[lbo-talk] Alex Cockburn going the Hitchens way?

[Carl Remick]

>From: ravi <gadfly at exitleft.org>
>
>Today, I had the opportunity to read Cockburn's piece at CounterPunch,
>and what stood out most in his rant was its similarity in style to
>Hitchens' fling rage in all directions with a drunken sneer (and hope
>something sticks).
>
>He writes:
>
> > The war grinds on, but the pwog Democrats prefer to talk about other
> >  matters, such as the fact that Rove is not going to be indicted.
> > Thank God. the left will have to talk about something else for a
> > change. As a worthy hobby horse for the left, the whole Plame scandal
> >  has never made any sense. What was it all about in the first
> > analysis? Outing a CIA employee. What’s wrong with that?
>
>The last sentence alone seems to distance him from reality. What is
>wrong with outing a CIA employee? In the minds of the American public, I
>would think, everything!

I think Cockburn is talking about ultimate objective reality and not what 
will appeal to the terminally deluded American public.  The CIA is a pack of 
professional pychopaths who have caused no end of evil in the world, so in 
that sense outing a CIA operative is always reason for celebration.

Counterpunch is guilty of inconsistency though, since two of their star 
contributors are ex-CIA staffers, Bill and Kathleen Christison.

Carl