Noam Chomsky now a NY Times op-ed columnist !!

jewelsvernzjewelsvernz
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Here's an article to get the discussion going: The Hypocrisy of Noam Chomsky



So what do you think? Has the NY Times sunk to a new low? I know. Leading question. So I'll make it no secret. I think this guy is a complete idiot.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 58
    pfflampfflam Posts: 5,053member
    I stopped reading at this quote:
    Quote:

    He has never been more popular among the academic and intellectual left than he is today.



    after which I knew I was in for an ideologue ridden rant.

    besides it is not true . . . I think many so called "academic liberals' have jumped off of his boat and even die hard lefties that I have known (non-academic) find him a little tired and tiring.



    Now, since they publish George Will, Safire, Krugman, among others, won't they just about publish anybody who has an opinion that is well spoken and not too overly bigotted?!?
  • Reply 2 of 58
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    Yeah the last thing we need is diversity of opinion. Hasn't that and homosexuality led to the downfall of every civilization?
  • Reply 3 of 58
    jewelsvernzjewelsvernz Posts: 48member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pfflam

    Now, since they publish George Will, Safire, Krugman, among others, won't they just about publish anybody who has an opinion that is well spoken and not too overly bigotted?!?



    So when does Hutton Gibson get a column?
  • Reply 4 of 58
    pfflampfflam Posts: 5,053member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JewelsVernz

    So when does Hutton Gibson get a column?



    that's cute . .



    . . . I belive he would fall in that catagory of 'overly bigotted'
  • Reply 5 of 58
    jewelsvernzjewelsvernz Posts: 48member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pfflam

    that's cute . .



    . . . I belive he would fall in that catagory of 'overly bigotted'





    But given Chomsky's moonbat views, don't you think they ought to give Mr. Hutton Gibson a column as well, just for balance.



    pfflam, I urge you to read the article as it provides a good the synopsis of these.
  • Reply 6 of 58
    jubelumjubelum Posts: 4,490member
    There is a great guy I volunteer with at a local social service organization... some shrink says he has the mental age of 8, but I believe he's really autistic. Good heart.



    He told me last week that Chomsky is a "silly man."

    Looks like Noam's already lost a fan.
  • Reply 7 of 58
    agent302agent302 Posts: 974member
    Anyone, if the Times decides to print it, can write an op-ed column. It's not that big of a deal.
  • Reply 8 of 58
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
    I don't think he's a Times columnist.



    But I would prefer the New Yorker profile to whatever you posted.
  • Reply 9 of 58
    kneelbeforezodkneelbeforezod Posts: 1,120member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JewelsVernz

    I think this guy is a complete idiot.



    Is that so? You must not know anything about him then. His opinions may be contrary to yours, but an idiot he is not.
  • Reply 10 of 58
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    *sigh* <--to this whole thread.



    I'm dying to close this thread, simnply because it's a bait towards other members. I doubt it's meant to discuss anything. Rescue it or see it go bye-bye.
  • Reply 11 of 58
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    I think it's safe to say we have a new conspiracy theorist at AI, with trolling tendancies no less (though I still doubt that is his real goal).



    While I don't particularly care for "Gnome's" ideas (or those any other off-the-chart radical -- left or right), as long as he is in the Op-Ed section, I don't care. Most likely, now that he has this "big chance", he will write something that is so "out there", that it will backfire on him and even the more left-leaning people who read the Times will flood the editor with letters to the effect of "he's not NYT calibre, get him outta here."



    He will shoot himself in the proverbial foot, so don't worry about it OK?
  • Reply 12 of 58
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
    Dude, Noam Chomsky is not a NY Times Op-Ed Columnist. The Times merely published him, so he's an Op-Ed Contributor. This happens all the time with high-profile people such as Joe Wilson, Christie Todd Whitman, Condi Rice or with unknown people as well. Nothing new here. Still Brooks, Dowd, Friedman, Herbert, Kristof, Krugman and Safire.
  • Reply 13 of 58
    pfflampfflam Posts: 5,053member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Moogs

    I think it's safe to say we have a new conspiracy theorist at AI, with trolling tendancies no less (though I still doubt that is his real goal).



    ?



    Oh no . . .he's not a newbie here at AO . . . I even know exactly who he is

    But I'll let him keep his little secret . . .



