Post-mortem

Lots of commentary today on Ward Churchill's firing (!), some of it even interesting:

Historian Deborah Lipstadt weighs in with "Ward Churchill [the one who called the 9/11 victims (and me) Eichmanns] fired: But not for that." (He also, if you remember, called Lipstadt a war criminal who should be tried for crimes against humanity.)

The American Spectator's Matthew d'Ancona got a novel out of Wart:

I have been interested in Ward Churchill for years. So interested, in fact, that his writings inspired me to write a novel about what might happen if the “global justice movement” developed a taste for revolutionary violence.

If?

Inside Higher Ed has a rehash. The comments might get interesting.

NRO's Bill McMorris remembers some of Churchill's greatest hits.

Amy Goodman of Apocalyp--er, Democracy Now! (don't forget the exclamation point!) interviewed Wart:

There is no defensible scholarly conclusion that anything I've said in my writng is even inaccurate, much less fraudulent, or that I've committed so-called plagiarism. All they've got is public outrage in the form of very well-organized right wing active-style lobbying blocs and the statements of public officials and so on saying I should be removed as a basis for removing me.

That makes sense! Ward is not sharp this morning, and, hilariously, Amy cuts him off mid-maunder.

Valley girl sound-alike Ann-erika White Bird gets a minute, too, but isn't identified on tape except as "one of Churchill's students" (that's gotta hurt):

The decision to fire Ward Churchill is really sad for me. He's the only professor that I've taken a class where I've really felt empowered as an indigenous person [and that's all that matters, Ann-erika] . . . . The history that we hear growing up about the smallpox blankets, it's not something that you question, it's something that's part of our oral history and its part of the history of other indigenous peoples.

Well, that settles it then.

Frontpagerag runs an old Ann Coulter column on Ward by way of celebration.

Last and least, the Post's Allison Sherry once again quotes Terrible Tommy Mayer.

Update: the wonderfully named Heebmag has this:

Churchill is quite literally a schmuck: an instrument normally used as a conduit for waste, who, when stroked, inflates himself far beyond his normal size, and spews forth what he believes to be the very stuff of life, but which most people who come in contact with find pretty slimy and gross. In case you haven't figured it out, we at Jewdar are not fans of ex-professor Churchill.

Guess that works out pretty even, since Churchill doesn't like Jews much either.

Update II: El Presidente has a Churchill "lawsuit edition" post up that has much stuff, including a couple of unscientific but telling polls on Ward's firing.

Update III: NRO-nik David French, former president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, is succinct:

An under-qualified, arguably fake Native American with a long history of not just plagiarism and other forms of academic fraud, but also a disturbing tendency to threaten and intimidate his critics, it turned out that Churchill was the kind of person who could only exist within the coddling atmosphere of either a radical activist organization or a university ethnic studies department (as if those things are different).

Update IV: I keep meaning to link to El Marco's photo page, which has lots more than just Churchill firing photos (although those are great).

Update V: Churchill debunker Tom Brown replies to a Kool-Aid imbiber at Inside Higher Ed:

First, Wilson falsely claims that “most of the faculty” recommended suspension. The truth is that the two CU committees with the power to make a recommendation of sanctions split their decision. A majority of the Research Misconduct committee voted for dismissal. A majority of the P&T committee favored suspension. Thus the President’s decision to dismiss was not in contradiction with the faculty fact-finders.

Second, Wilson falsely claims that the findings of fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism are “unsupported by the facts.” This is simply incredible. Have a look at my analysis of Churchill’s smallpox blanket fraud at: http://www.plagiary.org/smallpox-blankets.pdf.

The case against Churchill is overwhelming. The fact that Churchill keeps changing his story and making up new lies to defend his old lies is in itself strong evidence of his dishonesty.

Churchill has advanced twelve different excuses for his plagiarism. Surely an innocent man would not need twelve different excuses. There is not space here to get into the details, but watch for my analysis of Churchill’s various excuses for his plagiarism, forthcoming in the Plagiary journal. . . .

Definitely looking forward to that.

Update VI: Speaking of El Marco's photos: heh.

Update VII: Before the event someone wondered if University of Denver professor Dean Saitta, CEO of Teachers for a Democratic Society and staunchish Churchill supporter, would show up for Ward's divestiture.

He didn't. TDS hasn't been updated for four months, and nary a word of solidarity from Dean since the disastrous final event of Churchillpalooza. He didn't sign any of the academic misconduct complaints against the Churchill investigating committee either.

You think maybe he's finally figured out that Wart & Co are a little too stupid and dangerous to be used as symbols of freedom of speech?