Chomsky vs. The Fonz

Be the hero of your own story

When I saw the tweets in the screenshot above, it took me back exactly 19 years ago. In October 2004, I was the main speaker at an event in Arlington, Virginia. It was big enough to be aired on C-Span.

The ostensible theme was the upcoming presidential election (Bush vs. Kerry). To sum up my point that day, it’s what I had been saying for years and still say today: The primary difference between Democrats and Republicans is that they tell different lies to get elected.

During the Q&A, I was asked to comment on the fact that prominent radical leftists, Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, were urging people to vote for Kerry because they felt Bush was particularly dangerous. At the time, I admired Chomsky and Zinn so I opted to give a spontaneous lesson in independent thought — and being your own hero.

I reminded the audience of a random Happy Days episode in which Fonzie pretended to be scared in the name of reuniting a young boy with his Dad.

Here’s a 4-minute clip:

My point was that Chomsky was doing us a favor by creating room for us to dismiss his reputation and trust our own instincts. It was an obscure reference for sure but it went over pretty well.

Today, in light of Chomsky’s precipitous loss of integrity and credibility, we can still find unexpected value in his behavior. The man who literally wrote the book on corporate propaganda has fallen prey to the same seductive, diabolical traps he once warned us about.

In the ashes of his self-immolation, we are reminded to never assume we’re so “awake” that we can never again be manipulated.

In other words, always keep your guard up…

********************************************************************

It would be deeply appreciated if you’d sign up to be a paid subscriber for as little as $5 per month. It directly enables this blog/podcast to keep going and growing. You can find the link at the bottom of the post.

If you prefer, you can donate any amount whenever you’d like by clicking here. Thank you in advance, it helps!