Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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121 of 188 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chomsky Chomped, 23 Nov 2004
By A Customer
I first heard of Noam Chomsky when I was reading Psychology at Cambridge, and came across his wonderful work on deep structure. The Anti Chomsky Reader however reveals another side of the great academic. A complete stranger to self-doubt, and apparently lacking any shred of human warmth or humour, Chomsky's towering intellect is matched only by his arrogance and duplicity. The essays collected here by Collier and Horowitz, reveal how Chomsky mercilessly manipulates the evidence, systematically ignores the facts, and traduces his opponents to support his bizarre political theses. The various contributors all come to the same conclusion; whether he is writing about America, the media, the Middle East, or sadly, even linguistics, Chomsky simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth. Well-written, entirely convincing, this is a systematic and merciless expose of a man blinded by his own IQ. It will have Chomsky's chums frothing at the mouth and biting the carpet. Enjoy!
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46 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chomsky's lies and hate in his own words, 29 Sep 2007
I have to be honest, I used to be a big fan of Noam Chomsky in my student days. I read Pilger, Chomsky, Finkelstein and every other leftist writer. I indignantly denounced `Amerikkka' and capitalism, and protested the `fascist junta' of Blair and Bush..
However, as one gets older, you read more, study history, learn more, and eventually grow up. I wish I had read this book, and Paul Berman's Terror and Liberalism much sooner, so I wouldn't have wasted so much time. You live and learn, I guess,
Noam Chomsky says he does not peddle in conspiracy theories, he engages in `institutional analysis'. He claims to help `ordinary people' see through the `lies and propaganda' of the `elite media'. Chomsky's investigations help connect the dots that show how the people who `own' the United States manipulate its domestic and foreign policies to the detriment of everyone else.
In this superb book, Peter Collier and David Horowitz have brought together nine previously published articles intended to expose Chomsky and demonstrate why he's the foremost anti-American intellectual and propagandist around.
Professor Chomsky made his name as an MIT linguist turned 1960s antiwar protester. In his `anarchist' universe, America - not Communism, Baathism, al-Qaida - is the moral monster, and to attack it is morally just. He has been promoting this nonsense for decades and has become the intellectual guru, not just of the naïve college idiot, but of the liberal/left intelligentsia. He was recently voted the `World's No.1 public intellectual' and is the guru of the anti-capitalist, anti-war Left.
The Anti-Chomsky Reader is so valuable for this very reason. It simply and concisely destroys the lies, falsehoods, misrepresentation and distortions, which Chomsky propagates. Beyond the Woody Allen like features, and his calm and cool manner, is a man who can convince millions of decent people that America and Israel are `terrorist states' and that we are all `wage-slaves' of the capitalist system. If anyone else had made the ridiculous claim that the US was trying to commit `silent genocide' in Afghanistan, they would be laughed out the room. Chomsky claims exactly that, and students and leftists nod their credulous heads and sit in awe of their messiah.
If anyone else had said, "I see no anti-Semitic implications in denial of the existence of gas chambers, or even denial of the Holocaust. Nor would there be anti-Semitic implications, per se, in the claim that the Holocaust (whether one believes it took place or not) is being exploited, viciously so, by apologists for Israeli repression and violence.", there would be outrage and condemnation. But not for our Dear `talk truth to power' Leader. Chomsky's championing of Holocaust denial is well-documented by Werner Cohn in his contribution to this book.
Chomsky's has a rich history as an anti-Israel propagandist - his references to `the genocidal texts of the Bible', and to `points of similarity' between Israel and Hitler's Germany is well documented in this book.
In a devastating contribution "Whitewashing Dictatorships in Communist Vietnam and Cambodia", Stephen Morris rightly excoriates Chomsky for his support of Ho Chi Minh and Pol Pot, and his disgraceful attacks on critics who were documenting the Communist genocide in South East Asia.
In `Chomsky and the Media: A Kept Press and a Manipulated People,' Eli Lehrer debunks the conjurer's magnum opus Manufacturing Consent, which describes the media as being `with rare exceptions... culturally and politically conservative;' where special interests manipulate the press to hoodwink the people; and as Lehrer says, "decisions to publicize certain stories and downplay others are made in ways that 'serve political ends' of America's ruling classes." This is of course ridiculous, if you actually look at the liberal bias in the Amercan press generally, and their investigative reporting for decades - from Watergate onwards.
This is a fine collection by two former Marxists turned conservatives, who know Chomsky's methods, tactics and totalitarian mindset perfectly. I would encourage even Chomsky's followers to read this book (as the one-star reviewers clearly haven't) and read the Professor in his own hate-filled words.
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49 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Nutty Professor, 29 Sep 2007
Sensible adults may wish to ask why bother reading a book about the conspiracy theorist, anti-semite and anti-American bigot Noam Chomsky. Well, for your answer, all you need to do is read the poor reviews below, which don't even discuss the contents of the book, and rely on blind ignorance and ad-homenim attacks on Horowitz. Just as there is no point whatever in trying to discuss "Fahrenheit 9/11" with one of Michael Moore's true believers, so it is absolutely futile to engage in a conversation with Mr. Chomsky's acolytes.
This book shows once and for all that Chomsky's political theories are painfully simplistic. He has a habit of making ludicrous predictions (as in his post-September 11 observation that the American government was intent on inflicting a "silent genocide" on the people of Afghanistan.). His prose is turgid to the point of self-parody. For all that, Chomsky exerts extraordinary influence over the Left and is treated like a God on American (and European) campuses.
These essays assembled by Peter Collier and David Horowitz -- two of America's most renowned ex-leftists -- give Mr. Chomsky's reputation a ruthless and long-overdue debunking. This collection makes essential reading, not just because it demolishes the great man's conspiracy theories, but because it demonstrates his chronic inability to honour the truth. They put it brilliantly when they say "slippery allusions, inverted logic, rambling eviscerations of facts from their context and malicious distortions of the historical record.".
Whether discussing Vietnam, the Soviet Union, Israel or Osama bin Laden, the approach seldom varies. Even his longtime sympathizer, Christopher Hitchens, finally broke with him over the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. And the liberal Democrat Alan Dershowitz, no Bush fan, is appalled by Chomsky's hateful and disgusting attacks on Israel.
Some of Chomsky's pronouncements would be ignored if they came from anyone else - his Pol Pot apologetics, his `de-Nazification thesis', his `silent-genocide' drivel and his support for Holocaust deniers. John Williamson's devastating account of Chomsky's refusal to accept responsibility for one of his wilder pronouncements -- in this case about America and Britain's supposed role in delaying the liberation of the Nazi death camps in Poland. (Comparing America with Nazi Germany is second nature to him). Williamson contacted Chomsky with a request for clarification, the latter cited an obscure source and, what is more, accused the writer of spreading malicious gossip. Intrigued, Mr. Williamson dug further. The supposed historical reference turned out to be threadbare.
Chomsky, it seems clear, had been caught in the act. Oliver Kamm has already destroyed Chomsky's repuatation and exposed his fabrications and lies, from a liberal perspective. But why expect his followers to believe any of this? Inconvenient facts, to them, are just another manifestation of the great capitalist conspiracy.
A superb book which shows this contemptible man, for what he is.
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