Ed Herman, Noam Chomsky, and Howard Zinn
Urge Reinstatement of Buzzanco,
and Opposition to the Anti-Progressive Smear Gang
| Edward S. Herman's Credentials |
The Letters
2002-07-12 From: Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn
2002-07-31 From: Dan Jones
2002-08-01 From: Edwin Johnston
2002-08-05 From: Edward S. Herman
2002-08-05 From: Edwin Johnston
2002-08-07 From: Edward S. Herman
2002-08-09 From: Edwin Johnston
[return to top]
*** 2002-07-12 From: Ed Herman, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn ************* Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 10:32:46 -0400 From: Ed Herman <hermane@wharton.upenn.edu> Subject: letter from Ed Herman, Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn To: dbradley@kpft.org Cc: Leslie Cagan <lesliecagan@igc.org>, Dan Coughlin <danc@igc.org> Reply-to: Ed Herman <hermane@wharton.upenn.edu> Organization: Wharton Finance July 12, 2002 Dear Duane Bradley: As individuals each of whom has been on Bob Buzzanco's program on KPFT a number of times, and who have greatly appreciated his interviewing and work in general (he is an outstanding scholar in the field of diplomatic history), we are dismayed to find that he is off the air at KPFT, based on attacks he has suffered and--in his view--the failure of Pacifica officials to defend him against those attacks. According to information obtained from Buzzanco, Hep Ingham, and the web site documentation at www.acksisofevil.org, Buzzanco made a critical comment on his program about a one-sided program that had preceded his on the Israel-Palestine conflict. He was then alleged by a Ms. de le Paz to have called her "you Jew," which Buzzanco denies (and which, from our knowledge of Buzzanco, is not plausible). According to Buzzanco and Ingham, Pacifica National Board member George Barnstone quickly put up a resolution to have Buzzanco banned from the station, which he then amended to resolve to have the KPFT LAB investigate the matter, with himself as chairman of the committee. According to Buzzanco, and supported by the documents provided on the cited web site, Barnstone's investigation was, with only one exception, confined to taking accounts from the pro-Israel group, including two who supported de la Pez's charge, but it failed not only to obtain Buzzanco's version, Barnstone also failed to speak with six of seven others present at the alleged confrontation who deny de la Paz's charge (and whose statements are available on the web site). According to our informants, although it was eventually decided that this investigation had no legal basis in LAB authority, and despite its conspicuous bias, it was given substantial publicity, helped by your placing it on the web. These charges have been pushed by a small group in a vicious smear campaign against Buzzanco in what is clearly a vendetta. There is also substantial evidence provided on the earlier cited web site that this group has carried out the same kind of attacks against others who don't meet their political standards ("The COINTELPRO-Type Operation Against Pacifica and KPFT Progressive/Leftist Broadcasters"). Given that the main charge against Buzzanco is almost surely invalid, based on both implausibility and the independent evidence, we find it incomprehensible that you have apologized to his accuser and the Jewish community and failed to defend Buzzanco and castigate those smearing him. We understand that you have complained to Bob that after he commented on the Jewish Views program he said: "And now we will return to regular Pacifica programming," your complaint made on the ground that he was not in charge of Pacifica programming. But his statement was clearly ironic, implying that a one-sided program that took a regressive political stance and would not accept phone calls contesting that position was not in a true Pacifica mode; he was not dictating programming. We find this failure to defend your own valuable programmer against a false charge and nasty attack, and appeasement of a smear group, unacceptable. This is only partly on grounds of elementary justice; it is also unacceptable and dangerous because Pacifica, under the revitalized management of the successful campaign, must be the home of programmers who will be attacked by establishment forces and who should always be able to count on vigorous defense by Pacifica spokespersons. The Buzzanco case is a small trial run in what will surely be more severe challenges in the future. Will Pacifica leaders remain silent when John Ashcroft and his agents declare Pacifica programmers terrorists? We would urge you to deal with this case more openly, investigate the charges yourself, defend Buzzanco with vigor if, as we