Sliming Ivana Bacik
US ex-pat William Sjostrom (or the Freedom Institute Godfather, as we like to refer to him around these parts) over at AtlanticBlog has a disgraceful little item up on his blog about Ivana Bacik, the Reid Professor of Law at TCD and a prominent feminist campaigner.
Specifically, it seems that Sjostrom has a grievance with Bacik's involvement with a new campaign to bring abortion to Ireland. While I share Sjostrom's abhorrence of abortion-on-demand (an abomination of modern Western society), I don't particularly care for the ad hominem attack on Bacik's parentage by this UCC academic.
It's entirely too reminiscent of what the stateside GOP uses to destroy opponents, and unwelcome over here (no matter how much impressionable YFGers may emulate it). He goes:
One of Sjostrom's fellow US Republican activists, 'James' (with - I kid you not - the pithy email address "gopireland@att.net") picks up Dear Leader's theme with gusto in the comments, adding:
Perhaps if 'James' were someone other than yet another ignorant right-wing American ex-pat with a big mouth, he might know that Bacik's grandfather Karel (far from being a communist, as the smearer asserts) was in fact none other than the Czech businessman who founded Waterford Crystal (since run into the ground by 'Sir' Tony O'Reilly). Oops.
P.S. The "sliming" in the title is partially a reference to another charming little Sjostrom posting of recent times, leaping to the defence of none other than one Silvio Berlusconi, crook extraordinaire and (we would hazard a guess) an object of some admiration for Free Marketeers everywhere.
Oh, and before someone sues for libel, that's statutory rape, Bill.
Specifically, it seems that Sjostrom has a grievance with Bacik's involvement with a new campaign to bring abortion to Ireland. While I share Sjostrom's abhorrence of abortion-on-demand (an abomination of modern Western society), I don't particularly care for the ad hominem attack on Bacik's parentage by this UCC academic.
It's entirely too reminiscent of what the stateside GOP uses to destroy opponents, and unwelcome over here (no matter how much impressionable YFGers may emulate it). He goes:
"Another usual suspect
Ivana Bacik, a law professor at Trinity College, Dublin, is the spokesman for a campaign to bring legalized abortion to Ireland. Bacik was least seen getting indignant about removing Saddam from power. Dead Iraqis, dead babies. Who else is she keen to see get killed?
Bacik says her grandfather fought in the Czech resistance against the Nazis. It seems that sometimes the apple falls very far from the tree."
One of Sjostrom's fellow US Republican activists, 'James' (with - I kid you not - the pithy email address "gopireland@att.net") picks up Dear Leader's theme with gusto in the comments, adding:
"Yes, Bacik's grandfather fought against the Nazi's. But one must remember that one of the biggest resistance groups in Czechoslovakia was an off-shoot of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union, for all of you lefties who are trying to forget your ideological heritage). One can be almost certain that he was involved in one of them, since the ones backed by the British and Americans were granted status in the US and Britain - not Ireland.
Given Bacik's stance on just about every issue, I disagree that she fell far from the tree. Although intellectually, she is still very much in the shade....Kill babies, but not terrorists."
Perhaps if 'James' were someone other than yet another ignorant right-wing American ex-pat with a big mouth, he might know that Bacik's grandfather Karel (far from being a communist, as the smearer asserts) was in fact none other than the Czech businessman who founded Waterford Crystal (since run into the ground by 'Sir' Tony O'Reilly). Oops.
P.S. The "sliming" in the title is partially a reference to another charming little Sjostrom posting of recent times, leaping to the defence of none other than one Silvio Berlusconi, crook extraordinaire and (we would hazard a guess) an object of some admiration for Free Marketeers everywhere.
Oh, and before someone sues for libel, that's statutory rape, Bill.
| Permalink 
|
