Now I See the Analogy

The latest example of cluelessness at the Associated Press was pointed out by a reader in Kenya who has his own blog as well. The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater had invited Ward Churchill to speak there before his vitriolic condemnation of the September 11 victims was widely known. An uproar ensued when he was found to have referred to the victims as “little Eichmanns,” along with other equally bizarre anti-American slurs. Nevertheless, the Chancellor of UW-Whitewater bravely stood his ground and announced that the invitation to Churchill would not be rescinded.
That’s the subject of this AP article by one JR Ross. In the course of explaining the Churchill controversy, Ross writes:

Churchill came under fire after it became widely reported that an essay he wrote likened workers in the World Trade Center to “little Eichmanns,” a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who ensured the smooth running of the Nazi system.
Churchill made the comparison in an essay written hours after the 2001 attacks and later revised for a book.
The ethnic studies professor said in Boulder, Colo., Tuesday that his essay referred to “technocrats” who participate in what he calls repressive American policies around the world.

Yes, that’s how we all remember Eichmann. What I don’t understand is this: Is the AP reporter really that clueless, or was this some kind of weird attempt to make sense out of Churchill’s analogy?

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