believe, those charges are false, and not allow KPFT to be subverted and perhaps eventually hujacked by another hostile clique. We think you should go to some pains at this point to get Buzzanco back on the air. Sincerely, Edward S. Herman Noam Chomsky Howard Zinn cc: Cagan, Coughlin ---------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 10:39:19 -0400 From: Ed Herman <hermane@wharton.upenn.edu> Subject: Letter from Ed Herman, Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn on Buzzanco To: Leslie Cagan <lesliecagan@igc.org>, Dan Coughlin <danc@igc.org> Reply-to: Ed Herman <hermane@wharton.upenn.edu> Organization: Wharton Finance July 12, 2002 Dear Leslie and Dan: We attach a letter we are just sending to Duane Bradley at KPFT. We think that action on his part is urgent to defend Buzzanco against an unjust and irresponsible set of claims, but also to make it clear to the world that Pacifica cannot be bullied into non- support of their programmers out of a laissez-faire attitude or fear of controversy. There is clear evidence of a dangerous smear campaign in this case that has happened before at KPFT and should be strenuously resisted. As we note, there will be more severe challenges in the future, and Pacifica should ready itself for these by a display of strength in lesser cases. We also feel that you should be taking more action in this case as well. Buzzanco feels abandoned by you, and perhaps with some justification. The lead in the attack on him has been taken by Pacifica Board member George Barnstone, who has shown himself to be very cavalier in the use and misuse of legal processes. By putting Barnstone's "investigation" on a web site, Duane Bradley has helped the investigators smear Buzzanco for an audience beyond Houston, and in a manner strongly to be condemned. We believe that you should look into Barnstone's handling of this matter and, if the facts are as we have outlined in our Bradley letter, ask him to justify his performance in this case (which would seem to raise questions about his qualifications for membership on the Pacifica board). We also believe that you should urge Duane Bradley to take the matter in hand, looking into the facts of the case for himself, and not allow Buzzanco's antagonists to fix the truth for him and the world and drive this valuable programmer off the station. Another option would be for you to do such an investigation, and if supported by such inquiry, perhaps issue a statement yourselves that deny the accusations against him and demonstrate support for a man who has been subjected to a local vendetta. Sincerely, Edward S. Herman Noam Chomsky Howard Zinn[return to top]
*** 2002-07-31 From: Dan Jones **************************************** From: D Jones <dmjo_2000@yahoo.com> To: <hzinn@bu.edu> Cc: <hermane@wharton.upenn.edu>; <chomsky@mit.edu> Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 4:15 AM Subject: Chomsky, Zinn and Herman attempt to intimidate KPFT, to protect a fellow armchair revolutionary Dear Professor Zinn, I was made aware of your letter to KPFT General Manager Duane Bradley demanding that Bob Buzzanco be put back on the air immediately. You think you know Professor Bob Buzzanco as an honourable person with integrity. I know a different Bob Buzzanco. I know a Professor Buzzanco who (over the last year) has sent me numerous, rage-filled emails containing bizarre profanity and threats against me. All from his University email address. I know a Professor Buzzanco who last month launched a mass emailing campaign to over 50 of my supervisors and coworkers explicitly trying to get me fired from my job. (Despite my having nothing to do with Bob's "You Jews" contretemps). I know a Professor Buzzanco who recruited one of his own university students (Scott Parkin) to participate in his vengeful attempt to get me fired (a serious violation of his role as mentor I think you would agree). I know a Professor Buzzanco who lectured a roomful of KPFT listeners and board members on their cowardice and in his valedictory compared himself favorably to Martin Luther King, Jr. I know a Professor Buzzanco who is condescending and rude to anyone without an advanced degree (and syncophantic to his idols, like yourself). I know a Professor Buzzanco who is widely regarded by those at KPFT and at University of Houston as a foul-mouthed, egotistical bully. And despite many in the KPFT community's low opinion of Mr Buzzanco, nobody sought to have him removed from the air at KPFT. Nobody. Buzzanco walked away from the station, with a bruised ego. Nobody drove him out. And what of the vaunted Chomsky, Zinn and Herman. Well, for one thing, they clearly have no respect for the automony of community