Matt May likes and supports David Horowitz (as do I). But he is disturbed that David has taken on Professor Harry Targ as one of the 101 most dangerous academics in America, the subject matter and subtitle title of his most recent book.

 Having taken a course from Professor Targ during my time at Purdue, he is an easy target indeed....

 But to call Professor Targ dangerous is stretching it greatly. The man is harmless. He does not have the intellectual capacity nor the spellbinding speaking style necessary to properly ensnare witless undergraduates into the clutches of Communism and anti—Americanism. He simply is not that engaging. Students who take advantage of Professor Targ providing the opportunity to visit Cuba are individuals who hopefully see the imprisoned island and its "leadership" for what it is. Any other conclusion is the result of shallow vision and gullibility — not necessarily Professor Targ's persuasive powers.

Nor does Professor Targ engage in the truly dangerous practice that many professors around the nation do, and that is grade according to ideology. To his credit, he allowed open criticism of his views in class, and while he tended to dismiss them in a somewhat condescending way, students were not afraid to express their views nor contradict much of what was being taught on exams....

I fear that David is opening himself up to much criticism by using the criteria he did, and not auditing classroom behavior, in compiling his list. Targ's views may put him on the fringe, but it doesn't appear that he misused his position when teaching Matt, at least.

Thomas Lifson  2 22 06