Dear Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,
My brief digression into "popular
culture" in our previous bulletin (28 December) was a strategic error on
my part. The references to the popular books by Mark Phillips and Cathy O'Brien
served to distract our readers from the scientific rigor employed by CEIMSA's associate researchers.
I would like to thank Arthur Mitzman, Susan George, and Bertell
Ollman for their prompt critical input which serves
to protect the high quality of our research center's activities. As each of
these scholars have pointed out (Please see items A., B., and C. below.), the
authenticity of the information provided by Mr. Phillips and Ms. O'Brien is
questionable. But more damaging than being likely prevarications is the fact
that this information is imbedded in critical scientific discussions and serves
to discredit the rigorous scientific work in which their ideas were insinuated.
Whether this was done deliberately or by chance, the effect of mixing
discussions of "popular culture" with political analysis serves to
distract from the scientific status of political criticism at CEIMSA.
For the above reasons I apologize to
readers for this counterproductive mélange, and I invite them to join us in
exercising a greater vigilance in differentiating scientific analysis from
opinions, innuendos and rumors that are produced endlessly by popular cultural
outlets. By entering into the domain of "inconsequential
exaggerations" of popular protest --as Professor Richard Cobb has done for
another era-- we embark upon a path of infinite variations, which are fruitless
from a scientific standpoint.
We, therefore, invite readers to
participate in future discussions of scientific strategies that might allow us
to arrive at a better understanding of what drives social change in the United
States of America and facilitate our recognition of the consequences that such
changes produce, both nationally and internationally.
Sincerely,
Francis McCollum Feeley
Professor of American Studies
Director of Research
Université Stendhal-Grenoble
3
http://dimension.ucsd.edu/CEIMSA-IN-EXILE/
_______________
A.
From: Arthur Mitzman
Dear Francis,
I'm very concerned that you've
fallen into a trap with the Cathy O'Brien stuff. I looked it up and it seems at about the same
level of verisimilitude as the flying saucer stuff with which it is sometimes
associated on the web. . . . .
Cordially,
Arthur
_______________
B.
From: Susan George
Francis, I've not read all the stuff
Arthur cites but I would trust him. . . . .
Bush is bad
enough without all the drivel.
Amities,
Susan
www.tni.org/george
_______________
C.
From: Bertell
Ollman :
Hi Francis -
I think I agree with Arthur here. I
gave the lecture below a quick read, and tho I
consider our rulers capable of almost anything, there are too many big names
involved in the story for it to be credible. And yes, as Arthur says, there is
a danger of giving our critics an easy way to dismiss what we have to say about
everything else by distributing such stuff (even with the additional question
marks).
Bertell