radio; preferring to bully and bludgeon strangers with their fame It comes off as a transparent and disgraceful attempt to use your "star power" to inject yourself into a situation in which you have neither the facts nor the perspective to interpret or intervene. All to defend one of your fellow armchair revolutionaries. (I guess white male academic power isn't as dead as everyone says, huh?) And Mr Zinn, for a historian, I was suprised to see you rely on a single and most curious source for your accusations. Getting your "facts" entirely from a website called "acksisofevil", which happens to be run by one Curt "Scooter" Schroell, an unstable loon who fancies himself Buzzanco's hitman. Well, I sure hope you do better research on history than you do on current events. It certainly would suggest that you'll sign your name to anything. In disbelief at your gullibility and your own misuse of power, Dan Jones Houston[return to top]
*** 2002-08-01 From: Edwin Johnston *********************************** Message-ID: <005801c23976$b5634060$f580b4ce@user> To: <freepacifica@recordist.com> References: <165.10ed3875.2a77c56b@aol.com> <3D46D2A5.D1ECCCE1@earthlink.net> From: "Edwin Johnston" <edi@hal-pc.org> Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2002 11:15:51 -0500 Subject: [NewPacifica] Chomsky, Herman, Zinn: they joined the looney bin Reply-To: NewPacifica@yahoogroups.com I've taken a glance at the letter that Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman and Howard Zinn addressed to KPFT GM Duane Bradley, with cc:s to both Pacifica ED Dan Coughlin and board chair Leslie Cagan, in regards to the Bob Buzzanco incident of April 17, 2002 and its aftermath. I heard that this letter is floating around on that elitist "Alliance" list, so if someone can post it on some of the other Pacifica discussion lists, it would be worthwhile so we can begin to debate it. The letter's intent is to support Buzzanco's position and to defend him as a "victim" within Pacifica. The most alarming thing is that they seem to be basing their information about the matter using one source only, the entirely one-sided and highly propagandistic webpages that Buzzanco's best friends put together. It is amazing to me that these authors, who are the most popular definers from the left of what propaganda is and how it operates, simply ignore the propagandistic foundation of the source of their information. So, for instance, based on Buzzanco and company's claims, the letter's authors take the position that Pacifica did nothing to stop the "smear campaign against Buzzanco", as if Buzzanco was some sort of innocent in this. Actually, if we get a chance to go over the document, they are second guessing Duane Bradley's long consideration of the matter and his striving to be fair to all parties concerned. Apparently that is not good enough for Buzzanco's supporters and those who are swayed by the propaganda put out by his pals. But let's get that letter posted, and then their positions can be refuted line by line. Then let's get the entire controversy published in some leftwing publications that feature these authors, like Z Magazine, the Nation, or other places, so that the debate is widened even farther. Hey, if the author's want to jeopardize their reputations over this matter, that is their prerogative. But it is my hope that they would reconsider their positions, based on reason, logic and facts, and if so, it would call for a retraction and apologies. Let's see what happens.[return to top]
*** 2002-08-05 From: Ed Herman **************************************** From: Ed Herman <hermane@wharton.upenn.edu> Sent: Monday, August 05, 2002 8:33 AM To: Eileen Sutton, lyn gerry, David Adelson, Bob Buzzanco, hep, Lauren Coodley, dbernstein@igc.apc.org Subject: Letter just now to Dan Jones by Edward Herman August 5, 2002 Dear Mr. Dan Jones: This is in reply to your various letters to Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky and me on our letter to Duane Bradley on the Buzzanco case. These letters by you are all characterized by misrepresentations, slurs, and errors of fact, including your false claim that any of us are "backpeddling" or apologizing for our letter, and your sleazy suggestion that maybe Buzzanco wrote it. We stand by that letter, and in saying this I speak for all three of us; otherwise the letter is mine alone. In my judgment, the aggregate of your missives to the three of us provides strong support for our charge that Buzzanco and KPFT have been victimized by individuals who are a real danger to the integrity and mission of the station. Starting with your charge that we are outsiders ignorant of the facts in writing a letter about Buzzanco, you overlooked