HITCHENS: And as to the war, look, what people discovered on the 11th of September of 2001 was that we have been living in a fool's paradise...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
HITCHENS: ... and that there was a serious attempt to make war on this country from without and from within. And no one that reminds them of that serious is ever going to look silly. Of people to try and act as if it shouldn't be true or shouldn't be true, can't always be, not just made to look weak, but, it seems to me, reveal themselves as people who are weak and not up to the challenge.
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It's really time to let this chap fall from the special place he holds within many hearts.
Yes, in the past, he used his skills as an essayist and polemicist to reveal the half-truths and out right lies of the powerful and, to this day, I consider his analysis of the Chomsky/Faurrison affair, "The Chorus and The Cassandra", to be a near perfect work.
But this defense of the Bush administration's aggression and the easy use of the most mindless cliches about 9-11, 'strength', 'weakness' and meeting 'challenges' is too, too much.
Whatever talents he once possessed - of perception and cunning gaze - are now either dissipated or surrendered to the service of power. Probably a bit of both.
The future is uncertain and he may experience yet another change of mind. But he seems to be on a path now - in for a penny in for a pound - and lazy habits of thought have obviously settled in.
He can write and talk about the imminent threat from "Islamofascism" and the West's special duties owing to its sterling virtue all day and night without breaking a sweat and get paid for this coasting.
The alternative, thinking deeply about cause and effect, leads to uncomfortable and wholly un-self righteous conclusions. Smaller checks too.
Yeah, it's time to say goodbye.
DRM
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