Horowitz’s Gang Smears the Dead

Albany, New York

David Horowitz and gang never cease to amaze. From their crackpot intellectualism, to their red baiting antics — it’s clear the folks over at FrontPageMagazine.com are nothing short of fascist.
On April 25, Ann Coulter wannabe and FrontPage darling, Debbie Schlussel, had this to say about the death of peace activist Marla Ruzicka, who, as I am sure you know, was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq earlier this month:

” … It’s time to stop worshipping at the alter [sic] of this false heroine. There are plenty of young American men and women … who’ve been brutalized or killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. But none of them got the … coverage that Ruzicka got–unless they were anally raped or … played pro football. That should tell you … about the media’s outlook … : American soldiers fighting for freedom–bad; vociferous activist bimbette … –very, very good. While it’s a sad day when any American gets killed by Islamic terrorists, it’s measurably less sad when that American aided and abetted them … For Marla Ruzicka, some might call it, poetic justice.”

Not kidding. Schlussel actually claims Ruzicka “aided and abetted” terrorists. She also has the impudence to whine that the mainstream media hasn’t backed the US war, or lauded fallen US soldiers as heroes. Yeah right. The media Schlussel so vehemently attacks has yet to print the names of all those innocents who have been killed by the bullets and bombs of Bush’s “democracy.”

Nice try though, Deb.

The 28 year-old Ruzicka was the founder of Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), an NGO that began as a one-person outfit and slowly grew into a vital operation that compiled statistics of Iraqi civilian casualties. Marla and her team (which included several Iraqis, one of whom, Faiz Ali Salim, died alongside Marla) pursued the casualty figures by going door to door in some of the most heavily bombarded areas of Iraq. I’d like to see Debbie do the same without the protection of her hallowed military regime, let alone her make-up kit.

Unlike the US soldiers in the country who are there to kill, Marla was there to end the US-led occupation. She was attempting to raise awareness of the mounting civilian death toll by pressuring the US media to acknowledge the atrocities.

No, Marla’s death wasn’t “poetic justice,” as Schlussel smugly contends. It was the unfortunate consequence of her own bravery.

The Horowitz crew has no pity, let alone integrity. So we shouldn’t be surprised at Schlussel’s rant — that’s how the befuddled minds of the fanatical right work: you are either with us or against us. And if you are against us, you may as well die.

So I think it’s about time we all said “no” to the iniquity of David Horowitz and the ghouls who write for FrontPageMag.com. Why not take a minute and drop the callous diva a line. Let her know what you think of her latest commentary.

Debbie Schlussel can be reached at dschlussel@yahoo.com.

JOSHUA FRANK is the author of the forthcoming book, Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush, to be published by Common Courage Press. You can pre-order a copy at discounted rate at www.BrickBurner.org. Josh can be reached at: Joshua@BrickBurner.org.

JOSHUA FRANK is the managing editor of CounterPunch. He is the author of the new book, Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America, published by Haymarket Books. He can be reached at joshua@counterpunch.org. You can troll him on Twitter @joshua__frank.