our statement that each of us has been on his program a number of times, know him, and know and appreciate his scholarly work. Furthermore, we have all been supporters of the Pacifica campaign of the past several years, and in the course of that struggle I have gained quite a bit of knowledge of the organization and the stations, including KPFT, and the issues involved in threats of hijacking, which I believe you and your associates seriously threaten in Houston. Your notion that we outsiders have no business backing Buzzanco from a distance is also blatant hypocrisy. A moderator of the "Goodlight" listener forum on KPFK in Los Angeles has even gone online protesting your and Johnston's littering of their message board with relentless and hostile postings and taunts of the moderators. (It also included postings about "Professor Berzerko" [Buzzanco] allegedly in big trouble at KPFT for breaking the rules.) That seems to be your modus operandi in dealing with your enemies everywhere, including at a distance, so are you in a position to complain about interventions from outside? You claim that our sources of information are not good, especially our use of Curt Schroel's ("Scooter"'s) web site (www.acksisofevil.org). You vilify and smear Schroel in your typical fashion, but you miss the key point: we used the web site only to see the stream of e-mail postings by you, Johnston and Geiselman in which you reveal yourselves to be professional slanderers and smear artists. Schroel's crime was to provide copies of your e-mail messages in which you self-revealed. In smearing Schroel you went to the trouble of sending a scurrilous letter about "Scooter" to us ("Drs. C, H and Z"), claiming that in a message from him which you attached, dated August 1, he "threatens to destroy every member of the KPFT Local Advisory Board." I have read this posting three times, and checked it out with others, and nobody can find there the slightest hint of a threat to destroy anybody or anything. Were you sober when you wrote this or is this just extreme paranoia? Do you think the players in a football huddle are plotting against you? You claim that Buzzanco and his friends orchestrated a campaign of e-mail messages at your place of business to get you fired, whereas Buzzanco left KPFT strictly voluntarily, you and your friends having had nothing to do with his exit. But you misrepresent the facts on both accounts. He did not orchestrate anything, but a number of people communicated with your employer trying to get assistance in halting your campaigns of relentless aggression by e-mail slander and smears, using hospital computer facilities. It is true that Buzzanco's departure wasn't directly a result of your attacks on him, but rather of the failure of the station manager to defend him against your slanders and vilification. But once again you are hypocritical, as that smear campaign, which is well documented out of your own mouths on Schroel's web site and the compilations available there ("The Smear Campaign Continues..." and "The Cointelpro-Type Operation Against Pacifica and KPFT Progressive/Leftist Broadcasters"), was clearly designed to drive him out and has had that effect. In fact, one of your e-mail messages, noting the departure of Buzzanco, then says "Mission accomplished," thereby acknowledging the campaign and its purpose. That aim was evident in your, and Geiselman's and Johnston's performance in handling the incident connected with the Jewish Voices program. Your colleague Geiselman was the only one supporting the claim that Buzzanco called Ms. de la Paz "you Jew," whereas there are affidavits that the seven other people on the scene denied having heard it. Buzzanco of course denies it, and such a remark is completely incompatible with Buzzanco's beliefs and character. But you and your colleagues spread it far and wide didn't you? A curious fact is that Geiselman also made a claim about what Dennis Bernstein said, quoting language that Bernstein strenously denied having made, and also out of character. The evidence is compelling that this smear campaign was built on a lie. I note that in your defense of the one-sided program on Israel which was the basis of this controversy, you say you supported it in the interest of "diversity." It is no doubt just a coincidence that you and your colleagues have maintained a slander campaign against Dennis Bernstein and his program Flashpoints (calling him an "antisemite" and "conspiracy monger"), as well as Buzzanco. As a believer in diversity in discussion of the Israel-Palestine conflict, however, your position is peculiar. Shouldn't the Jewish Voices program that you defend have had some diversity itself given the