I'm really beginning to wonder about Arizona Republic columnist Doug MacEachern's sanity.
Yesterday, I pointed out that MacEachern was regurgitating Glenn Beck's conspiratorial leftovers, wailing like a stuck javelina that controversial former University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill was present when student activists took over a Tucson Unified School District board meeting in April.
MacEachern implied that Churchill was somehow part of the planning for the protest.
"Churchill did not simply happen to be in Tucson that day," MacEachern writes.
Contacted by me for a response, Churchill explained he had deep ties to the area, and was at the meeting to support the cause.
Today I learn that MacEachern finally did what he should have done from jump: He e-mailed Churchill.
Below is the e-mail exchange between the two men. Churchill cc'd me on the last response. I did not reorder or edit what was sent to me.
I've e-mailed and called both MacEachern and the Rep's editorial page editor Phil Boas, who was also cc'd on some of this. Neither man has responded as of yet.
Clearly, MacEachern is in need of some serious medication. In his blog post about Churchill the other day, MacEachern says he saw the "same man" (meaning Churchill) "boarding a flight from Phoenix to Detroit two days later, on Thursday, April 28."
You can read what Churchill had to say about this below.
At one point in that same post, MacEachern identifies someone who "looks very much like Churchill" in a video of the student takeover.
Later, he simply asserts that Churchill was there, which he was.
Is this just poor writing or the initial symptoms of schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, or both? I wouldn't be surprised if MacEachern sees Churchill under his bed, in his closet, behind his mirror, in his dreams...
Butterfly nets, anyone?
Of his e-mail exchange with MacEachern, Churchill had this to say:
"Do continue to make it clear that I'm disavowing neither the protest(s) nor the protestors. My support in that regard is unequivocal. But it's insulting to them, to say the least, to contend, as MacEachem does, that they needed me to organize any part their struggle for them."
BTW, whatever you may think of Churchill, as you peruse the following, you'll note that Churchill possesses something MacEachern definitely lacks. A sense of humor.
 | |
| From: | Ward Churchill |
| To: | DougMacEachern |
| CC: | PhilBoas |
| Date: | Wednesday - May 18, 2011 9:24 AM |
| Subject: | RE: Dead Horses |
| |
| I've already answered this question, Doug. Is your grasp of the English language really so feeble that there's something about the word "nobody" you can't understand? It means I didn't meet with anyone "prior to the meeting." Period. Sending me lists of names and groups won't change that reality in the least. Moreover, I never used the word "primarily" to qualify my reasons for being in Tucson. What I told you was I was there for personal reasons. Period. Trying to put words in my mouth, or to otherwise twist what I said, won't change that reality either. That said, I'm done with you. Run along and report to your little heart's content on all my nonexistent "contacts" and meetings, imaginary airplane flights, and so on. Toss in a couple of UFO sightings, my ranking position among the Illuminati, and my role as triggerman in the JFK assassination while you're at it. Any of these propositions is as valid as the next, so why not go whole hog? Ward Churchill --- On Tue, 5/17/11, MacEachern, Doug From: MacEachern, Doug Subject: RE: RE: To: "Ward Churchill" Cc: "Boas, Phil" Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 3:04 PM Ward: Again, thanks for getting back. I'm interested in know who, if anyone, you were in contact with prior to the meeting (acknowledging, as you noted in a previous email, that you were in Tucson primarily for personal reasons). Was it with people associated with the ethnic studies department at the University of Arizona? Roberto Rodriguez, as I'm sure you know, has close contacts with the TUSD ethnic studies group. Or was it through TUSD contacts such as Sean Arce or Augie Romero? Best, Doug M. From: Ward Churchill [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 1:57 PM To: MacEachern, Doug Cc: Boas, Phil Subject: RE: Sorry, Doug. I was unaware that you were so severely impaired in terms comprehending plain English. Perhaps you should sign on for ESL instruction. Or at least pick up a good dictionary. In any case, what I said was that I "met with" nobody in Tucson, as in, I did not attend or participate in any meetings (unless, of course, you want to describe my participation in the protest as attendance at the school board meeting) That's not the same as saying that I never talked to anybody. I had a somewhat lengthy conversation with a self-professed teabagger working as a stock clerk at Home Depot while I there, for example, but I wouldn't exactly describe our conversation as a "meeting." Would you? Actually, I guess you would, if it served your purposes to do so, so feel free to report that I had a meeting with the Tea Party while I was in Tucson. Also the staff at Buddy's Grill, The Good Egg (on Grant), and so on. Dave Morales and I ran in to one another at the protest and had a brief chat. That's equally true with regard to a couple dozen other people. What of it? Mirthfully Yours, Ward Churchill --- On Tue, 5/17/11, MacEachern, Doug wrote: From: MacEachern, Doug Subject: RE: To: "Ward Churchill" Cc: "Boas, Phil" Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 11:20 AM Ward: Thanks for getting back. If you met with no one in Tucson, how did Dave Morales come up with this... "At the April 26th meeting I got a chance to talk with former Ethnic Studies teacher Ward Churchill. I was going to write about this before, but I decided to see how long it would be until the right-wing threw a fit about it once they figured out he was there. For those who don't know, Churchill was a tenured faculty member in Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado. He had a fate that has similar patterns with the MAS program." http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/2011/05/16/more-maceachern-mas-marxist-mccarthyistic-musings/ ________________________________ From: Ward Churchill [[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 12:11 PM To: MacEachern, Doug Subject: Howdy, Doug - Whatever drugs the reporter who "saw" me boarding a flight in Phoenix on the date in question was doing must've been really potent, Doug, since I've neither flown into or out of that city in years. Sounds to me like a job for the DEA. As to who I "met with" in Tucson, the honest answer is nobody. But, hey, that's no fun, is it? So, in the spirit of the fable about my boarding a flight to Detroit at the Phoenix airport -- it would be even cooler if you had Abbie Hoffman sitting in the adjoining seat -- try this: I had a series of secret meetings at the Best Western on Speedway with Jan Brewer and some bozo Republican legislator from Mesa (you can surely put a name to that one on your own). As a result, my company now has a no-bid contract to locate all those headless corpses Brewer claimed were littering the desert down there. Have Yourself a Really Nice Day, Ward Churchill | |
Note: As you can see, MacEachern scrutinizes everything posted to David Abie Morales' Three Sonorans blog. To support the lefty blog that ticks off wingnuts like MacEachern, donate to Three Sonorans, here.