    Naom Chomsky is responsible for developing THE leading ideas in contemporary linguistics with his research in 'deep structure' . . .

    I'm not sure I agree with that kind of redetion of something so ineffable as language . . . but if it gets tenure then good for him . . .



    But really, his ideas have been pretty consistent for decades: "America is big and evil and everything in the world is America's fault . . . here are some sources from people who think just like me and they site me as their sources and so on and so on"

    I hate to sound like the typical Conservative afraid of anything that Chomsky says . . . but, I have been looking, -albiet, not too closely- at his stuff since '85, and his blamefest says the same about every worldly travesty . . . including some where we have ended up emmeliorating the problem through force of military actions or other force, such as in East Timor

    . . . I still don't get how that was all our fault? . . . but he would have you believe it if you just listened long enough . . .



    Oh well . . . . JewelsVernz probably has a thing against Chomsky because Chomsky was all hot under the collar about Israel and arms and South Africa for years . . . . is he still going on about that these days?
  • Reply 14 of 58
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ShawnJ

    Dude, Noam Chomsky is not a NY Times Op-Ed Columnist. The Times merely published him, so he's an Op-Ed Contributor. This happens all the time with high-profile people ...]





    That's what I figured, but either way Op-Ed is Op-Ed. You can pretty much say anything you want, short of slander. I'm sure if his "contributions" smack of Oliver Stone or whatever he won't be a "contributor" for very long.
  • Reply 15 of 58
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
    Gah. It's the name for someone who contributes something to the Op-Ed page. It's not a position- It's a one time thing. He's finished being a contributor with the final period of his piece.
  • Reply 16 of 58
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    Sweeet.
  • Reply 17 of 58
    jewelsvernzjewelsvernz Posts: 48member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BuonRotto

    *sigh* <--to this whole thread.



    I'm dying to close this thread, simnply because it's a bait towards other members. I doubt it's meant to discuss anything. Rescue it or see it go bye-bye.







    I was hoping someone would read the article and start an intelligent conversion regards some of the issues there. I guess I should have known better.



    \
  • Reply 18 of 58
    jewelsvernzjewelsvernz Posts: 48member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kneelbeforezod

    His opinions may be contrary to yours, but an idiot he is not.



    He's not an idiot in as much as the term implies someone he who is unlearned or uneducated or a simpleton. Chompsky is none of these, and is obviously a sophisticated leftist propagandist well versed in the use of language to that aim. You're right. To call him an idiot would somewhat take away from his perverse agenda.
  • Reply 19 of 58
    pfflampfflam Posts: 5,053member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JewelsVernz

    He's not an idiot in as much as the term implies someone he who is unlearned or uneducated or a simpleton. Chompsky is none of these, and is obviously a sophisticated leftist propagandist well versed in the use of language to that aim. You're right. To call him an idiot would somewhat take away from his perverse agenda.



    I think 'idiot' actually comes from the Greek and means 'isolated one' \





    [EDIT: or is it Latin?!]
  • Reply 20 of 58
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    I wonder if everyone here has actually read Chomsky's books before criticizing him.



    The linked article is more propagandist than Chomsky's own writing. A number of arguments used in the article are strawmen. There isn't the slightest attempt to note which facts Chomsky has gotten right. Most notably, there's no mention of Central/South America. The examples most discussed by Windschuttle seem to be either chosen for maximum emotional impact (9/11, Vietnam) or Chomsky's support for communism (China, Cambodia).



    "Chomsky is no pacifist". So what? Chomsky has at other times said straight out he is not, whereas Windschuttle tries to make this look like a skeleton in Chomsky's closet.



    Note that Windschuttle equates anti-militarism to anti-Americanism, and not just Chomsky's.



    Windschuttle's analysis of Chomsky's opinions about Vietnam War is another strawman. Chomsky would have liked the US to stay away of Vietnam, but Windschuttle makes it sound like the result of Vietnam War was what Chomsky wanted. WTF?



    And the comparison of the GDP of Philippines and Vietnam... just what is that supposed to prove? Did Vietnam and the Philippines had equal opportunities to do foreign trade after the Vietnam War? Did they have equal natural resources, neighbors, transportation? Was the infrastructure destroyed equally in both? Were people killed equally in both? What is the real standard of living?
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