variety of Jewish opinion? If you reply that alternative views are already given too generously on the station by Bernstein and company, shouldn't we take into account the overgenerous treatment of the pro-Israel faction in the mainstream media? I note that you expressed that opinion in arguing against interviewing Enron workers on the ground that this has been done to excess by "every journalist in America" (implying not only that mainstream coverage was a substitute for that of KPFT, but that the latter had nothing more to offer if the mainstream had covered the subject). Another point: I'm sure you have noted that the mainstream media are seriously biased in favor of official Israeli positions. As a claimed believer in diversity, have you and your colleagues carried out a barrage of e-mail complaints about mainstream pro-Israel bias and written letters there in the interest of diversity? My faith in your non-commitment to diversity on this issue is sufficently great that I hereby offer you twenty dollars for every such letter you have published in the mainstream media. This letter only scratches the surface of your misstatements, but since for you silence seems to imply "backpeddling" and an unwillingness to resist verbal aggression, it is intended to set some part of the record straight. I know that exhaustion and surrender based on relentless attacks and slander are your forte, but I think you are riding for a fall in Houston. Namecalling and bullying in the interest of a hidden agenda eventually elicits resistance, and I believe that your performance in the Buzzanco case has opened many eyes to the work of genuine sappers. I sincerely hope and believe that just as the recently displaced hijackers of Pacifica could not keep the large numbers committed to a democratic and progressive Pacifica down, so those same forces will prevent you and your colleagues from destroying KPFT. Sincerely, Edward S. Herman cc: Bradley, Cagan, Coughlin, Spooner[return to top]
*** 2002-08-05 From: Edwin Johnston *********************************** Message-ID: <004f01c23cba$57f43140$c680b4ce@user> From: "Edwin Johnston" <edi@hal-pc.org> To: <freepacifica@recordist.com> References: <0e3501c23ca5$f5719fd0$7efc9840@SlasherSystem> Subject: Ed Herman endangers his rep, vis a vis Pacifica Radio Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2002 14:57:30 -0500 Reply-To: freepacifica@recordist.com >Please forward this widely to Pacifica lists< How terribly depressing to find that Edward S. Herman and his colleagues, Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn have been suckered into the Buzzanco intimidation fest. In a widely reproduced letter today from Herman, that is addressed to Dan Jones and copied to any number of other folks, Herman jumps right on the smear bandwagon, directly slandering me by using my name in a series of false allegations based on nothing but unfounded rumors provided to him by a single corrupt source and a few of their fellow travelers. Examples: Herman refers to Dan Jones, Greg Geiselman and myself, generally, as: "... a real danger to the integrity and mission of the station." Further: "... the issues involved in threats of hijacking, which I believe you and your associates seriously threaten in Houston." As well: "... you, Johnston and Geiselman in which you reveal yourselves to be professional slanderers and smear artists." More amazing fantasies: "that smear campaign, which is well documented out of your own mouths on Schroel's web site and the compilations available there ('The Smear Campaign Continues...' and 'The Cointelpro-Type Operation Against Pacifica and KPFT Progressive/Leftist Broadcasters'), was clearly designed to drive him out and has had that effect." And the kicker: "I sincerely hope and believe that just as the recently displaced hijackers of Pacifica could not keep the large numbers committed to a democratic and progressive Pacifica down, so those same forces will prevent you and your colleagues from destroying KPFT." So, just from these quotes alone, we can see that Herman's intent is to endorse a number of lies that he's been fed by the Buzzanco faction. And based on these lies, he is encouraging others nationwide to act against Jones, Geiselman and myself. Such entirely shameless behavior coming from someone with very popular support concerning leftwing issues! But what Herman does not understand yet, is that every single ploy that the Buzzanco faction has used to attempt to gain hegemony at KPFT has failed miserably. This too will fail. And Herman and his colleagues, Chomsky and Zinn will have only themselves to blame for their involvement. But let's review the facts, shall we? Dan Jones, Greg Geiselman