Letter from Deric Pamp
Free Speech – August 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
I have been struggling with my harsh opinion of Ward Churchill [who spoke in Salida on June 5]. My reaction is not just to his “little Eichmanns” comment about the 9/11 victims, but to his whole, posturing schtik: the cowboy boots and all-black outfit that makes him look like an entertainer like Johnny Cash, the raised fist in victory like Huey Newton despite his upper middle class life, his advocacy that is so thinly disguised as scholarship, and since his visit to Salida, his intellectually dishonest defense of his record. He’s a Vietnam vet, and therefore he’s my brother. He is speaking out against the ruling oligarchy, and I am a First Amendment zealot. I should like him but in fact, from top to bottom, front to back, Churchill sets my teeth on edge.