One Minor Chomsky Correction

Q: If this is true, I would ask: what kind of judgment has Chomsky exhibited by giving power of attorney to his Nazi friend Serge Thion, and by writing an essay at the request of his Nazi friend to be used in any way his Nazi friend saw fit? On the other side, I would ask: if this is true and Dershowitz knew it, why did he not include this story in Chutzpah? If he disbelieves the story, why? Finally, I ask if you could provide a date and page number for your reference to Hitchens.

A: During the Chomsky-Faurisson debate, apparently there;'s one factoid that ain't true, yet both sides of the debate seem to take it for granted. It's the assertion that Chomsky gave Faurisson permission to use his essay as he wished. According to Christopher Hitchens in _Grand Street_, the request to sign the original petition came from Chomsky's friend Serge Thion. The uproar over this--

including the accusation that signing the petition amounted to support of faurisson's work-- let Thion to request that Chomsky write the statement. Hitchens goes on to write, "Chomsky's pedantic recitation of Voltairean principles would probably have aroused no comment at all had Thion not taken rather promiscuous advantage of the permission to use it as he wished. Without notification to Chomsky, he added the little essay as an _avis_ to Faurisson's pretrial _Memoire en defense._" Hitchens also writes that Chomsky's fault in this issue was giving power of attorney to Thion, whom he regards as "rather a protea and quicksilvery fellow." Just thought I'd clear that one up.