Peter Voskamp

I think I was too harsh on Noam Chomsky yesterday. Oh well, I said it. Anyway, here's Peter Voskamp, editor of the Block Island Times, offering a better picture of the great man:

I saw him a few years ago in Austin and he was up there for what seemed like hours-- a true marathon. He spoke in one theater, and it was pumped into another sold-out theater on a screen. He had his sleeves rolled up and kept going and going, a real inspiration. So I wonder what happened in NY yesterday. Maybe he's tired; maybe there was a mix up in communications.

The analogy of his that I always pull out is that of the sports fan: the common man, as illustrated in the stats-steeped sports fan, can handle complex issues if they are presented truthfully. He or she can get involved in the debate equally well-informed, and their takes have just as much credibility as the so-called experts.

This would certainly be the case in regard to the Iraq situation. What joys the best and brightest with their endless credentials have brought to the region.

Nice.

Peter Voskamp, the editor of the Block Island (R.I.) Times, has reaffirmed my report that there was political pressure to keep Walt & Mearsheimer, the authors of the bombshell paper criticizing the Israel lobby, from speaking at the Naval War College in Newport 2 weeks back:

The [Israel lobby] paper was essentially off-limits for discussion at last week's forum. The [War College] Public Affairs Office confirmed that the college had received pressure from unnamed Congressmen to cancel the professors' appearance.

Voskamp is an enterprising journalist. As a grad student at University of Texas/Austin 3-1/2 years ago, he interviewed Admiral Bobby Ray Inman, the former deputy director of the CIA, now a professor of national policy at UT, and asked him whether oil interests were pushing for war in Iraq.  read more »