On the fourth of July, the battling bullies of the far right renamed one of their main headquarters, the Center for the Study of Popular Culture. The new title? The David Horowitz Freedom Center.

Horowitz, the patron saint of people who like, um, reckless exaggeration and nasty rhetoric, founded the center in 1988 with the intention of "establishing a conservative presence in Hollywood." So clearly that was successful. But The Center for the Stud…woops, David Horowitz Freedom Center, is more well known for its work on Academic Freedom (harassing academics they disagree with) and promoting the flawed and misleading Academic Bill of Rights. It also supports FrontPage Magazine (sample hed "The Left has made Hawaii even more vulnerable to attack") and Discover the Networks, which is kind of a typology of the left (linking them to terrorists and dictators)--hey, there's John Podesta! He's a leftist! And so is Ted Kennedy!

But renaming his own bizarre organization after himself isn't too far out of character for the always-self-promoting David Horowitz, who, after all, travels with a bodyguard.

But all this gives me an idea. We should rename the Center for American Progress the John Podesta Progress Forum. And Campus Progress should be named after our own dear leader, David Halperin: The David Halperin Campus Liberty Coalition. And, as long as I'm at it, why not name my desk after me? The Tim Fernholz Heartland Freedom America Workspace.

Oh, wait. That would be crazy. Just like David Horowitz…


By the way, the David Halperin Campus Liberty Coalition, supported by the John Podesta Progress Forum, is part of The Free Exchange on Campus Coalition, which works to debunk Horowitz and protect free speech on campus. It's strongly endorsed by the Tim Fernholz Heartland Freedom America Workspace.