It's just my opinion but I think of the people who are soft on Osama and soft on Saddam are as being more like the German communists who said, "After Hitler, us" and were therefore soft on Hitler. They just didn't consider him that dangerous.
Lloyd Grove, the Washington Post gossip columnist who Doug and Chris Kromm quote, is misleading in sort of a gossipy way. Here's how the interview acutally goes:
"Tom Ivancie: Is there anyone in public life who comes close to representing your views?
Hitchens:Most recently, I’d say it would be Jerry Brown or Ralph Nader. One is a crazed, semi-Catholic, and one is a sort of crazed health nut, safety-first fanatic. But both are people of integrity, and they’re in politics because of conviction. And I’m very, very glad that neither of them ever had a chance of becoming President. But I’m glad that they ran. And I’m very glad that Nader stayed in to the end, because he hurt Al Gore’s chances of winning.
TI:What disturbed you so much about Gore—the connection to Clinton?
H:No, it wasn’t just Clinton. I’m persuaded that personality is the question—character, if you want to call it that. Al Gore had allowed himself to become a humble, hollowed-out, humiliated figure. I didn’t want a zombie to be the president of the United States.
TI:Is there anybody out there now with the right character to be President?
H:Well, maybe John Edwards. He probably wouldn’t want my endorsement, but—I wrote a piece about him—
TI:This was in Vanity Fair?
H:Yes, and it was a decidedly lenient piece. He and his wife impressed me. I’m glad that people like them still want to get into politics. Right now, politics drives out everyone of any integrity. So we’re left with people who want to do politics as a career.
TI:Well, he’s a multi-millionaire trial lawyer who says he’s for the “regular guy.” How do you read that in terms of character?
H:Oh, that’s all bullshit. I mean—I can’t wait for someone to say, listen, I don’t know about regular guys, I’m certainly not one myself, but I’d be a good president. You know, William Faulkner, when he was postmaster in Oxford, Mississippi, was asked what it’s like to be postmaster. And he said, “It’s okay, but you’re at the mercy of every son of a bitch who wants a ten cent stamp.” I wish Edwards would say that. You know, “I’m from a small town, but I’m not going back there, and I’ ve blessed the day I left Robbins, North Carolina. But I do know quite a lot about the law, about the treasury, about health policy, and I’d be a good president.”
TI:But you’re dreaming now, aren’t you?
H:No, no, no. I think people would really love it. I mean, the one thing you can’t be these days is a guy from a small town named Hope, because that doesn’t work for anyone any more. So I’m not dreaming. No, if Al Gore had said, “I was brought up in Washington, D.C., not some hog wallow in Tennessee, and I can be a decent president because I know what presidents are like,” then he might have won. Spare us the false populism.
TI:Well, since you believe in Edwards, what is it—
H:I don’t believe in him. I mean, I told him I wouldn’t vote for him.
TI:Well, why not?
H:Because I’d vote for Bush. The important thing is this: Is a candidate completely serious about prosecuting the war on theocratic terrorism to the fullest extent? Only Bush is." http://www.americasfuture.org/viewBrainwash.cfm?pubid=210