So Brit Hume wants to cite a guy from a university I attended, OK

[MichaelHarris]

"And a fellow researcher has looked into questions about Churchill's claim -- in a book and other works -- that a deadly smallpox outbreak among Native Americans in the 19th Century was started by the U.S. Army. According to Lamar University Assistant professor Thomas Brown, none of the sources Churchill cites said anything of the kind."

I went to Lamar University for a while and this guy Brown is a total right-wing wack. Some right-wing websites have linked his article about Churchill here: http://hal.lamar.edu/~browntf/Churchill1.htm

Problem is none of the links work, kinda like Gannon's stories disappeared. Another problem is this guy Brown is not a historian:

Thomas Brown. Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal
Justice. Lamar University. PO Box 10026. Beaumont , TX

Now I know all of us who have read Zinn know about the smallpox outbreak among native Americans started when cavalry soldiers gave them infected blankets, well everyone EXCEPT Brown and Hume.

Watch this Lamar Uni Brown guy, he is going to be the next right-wing/hack/historian/journalist for the likes of Faux.

"The US Army, germ warfare (in 1840 the US government distributed blankets infected with smallpox amongst the Crow, reducing their population by 90%)"

http://www.peoplesoftheworld.org/hosted/crow/

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Brit Hume would cite a Springer Spaniel if it were a repug...

Brit Hume is not a real journalist - much like Guckert...

[MichaelHarris]

2. doing some diggin' on this Brown guy and

most of the sites about him are gone, sorta like underwear boys.

[Skidmore]

4. That Springer Spaniel wouldn't even have to

be a repug, but it would be if Brit Hume said it were. :)

[MichaelHarris]

3. I sent an email to the chair of the History Dept

Mr Carroll, I had taken a class with you a number of years ago and have always trusted your knowledge of American History, I still have the book of essays you used in that class one of which you wrote. The reason I'm writing you now is that I was pretty amazed and shocked that a professor named Thomas Brown from Lamar was quoted on Fox News about the Ward Churchill matter. I do not hide the fact that I find Fox news nothing more than right-wing propaganda that digs up anyone they can to promote their "news" stories. What does disturb me is they found someone from a University I was kind of proud of and a history department that taught facts and not propaganda. I know this Brown guy is not part of the history department but I truly feel his paper, which all the links to it are down ala Jeff Gannon of Talon News, is a black mark for Lamar University. I hope that someone there can stand up and report the facts concerning smallpox and native Americans, hopefully not someone from the Criminal Justice Department.

"The US Army, germ warfare (in 1840 the US government distributed blankets infected with smallpox amongst the Crow, reducing their population by 90%)"
http://www.peoplesoftheworld.org/hosted/crow/

Thank you for your time and knowledge,
Michael Harris

[harlinchi]

5. I made mention of this awful page in our history...

...and the thread stopped getting posts. I wonder why.

[chicagiana]

6. Barbara Bush ...

Barbara Bush always cited Brit Hume as an example of a journalist who had respect for Dan Quayle. Nuff said.

[Igel]

7. Empirical question.

And not just an empirical question, but a relatively easily answered one for people with the sources Churchill references. No need for belief, appeals to authority, or ad hominem attacks to enter into the picture. Refuting this Lamar person should be a fairly trivial task.

An amateur historian can easily double-check a historian's sources. If one can, why not another?

And if I remember right, the anti-Churchill screed refers not to 1840, but to 1837. The truth of one doesn't affect the truth of the other.