John-John, RIP

Max Sawicky sawicky at epinet.org
Tue Jul 20 13:24:44 PDT 1999


Hitchens, though perhaps not the best authority, did a persuasive piece in Salon which explained why, given his circumstances, John Jr. was not a bad guy.

It's shouldn't be a crime to be rich and not-radical, rich and not-brilliant, or rich and not-a-saint.

I would think the canonical left analysis is that charisma worship is more a media creation and construction than a response to public interest. One factor in the current emphasis is that there ain't much else happening right now, from the standpoint of typical news events.

The "anarchist" piece and the jokes, while not without a speck of humor, seem more designed to insult conventional sensibilities, much like Hitchens' stuff, coincidentally, on Mother Teresa. Seems more than a bit of surrealism here, or being outrageous for its own sake. Anti-politics.

mbs



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