and myself, along with a large group of others worked diligently and effectively to change the balance of power at KPFT through the listener group, the Houston Committee for People's Radio (HCPR), which was formed the day after Garland Ganter shut down KPFA in the summer of 1999, by Lee Loe and myself. What we set the groundwork for was the new structure of authority at KPFT, including the creation of the new Local Advisory Board (LAB) and the eventual succession of Duane Bradley as manager. Those in the Buzzanco faction, most significantly Bob Buzzanco, Hep Ingham, Otis Hardy Maclay and Curt "Scooter" Shroell, were entirely uninterested and in fact quite opposed to the productive and democratic work of the HCPR. So, as soon as the new power structure was established at KPFT, they have been involved in an unceasing campaign to disrupt and destroy it. Now we have Herman and company doing some of their dirty work, most notably in their attacks on Duane Bradley and George Barnstone, as evidenced in their co-signed letter to Bradley. Now let's look at who they are defending. Bob Buzzanco: Buzzanco, who threatened to sue the members of the KPFT LAB and our local national board reps, and who has also threatened to destroy their reputations and postions within Pacifica. Buzzanco, who browbeat the LAB at a recent meeting and physically intimidated most of them, including the general manager, when given a chance to speak there. (One LAB member called him "menacing".) And in regards to the Jewish Voices program where four separate violations were alleged; intimidation of guests while they were on the air, starting a shouting match with Geiselman in the studio just after the program, making rude comments to the guests, and then going on the air himself to trash the previous guests. Of these allegations, only one of them is disputed in terms of fact, but not disproven in any way at all. Is there anything honorable in that? Logic and ethics say no. Curt "Scooter" Shroell: Here Herman and company have chosen quite a pip as their source for information. During the very first week of the new KPFT, just after Ganter had resigned, Scooter came to an HCPR meeting and tried to blackmail us into providing him a national program on Pacifica, or else inform the Federal Communications Committee that KPFT was in violation of some type of signal requirement. I had to tell Scooter myself that our listener group was in no position at all to guarantee airtime to anyone. In mid-February of this year Scooter took off on a manic campaign to damage the people who saved KPFT, a campaign that continues to this day. He constantly attacks the authority structure locally, mostly the LAB and our national board reps. He does his worst to threaten both Jones and myself, who have no power at KPFT and only expose his terribly harmful shenanigans. Scooter has made various threats of violence against me, time after time, including death threats, calls for me to commit suicide and an assault against me on KPFT property at 1am, while he was reeking of beer and I was in charge of receiving donations from listeners. On top of that, various forms of slander, like constantly claiming that I am a police informant. Jones has met with similar constant abuse from Scooter, including a coordinated campaign with the stated intent to ruin Jones's professional career. So, Herman is way off base with his unfounded claims. He needs to look in the other direction to find someone to blame. The loss of support in Houston's Jewish community for KPFT has been due to Buzzanco and his Jewish Voices incident. The loss of support for KPFT within the establishment of Dr. Jones's employer is directly tied to Buzzanco. The impedence of productive and constructive work at KPFT and Pacifica nationwide is directly due to the antics of Buzzanco and his crew. And now Herman and company are lending a hand in the destabilization of Pacifica during this interim period. When Scooter began making his death threats against me, that should have motivated caring people in Pacifica to do something to stop it dead in its tracks. And I warned people that if they didn't constrain Scooter it would only get worse. So here we are now, just as I predicted. Herman and company could have gone directly to the people they are pointing fingers at to find out what their versions of events were instead of merely relying on the propaganda from the bully set. Herman, the author of the letter, could have first personally written to Duane Bradley, George Barnstone, Jones, Geiselman and myself, asking us what this brouhaha was all about. Had he done that initially, he would not pursued such a misstep as to write that letter and then request Chomsky