'In Retirement, He's Starting to Look a Lot Like Michael Moore'

Ouch. Looks who's back in the news: the make-believe Indian Fraud Churchill.

Former Gov. Bill Owens on Friday compared one-time University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill to a famous moviemaker - and it wasn't a compliment.

"In retirement, he's starting to look a lot like Michael Moore," Owens said, referring to the frumpy director of Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11.

Churchill, fired by CU in 2007, is suing to get his job back.

Owens and others, including University of Colorado regents, are being deposed as part of the trial, scheduled to start March 9 in Denver District Court.

Owens declined to discuss in detail what kinds of questions he was asked and what answers he gave, but Owens wasn't shy about expressing his opinion of Churchill.

"Ward Churchill is a plagiarist and a fraud, and, regrettably, we continue to pay for his deception."

Churchill could not be reached for comment.

The deposition took place in the office of Churchill's attorney, David Lane. Owens, who left office in January 2007 and now is a businessman, was represented by the attorney general's office.

For his part Friday, Churchill refused to shake Owens' hand.

So Owens took a verbal jab. "I said, 'Come on, you're a big guy.' "

Lane said later: "I hope the governor's feelings weren't too hurt."

The Churchill saga began in 2005, when an earlier essay he had written - saying the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were a response to a long history of U.S. abuses - came to the public's attention.

Churchill called the World Trade Center victims "little Eichmanns," a reference to Nazi Adolf Eichmann, who played a key role in the Holocaust.

The essay ignited a firestorm, and Owens was among those who called on the CU president to fire Churchill.

Via LGF links.

Linked at Instapundit. Thanks!