Pop goes the weasel...

A fascinating article by Eric Fleury -- "Muhammad Ali and the Myth of a Civil Rights Hero" -- popping the balloon of Muhammad Ali who for decades virtually no one would question as a winsomely charismatic pop icon and civil rights champion (aside, of course, from his skillful prowess as a boxer).

So many interesting nuggets in this article, such as:

The Nation of Islam could not have possibly selected a better mouthpiece than the obnoxious young contender Cassius Clay, a name which he would later disavow as his ‘slave name,’ an amusing irony since he was named after a famed abolitionist.  

This inclusion on my blog reminds me of another exposé I published here on another sainted pop icon -- perhaps the gold standard of sainted pop icons -- Gandhi.  If someday in the near future I come across a third (and I can guarantee my readers it won't be Christopher Hitchens' vicious tissues of calumny against Mother Theresa), maybe I'll start a series.

P.S.:  I recently discovered Eric Fleury on the website dedicated to philosopher Eric Voegelin, where it was noted that he will be among the academics giving papers at the 31st annual conference they hold (this time in September, in San Francisco).  His slated paper is titled "Prudence, National Interest and Counter-Terrorism" and I would be interested to learn if he has broken ranks with the largely PC MC tenor of most of his fellow Voegelinians on this issue of the problem of Islam.  (I won't be holding my breath, however; and frankly I would fall off my chair if that turned out to be the case...).