Kromm:
>You know, I honestly don't understand why Hitch's recent antics surprise
>people. Hitchens has been unhinged for quite a while now. Have Nation-lefty
>types just been in denial?
>
>It was odd to see all the people wringing their hands, lamenting his
>departure from The Nation. It's been years since one of his column has had
>that "a-ha" quality of revealing something we didn't know. The rest was all
>bluster.
You're partly right, but types like you are also partly in denial. What's appealing about Hitchens and others like Chomsky and Vidal is their command of the facts, their ability to research and digest new events, and the range of their knowledge. Also, they can be very funny, write well and give the impression they are indifferent to popularity.
Below is a recent e-mail from an acquaintance who is an example of someone sympathetic to the left but put off by those on the far left who can be as nasty in enforcing the party line as those on the far right are. People like him see Hitchens giving it back in spades and admire him for it. Last year I went out to dinner with a bunch of people, one of whom was a young guy who was leading the group organizing anti-War on the Taliban protests at the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana. He was unbelievably obnoxious and even disliked Chomsky! ------------- from Horace: I attended the Mario Savio Memorial Lecture yesterday evening at the UC Berkeley Student Union. This is the fourth time I've seen Chistopher Hitchens speak in the last year. There were 200+ people in attendance. Of the audiences I've been part of when I've seen him, this was by far the most monochromatic politically. Throughout the program, Mr. Hitchens's articulations on the intervention in Bosnia, 9/11 and the destruction of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and the impending confrontation with the Saddam Hussein regime, elicited frequent boos, jeers, hisses and profanity laced interjections from a number of members of the audience. When it came time for questions, many chose to make statements instead of ask questions. A number of the statements were unintelligible. Despite all of this, Mr. Hitchens handled his business. I think I caught a glimpse of why he left "The Nation."
He signed my copy of "The Missionary Position" and graciously answered my question about "The List" chapter of the Orwell book.
Looking forward to the next discussion.