Topic: Horowitz
We haven't paid much attention to the David Horowitz empire lately -- indeed, the death of his NewsReal blog in May went by with little notice by, well, anyone. (We won't miss the catfights at all.) Even the fact that hateful right-wing columnist Ben Shapiro is ensconced at the David Horowitz Freedom Center as something all too appropriately called the "Shillman Journalism Fellow" is indicative of how little influence Horowitz has in the mainstream of public debate.
Horowitz, however, does have influence in the far-right streams he has confined himself to. Alleged Norway terror suspect Anders Behring Breivik issued a manifesto that cites Horowitz's FrontPageMag at least 34 times and, as we've noted, copiously cites some of Horowitz's fellow travelers like Pam Geller, Robert Spencer, and Walid Shoebat.
So what does Horowitz do? Complain that this was pointed out. From a July 25 FrontPageMag item:
The New York Times today has a wretched editorial masquerading as a news story on Robert Spencer and his alleged complicity in the Oslo massacres because his ideas are cited by the lunatic responsible. Joseph McCarthy could not have done it better. The Times next will blame Noam Chomsky for the crimes of Osama bin Laden and Al Gore for the crimes of the Unabomber since the ideas of both were cited by the lunatics. Chomsky is not only cited by the Islamic terrorists, he openly supports them - yet the Times would be the first to express shock and outrage at the mere suggestion of Chomsky's complicity in the crimes of al-Qaeda, Hizbollah and Hamas.
Robert Spencer has never supported a terrorist act. His crime in the eyes of the left is to have told the truth about Islamic fanatics beginning with the Islamic prophet who called for the extermination of the Jews and said in his farewell speech that he was called to fight until all men say that there is no God but allah. (see Bruce Thornton's article today's Frontpage).
The attack on Robert Spencer, a man of great courage and decency, is just one phase in the war against all those who speak out against Islamic terror and Islamic imperialism. The Times attack is but the latest and most repulsive salvo in this war.
Horowitz's complaint about McCarthy-esque tactics is interesting, since he has historically criticized only McCarthy's means, not his goal. In his review of an Ann Coulter book defending McCarthy, Horowitz criticized McCarthy for being "demagogic" and because "his recklessness injured the anti-Communist cause." He doesn't criticize the anti-Communist cause itself.
All Horowitz offers is a reflexive defense of Spencer, and no reflection whatsoever on why a person like Breivik would find Spencer's work so inspirational for his terrorist acts.