and Zinn to sign it. He would have had a better informed understanding of the issues. Now, Jones, Geiselman and myself have taken a lot of flack from the Buzzanco faction for exposing them. We have been forced to endure more than most people would put up with before just giving up on Pacifica entirely. We have weathered the attacks, the threats and the violence without a great deal of outside support to stop it. But I think speak for all of us to say that the sacrifices we've made to alert people to what the Buzzanco faction is up to are in the interest in preserving the gains we made in reclaiming Pacifica. Because if we had simply run away from this challenge, it would just be another set of people they would have attacked to get their way. We are simply the front line defense for the structure of authority at KPFT. And as for me, I'm here to stay. I've been involved with KPFT since 1981, I live only a few blocks from the station, by design, my friends have lots of shows there, I intend to contribute to the re-emergence of the KPFT program guide, I'm on the executive committee to bring the Pacifica national board to Houston in September, I run volunteer projects at the station, I set up the LAB meetings monthly, I attend various committee meetings, I'm a nationwide voice on what is going on in Houston, just as I've been for the last three years. I'm not scared of Buzzanco or any of his malicious little crew. I've been in many more battles against institutionalized oppressors, like the Houston Police Department and the federal agency of Housing and Urban Development, long term battles where I have resisted and prevailed. These are just dime store hoods to me. But to Pacifica on the whole they represent a continued threat to botch the entire victory. The sooner Pacifica works to resolve the problems caused by the Buzzanco faction, the sooner we can get back to the critical work that needs to be done to rebuild the network.[return to top]
*** 2002-08-07 From: Ed Herman **************************************** Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 09:55:03 -0400 From: Ed Herman <hermane@wharton.upenn.edu> Subject: Re: jones To: D Jones <dmjo_2000@yahoo.com> Cc: dbradley@kpft.org, Leslie Cagan <lesliecagan@igc.org>, Dan Coughlin <danc@igc.org> Your letter below confirms my recent point that you are not only a professional slanderer, but that you have lost touch with reality. Chomsky and Zinn, who are my longtime friends and allies, have both talked to me, and on my advice, that you are an irresponsible lunatic, agreed to simply put you off and to use the delete button in dealing with you from here on. But you know that they talked things over and agreed to have nothing more to do with me, just as you know that Lyn Gerry is pulling people's strings down in Houston! You need a doctor, badly! Sincerely, Edward Herman ----------------------- > Herman- > > You been missing all the fun that Profs Chomsky and > Zinn have been having discussing your latest slander > letter and the top-down approach to influence in the > Left. I ended up liking them both a lot, in an > email-way. > > The upshot: they want nothing to do with your campaign > of slander against myself and other free Pacifica > listener-supporters. > > I didn't bother to address you at all because I > recognize a second-rate apologist for thugs when I see > one. You would dangerous if you weren't so poorly > informed and ineffectual. > > I hope you had time to peruse Scooter's latest > atrocity; an obscene exploitation of his own children > that he mailed yesterday to past and current members > of the KPFT LAB. > > I found myself getting physically ill reading it; out > of concern for his children, and yes (even at this > late date) for Wendy. > > I don't know how you came to be such a foolish and > rash man, but you are clearly no longer capable of > rational thought or accurate analysis. > > In the end, you appear to be just another misanthropic > Pacifica loon, albeit one with a prestigious faculty > position. > > With disgust, > > Dan Jones >[return to top]
*** 2002-08-09 From: Edwin Johnston *********************************** Message-ID: <012e01c23feb$42592c80$1780b4ce@user> From: "Edwin Johnston" <edi@hal-pc.org> To: <freepacifica@recordist.com> References: <F148V6T0nfMa7RtMeKb000031e4@hotmail.com> Subject: Critique of Herman, Chomsky, Zinn letter to Duane Bradley Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 16:25:16 -0500 Reply-To: freepacifica@recordist.com >pls fwd widely to Pacifica lists< Professors Herman, Chomsky and Zinn, I have read the July 12, 2002 letter that you all have signed and sent to the KPFT station manager, Duane Bradley (with cc:s to Pacifica