I find that a whole lot of garden variety Leftists (by which I mean under-educated, which is most of them) quote Chomsky constantly without even realizing it.
Despite being Leftists themselves (of the thinking, non-totalitarian variety), both Paul Berman and Francis Wheen have dished out withering takedowns of him. Berman’s book Terror and Liberalism is the best analysis out there of Islamism and its apologists.
On a more personal note, I got a bemused laugh from Chomky’s recent tirade about America naming its weapons after Indian tribes. The first laugh was the fact that he referred to the “Tomahawk” cruise missile within a list of Native American people. Pretty sloppy for a so-called “linguist”. The second laugh was from his absurdly uneducated opinion of American Indians. I’ve lived much of my life near reservations (including working and living on one for a few years). Indians take enormous pride in their military service, and Veteran’s Day is a huge holiday, with festivities lasting four or five days. They are also disproportionally represented in our elite combat units.
Of course, an old Marxist like Chomsky would just say that was false consciousness. However, I would advise him not to say it to their faces.
