The Bwog
Media Mini-Roundup!: The Boss Speaks

And by The Boss we mean Bwog-fave Bruce Robbins, whose ruminations on Columbia's dearth of academic freedom made it into this week's edition of The Nation. Esther Kaplan's penetrating investigation of Fair Alma revealed a brewing crisis in contemporary academia: fringe right-wing groups holding controversial events on campuses. And dear God does the future look bleak.

Elsewhere, David Horowitz wrapped up this week's anti-Islamofascist carnival by offering America's complacent masses one final, terrifying anecdote:

"The Vice President of the Muslim Students Association at Columbia protested my use of the word 'jihad' during my speech, which she said meant spiritual 'struggle' rather than 'holy war' The only problem was that I hadn't used the word 'jihad' in my speech at all. It was just one of the talking points she had been given in advance of the event. When I asked her whether she would denounce the terrorist group Hamas, which along with the Muslim Brotherhood created her organization, she evaded the question."

UPDATE, 2:06 AM: Amreen Vora, Vice President of Columbia MSA, wrote to Bwog to say that she never made such a comment, and in fact was not present at the Horowitz event at all.

Also in unholy league with the Islamists is the Columbia Coalition Against the War, a group so dangerous that Horowitz surrounds its name with quotation marks, as if to suggest that they only kinda-sorta exist, but not really, because if they actually existed they wouldn't have quotation marks around their name, right?

Next controversy, please.

- ARR

-Graphic by JJV


Posted by what a moot point : #1 · reply · track
October 29, 2007 at 3:19 PM
about not using jihad in his speech. if you look at his little editorial linked in frontpage, he uses jihad and defines it as holywar left and right.

talking point, my ass. more like the VP of MSA was familar with his bs and had done her research
Posted by To Bruce: #2 · reply · track
October 29, 2007 at 4:45 PM
Hey little girl is your daddy home

Did he go away and leave you all alone

I got a bad desire

I'm on fire

Tell me now baby is he good to you

Can he do to you the things that I do

I can take you higher

I'm on fire
Posted by CCFW: #3 · reply · track
October 29, 2007 at 5:42 PM
To be fair, it seems like the Coalition Against the War doesn't actually ever protest the war, but just jumps on whatever protest wagon comes around.

CCAW 1: "Ooh a protest, wanna join?"

CCAW 2: "Only if we can pinkberry after."

CCAW 3: "Totally! I'll go get the signs!"

Out of principle I'm starting a Columbia Coalition for War. We don't actually have a political stance, but are just going to sit around in EC playing Goldeneye on N64. Who's down?

Posted by yep: #4 · reply · track
October 29, 2007 at 6:32 PM
i love goldeneye. in all its glory this semester has still been disappointing. smart people are smarter than less smart people. you'd think they'd take advantage and eschew unproductive ego-stroking, uncompromising, divided and divisive "dialogue" or whatever war-mongering and/or ivory tower liberalism stand for these days. lose the lot. foner, prezbo, ahmadinejad, robbins, horowitz, gilchrist, they're all peas in a very large, cozy pod.
Posted by anonymous: #5 · reply · track
October 29, 2007 at 7:17 PM
"fringe right-wing groups holding controversial events on campuses."

You mean relatively mainstream right-wing groups holding pretty standard events...

They're only 'fringe' and 'controversial' relative to the political climate at Columbia because many Columbians hold extremist political views...
Posted by horowitz: #6 (in reply to #5) · reply · track
October 29, 2007 at 10:32 PM
& coulter & friends are pretty fringe even for the right.
Posted by bwog: #7 · reply · track
October 29, 2007 at 10:42 PM
is it actually true that the muslim students association at columbia was co-founded by hamas and the muslim brotherhood? because that's kind of rancid.
Posted by it was in spec: #8 · reply · track
October 30, 2007 at 12:29 AM
Columbia MSA was created before the national org by the University Chaplain at the time and 200 Muslim students.

[external link to www.columbiaspectator.com]

Horowitz is an idiot. He was a student on campus when the MSA was founded.
Posted by same as 8: #9 (in reply to #8) · reply · track
October 30, 2007 at 6:55 AM
wow, so basically Horowitz got every part of that statement wrong on the facts.

question: is david horowitz on drugs, and if so, where can i get some of the drugs he's on, they seem like good shit?
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