Anthony Badami ’11’s letter to the Herald on Friday made several good points, but ultimately fell short. First, I do not understand how he could be ’shocked’ by Horowitz’s ad — considering Brown’s actually shocking student culture, as well as the fact that Horowitz’s ideas have a fair amount of traction nationwide, ’shocked’ is an inappropriate choice of words. Perhaps he was ’sad’ or ‘upset’, but ’shocked’?
And whether or not one agrees with the premises of Horowitz and his group — I myself have my disagreements — they both are rather upfront and consistent. They view the MSA as a political group (with unsavoury ties), which masquerades as a religious-cultural group. Are they right? Again, I tend to disagree, though not entirely. But Badami cannot honestly expect the Herald, or his readers, to repudiate Horowitz and his group simply because he tells it, and us, to do so.
And on the matter of repudiation, why is brinksmanship so fashionable these days? Badami disagrees with Horowitz and his group. Oh, well. But to demand repudiation? Talk about the chilling effect on free speech…
SBQ