[csaa-forum] Windschuttling

[Ben Hourigan]

On 31 Mar 2005, at 12:58, Danny Butt wrote:

> Rather than arguing politely, we must meet Windschuttle in the spirit 
> with which he
> goes about his work: prejudicial, over-the-top, and focussed on the 
> man and
> not the ball.

Danny, I really hope you're joking. We must *absolutely not* argue in 
prejudicial, over-the-top ways, relying on ad hominem attacks. 
Arguably, we already do so, and your most recent contribution to the 
list contains evidence in point:

> I don’t think Windschuttle has actually talked to a person-of-colour

> In fact, I’m sure Windschuttle is the type of guy to have blackmail 
> fantasies

If it comes down to Windschuttle's mistakes, prejudice, and personal 
attacks versus our own, then all either side would be doing is filling 
the media with garbage. Such tactics are laughable at best.

Ben Hourigan, B.A. (Hons) (Melb.)
mail at benhourigan.com	
Phone: 04 2291 6341
http://benhourigan.com




>
> (with links at
> http://www.dannybutt.net/weblog/2005/03/31/windschuttling/ )
>
> It doesn't take long being back in Australia to find some of our finest
> academic minds again preoccupied with The Australian and Keith
> Windschuttle's "Tutorials in Terrorism". I see that Keith's need to 
> prove
> his superiority over people by making shit up about them is going 
> global.
> The Internet has truly revolutionised Keith's practice. He can use the
> potential visit of an overseas political figure like Toni Negri as a
> springboard to reproducing US conservative wire service reports on Ward
> Churchill. No need to read their books, even! Or is Keith worried that 
> his
> strip-mining of Australian racial prejudice has exhausted even The
> Australian's ability to get a story out of it? The Australian, 
> heroically,
> will not let the facts get in the way of providing "balanced" coverage 
> of
> academic matters, and Keith is always ready to provide "the other side 
> of
> the story" to those who are biased by their knowledge of what they're
> talking about.
>
> It's admirable (and surprising!) that Negri has taken the time to 
> correct
> the errors in Windschuttle's characterisation of him, in the letter 
> Brett
> Neilson has circulated. However, let's be realistic about how 
> interested The
> Australian is in clearing Negri's name. Then there wouldn't be a story!
>
> Now, last time I suggested on csaa-forum that arguing with The 
> Australian
> about Cultural Studies was a questionable use of time for young 
> scholars, I
> was characterised as taking some position of not believing in a broader
> public culture. Far from true! I just think that The Australian is not 
> only
> ideologically partisan to the point of ridicule, it has no interest in 
> the
> kinds of arguments in the academy (with my respect to the people on 
> this
> list who bravely advance those arguments within those pages anyway).
>
> If you start taking it seriously, over time your brain cells go a bit 
> soft,
> and it starts sounding plausible when Greg Sheridan makes repeated
> ridiculous comments this week against the "academic and quasi-academic
> institutions'" hegemony on foreign policy commentary that is "out of 
> touch
> with Australian people and the Government." (Tellingly, the online 
> version
> is accompanied by a close-up of a US flag - WTF?) Hmm, yes, *scratching
> beard*. Those people specialising in foreign policy obviously know far 
> too
> many foreigners to be trusted. Or the UN oil-for-food report ends up 
> on the
> front page two days in a row, and you start talking about it, while the
> US-lied-about-WMD report showed up twice on page 5, so it never quite 
> hits
> the water cooler.
>
> Remember, as Lachlan Murdoch put it in his Andrew Olle lecture, News 
> Corp's
> media is " a forum for opinions, emotions and shared convictions that
> strengthen us all when we need strength most." " Will we stand with our
> national leaders, on both sides of parliament, as they seek to bring 
> justice
> to the cowards that murdered our countrymen and women? Or will we allow
> ourselves to be misused as a forum for division, effectively 
> undermining
> community strength and cohesion when our country needs those qualities
> most?" Yes, he's asking you, Negri! Are you with us or against us? We 
> know
> where Keith is.
>
> So you misunderstand! My point is not to ignore Windschuttle and The
> Australian, but to not project the ideals of the reality-based 
> community
> onto them, with our meddlesome divisions and cowardly undermining. 
> Rather
> than arguing politely, we must meet Windschuttle in the spirit with 
> which he
> goes about his work: prejudicial, over-the-top, and focussed on the 
> man and
> not the ball. Of course, compared to Bolt, Windschuttle is perhaps even
> easier to develop strategies against, so here are a couple 
> party-starters.
> Remember, being a nice guy didn't get Henry Reynolds anywhere.
>
> 1) In his newly syndicating vein, Windschuttle must be up for that 
> great
> Australian tradition, the hoax. I would suggest a fake conservative
> think-tank located under a .org domain and hosted in the U.S. There 
> are so
> many real ones indistinguishable from parody that he'll never know. 
> Surely
> someone in the US could host a phone line for it and give him a call. 
> Given
> Windschuttle's relentless self-aggrandisement, I'm sure he'd bite on a
> report highlighting the "important and unassailable contribution" 
> Keith has
> made to uncovering the left-wing bias in Australian Universities,
> particularly certain "falsehoods around Australian history". Pepper the
> report with lies. Wait until he uses them in his next self-published
> masterwork on "The death of the Australian academy" before revealing 
> the
> hoax.
>
> 2) I don't think Windschuttle has actually talked to a 
> person-of-colour (let
> alone an aboriginal person) so there must be a fetishistic dynamic at 
> work
> here for him to be so uptight about race. I'm sure there's an 
> opportunity
> here for a cute non-white agent provocateur (with a cast-iron 
> constitution,
> unusual taste, and/or great commitment to the cause) to get 
> Windschuttle
> saying something *very* dodgy on tape. A bit of the old Justin Harrison
> treatment would follow. For a good performer, the 60 Minutes advance 
> alone
> would clear the HECS debt. In fact, I'm sure Windschuttle is the type 
> of guy
> to have blackmail fantasies, it would be his dream come true. No, I 
> don't
> enjoy thinking about Windschuttle having sex either. But desperate 
> times
> etc.
>
> Quite honestly, I have to wonder what Keith's going to get into a flap 
> about
> next. Aboriginal Australians, Native Amercians, aging Italian 
> Marxists...
> perhaps the disability studies community should be getting worried.
>
>
> --
> http://www.dannybutt.net
> adventures in cultural politics (weblog) - http://weblog.dannybutt.net
>
>
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