reporter Denby Fawcett said to Churchill, “We’ll take that as a ‘no,'” Churchill lunged at Fawcett shouting “What did you say?” Fawcett said since he would not answer “yes” and confirm his heritage, he must not be American Indian. In a fury, Churchill stormed away from reporters, ending the press conference.
earlier on, he had trouble answering a question comparing the september 11, 2001 attack to the assault on pearl harbor in 1941. his answer implied that, while the empire of japan might not have been justified in attacking hawaii (it was mainly inhabited by polynesians), if the attack had targeted an area full of white businessmen it would have been more justifiable.
some good information on churchill comes via ann coulter here and here. written coverage of churchill’s visit to hawaii is provided by the hawaii reporter. the audio is here. my favorite ward churchill quotation?
“The only thing I can do is to pursue a different slogan: U.S. out of America, U.S. off the planet, U.S. out of our lives, U.S. into the dustbin of history.” –Ward Churchill
let’s get this man some tenure!
UPDATE: don’t forget ward churchill’s copyright infringement problems.
Interesting. I didn’t see this at Instapundit; to the contrary it sounded like he’d admitted he’s a pale-face. Albeit without admitting he’d committed fraud with that admission.
What amazes me is that he has such a receptive audience. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given the vituperativeness of the last election, but this guy would seem to be beyond the pale, even for the fringe.
In any event, I found your site via a referrer log from my website. Not sure where on your site the link is, but I hope it was complimentary. 😉
Cheers.
robert,
you are right; that is why it is so funny that he initially found the question unanswerable. he does come back into the room later to address the tantrum-causing question:
the issue for me is: he has furthered his career by claiming to be of native american descent (an inordinate number of scholarships and university appointments are practically given away to people of native american ancestry). if he is lying about his ethnicity, then his entire “career” comes into question.
i am unsure how we would have referred visitors to your site (as we have not previously linked to you), but i will remember to visit in the future whenever i become hungry while blogging.
take care!
Anybody who uses Ann Coulter to defend a point of view is discredited.
We might disagree with the man’s ideas, but he has the same freedom of speech you all have in critizing him. I think it’s a wonderful thing to be able to have such opposite points of view and still coexist in these United States of America.
what about anyone who uses facts to defend a point of view? please refute even ONE POINT ms. coulter makes in either piece, kind sir.
while she may be abrasive, she earns the right to be so with impeccable research that surpasses in quality all of the rest of the mainstream media. her pieces on churchill are well-researched and completely accurate.
i’m not saying we can’t coexist. he’s welcome to live anywhere he wants, even in the apartment next to mine. gosh, i hope he would move in; it would make for some fabulous doorway discussions!
on the other hand, there’s no reason to defend him on the basis of “freedom of speech”. freedom of speech is something the government cannot deny a person. thus, no one expects the government to lock ward churchill away for his remarks. however, institutions can make people accountable for their actions (AND SPEECH!) if they so choose. if you will permit me, i’ll quote thomas sowell:
the only thing protecting him is the ambiguous shield we call “tenure”. but even this is called into question since no one (not even ward churchill) seems to be able to verify his ethnicity, and his purported ethnicity (1/16th cherokee) was a major part of his getting tenure.
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Ann Coulter’s “impeccable research that surpasses in quality all of the rest of the mainstream media” is to be found where exactly?
in her books and weekly columns. (duh).