Christopher Hitchens

[Apsken at aol.com]

Why are people so surprised? As long as I can remember reading the
maledictions below Christopher Hitchens's byline, he has built his career and
his loyal readership by titillation, as the snob's gossip columnist. Catty
quips about his rich and powerful friends and acquaintances have been his
trademark. Add to that his adoration of, for example, Vaclav Havel; his
defense of George Orwell's snitching on reds to Orwell's friend in British
intelligence; and his opposition to women's right to abortion. Demagoguery
about Rickey Ray Rector gave Hitchens a leftish gloss, but what has he ever
contributed to any mass struggle? Hobnobbing with Blumenthal and other
reactionaries in the propaganda trade certainly fits his type, while I'd be
surprised if Hitchens ever showed up with a picket sign at the Pentagon or at
a factory gate. This latest act shows only how passionately he's striving to
"succeed" in the media biz; it is utterly useless to Clinton's victims --
workers, welfare recipients, the people of Iraq, etc.

Snippets:

KL:Who taught you to corrupt debate by inventing such lies? Hichens and
Cockburn?

Alex: I'll take that as a compliment. Indeed, Hitchens and Cockburn were
formative influences on my politics. I don't consider them "liars" at all.
You're going to have to do better than this.

WP: Christopher Hitchens recalls meeting Sidney Blumenthal in the mid-1980s,
when both were visiting journalists at the Lehrman Institute, a now-defunct
conservative think tank in Manhattan. 

Alex: SAY WHAT???  A *conservative* think-tank?  And he's a friend of
Christopher Buckley?!

Alex: I find the Hiss-Chambers comparison a bit creepy.  Does anyone really
believe Hitchens is potential neo-conservative material?  I sure hope not.

KL: He's your model, not mine.

Ken Lawrence