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On 2015-09-26 23:26, Louis Proyect via Marxism wrote:
For comrades' information, Gabriel Ash was one of the Jews Sans
Frontiere bloggers who was defaming me for writing for CounterPunch.
Well I'm not sure where you draw the line between criticising and
defaming, nor do I remember the exact words used by which commentator.
But what was at issue was your DEFENSE of counterpunch against the
(proven) charge that they publish a very substantial amount of material
(usually under the now-familiar cover of "anti-imperialism") from
authors with no left-wing credentials whatsoever (but frequently with
clear ties to the far-right). And the research by Elise Hendrick
indicating that the number of such articles even exceeds the number by
authors clearly on the left (i.e. on issues less ambiguous than
imperialism, globalisation, individual liberties etc.); her sampling of
articles' positions on a few key issues (and the more difficult task of
counting leftist versus rightist authors) supported that damning
conclusion:
http://meldungen-aus-dem-exil.noblogs.org/post/2015/07/19/counterpunch-or-suckerpunch/
Indeed Hendrick had calmly suggested that therefore leftist authors
should boycott Counterpunch for that reason ("By using the CP platform,
these authors, whatever their intentions may be, are helping to
mainstream a veritable cesspit of white-supremacist ideology. Surely, it
would be better to publish elsewhere and expose CounterPunch for the
suckerpunch it is."). But there certainly has been no campaign to call
out individual authors (such as Louis) who have not observed such a
boycott, even if that were the best response. Rather, Louis was
criticized for actively defending Counterpunch against her
well-demonstrated allegations:
http://louisproyect.org/2015/07/24/in-defense-of-counterpunch/
In that piece, beyond pointing out that the statistics in Hendrick's
piece were not rigorous and conclusive in showing a greater number of
authors from the right, Louis took the opportunity to (correctly!) decry
the positions of some in regard to Syria (etc.), rather than responding
directly to their evaluation of Counterpunch. But that distraction
clearly doesn't apply to Gabriel Ash whose words regarding Syria are
exemplary. Nor is pointing to one bad position ever a substitute for
directly answering a person's views on an unrelated issue. Looking past
such questionable debating tactics, I find Louis' gratuitous attempt to
rescue Counterpunch quite flimsy. And apparently (as I documented in a
previous post) correlated with his ascendancy to a regular Counterpunch
author, which I find quite sad.
All I'd hope for is that sober analysis not be hindered by personal
self-interest or prejudice. Regardless of the contributions from genuine
leftists such as Louis, the charge remains that Counterpunch provides a
valuable platform for a section of the right-wing, and follows the very
strategy of a right-left alliance which is properly castigated by the
majority on this email list in relation to a number of specific issues.
In other words, if you DO see as a problem leftists making common cause
with the likes of Assad and Putin, then you cannot fail to identify
instruments such as Counterpunch which are so valuable in that service.
- Jeff
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