executive director, Dan Coughlin and national board chair, Leslie Cagan) concerning issues related to associate professor, Bob Buzzanco in Houston. **** You open your letter by mentioning that Buzzanco has previously interviewed you on his program. You lament that he is personally no longer on the air at KPFT, which you attribute to "attacks" and also relate his allegation that Pacifica failed to defend against these alleged attacks. You then lay out that information was provided to you by Buzzanco and many of his close cohorts concerning the controversy related to Buzzanco's actions at KPFT on April 17, 2002, during and just after the airing of the "Jewish Voices" program, a one-shot program of invited representatives from Houston's Jewish community that was part of KPFT's experimental programming this year. Based on this information, which you present as a sort of foundation for Buzzanco's complaints of his alleged mistreatment, you conclude that it stems from an alleged vendetta by a small group of people, a group that you allege has previously attacked others who allegedly don't meet their political standards. You further claim that Bradley had no business apologizing to the guest of the Jewish Voices program who made a complaint against Buzzanco and chastise Bradley for not defending Buzzanco and for his failure to castigate those you alleged to have smeared him. Additionally, you second guess Bradley's managerial objection of Buzzanco's use of the airwaves to criticize the invited guests to the station just after their program ended. Then you go on to claim that Bradley's actions are unacceptable to you, that he failed to defend Buzzanco against alleged false charges, alleged attacks and Bradley's alleged appeasement of an alleged smear campaign. You state that you do this in the interest of elementary justice and because you feel that the "establishment" will attack KPFT programmers, so they will need to be defended by Pacifica spokespersons. Your letter ends with another reference to the danger that the "establishment" poses to Pacifica programmers, citing John Ashcroft. You then call for Bradley to reopen an investigation into the controversy surrounding Buzzanco and the Jewish Voices program. You again assert your belief that the charges leveled against him are false, and interject this time that Bradley needs to prevent the potential for KPFT to be subverted and hijacked. Finally you urge Bradley to attempt to get Buzzanco back on the air. **** It seems to me, professors, that you are only contributing to the production of conflict at KPFT, conflict based on entirely unsubstantiated allegations. The Jewish Voices program incident took place back in mid-April, nearly four months ago. Buzzanco voluntarily resigned from KPFT, without anyone else's urging at all, a month later. Why are you so interested in stirring up the pot at this late date, when locally, people generally wish this issue would just go away? And why the entirely one-sided nature of your own investigation into the matter? If your initial investigation, the information provided to you by Buzzanco's faction at KPFT, raised some questions in your mind about serious problems at KPFT, why did you not directly contact any of the other individuals involved to get their individual sides of the story before leaping into such an accusatory mode? Why did you not ask Duane Bradley for his take on things, or George Barnstone, one of KPFT's reps to the Pacifica national board, or Stan Merriman and Greg Geiselman, the producers of the Jewish Voices program, or Donna de la Paz, or Deb Shafto, the chair of the KPFT Local Advisory Board or myself? We are all generally available and each of these people's emails was published in the material that you've gone over, so there is little excuse for you to not have done so. If you had taken the time to more fully research the issue, by interviewing or seeking information from others involved in this dispute, I sincerely doubt you would have come to the conclusions that you did in your letter. In fact, you might well have come to conclude quite the opposite of what you have put forward, given a fair and objective inquiry into the matter. The impact of your letter has only served to create an atmosphere of suspicion aimed at our general manager, Duane Bradley. Unwarranted suspicion, since Bradley is widely loved and looked upon as a person of fairness and a glue that keeps our community together. It has only added to the friction and instability during this fragile interim period. In that sense, I find it a grave misstep on your parts, damage that I hope you are willing to repair. -*****************************************************************