THE KIND OF THING THAT DRIVES US CRAZY - AT 8:50 A.M. ET:  I cannot abide when public people refuse to describe their views accurately for fear of the consequences.  Thus, Betty Friedan, in "Feminine Mystique," misrepresented her Marxist background, knowing it would hurt the book.  Not excusable.

Now we have a more modern example, and the hypocrisy flows: 

ITHACA, NY — Nominations for the 2009 Izzy Award are officially open. The annual award for special achievement in independent media — named after legendary muckraker I. F. “Izzy” Stone — is a project of the Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) at Ithaca College. Last year’s inaugural award was shared by blogger Glenn Greenwald and “Democracy Now!” host/executive producer Amy Goodman.

“The award honors journalists who follow in the independent footsteps of Izzy Stone,” said Jeff Cohen, PCIM’s founding director. “Our 2008 Izzy winners, Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman, personify the growing clout of independent media today in exposing government and corporate misconduct, media bias and human rights violations.”

Oh please.  Spare me.  Independent media?  Why don't they get an honesty attack and tell it like it is - these are far leftists.  I.F. Stone wasn't "independent."  He was a leftist, and, if the Venona intercepts are to be believed, his leftism may have drifted into something worse.  (I stress "may."  I'd want more confirmation.) 

Glenn Greenwald is a leftist.  Amy Goodman is way out there.  To describe these people as independent is an outrage.  But "independent" is one of those code words used on the left.  Like "progressive."

It's hilarious that this award is given at Ithaca College, a hotbed of the zanies.  A few years back, when challenged over the ideological imbalance in the school's political science department, the departmental chairman denied it, saying that Ithaca boasted a variety of "progressive" viewpoints.  That is absolutely self-indicting.  What she's saying is that Ithaca has intellectual diversity - a variety of leftist positions.

They are teaching our children.

December 11, 2009