Christopher Hitchens comes to the proper conclusion about those progressive reactionaries who compare Abu Ghraib to Guernica:
How shady it is that our modern leftists and peaceniks can detect fascism absolutely everywhere except when it is actually staring them in the face. The next thing, of course, if we complete the historic analogy, would be for them to sign a pact with it. And this, some of them have already done.
PJM Home
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
16 Comments
1. Ron:The next thing, of course, if we complete the historic analogy, would be for them to sign a pact with it. And this, some of them have already done.
That old 5th column is still playing games and thinks we will fall for it one more time. Unfortunately Lenin was right when he said that there would always be useful fools around.
May 10, 2005 - 3:17 pm 2. Ron:“The next thing, of course, if we complete the historic analogy, would be for them to sign a pact with it. And this, some of them have already done.” Nice turn of words.
That old 5th column is still playing games and thinks we will fall for it one more time. Unfortunately Lenin was right when he said that there would always be useful fools around.
May 10, 2005 - 3:18 pm 3. David Thomson:ìHow shady it is that our modern leftists and peaceniks can detect fascism absolutely everywhere except when it is actually staring them in the face.î
Staring them in the face—when they look into the mirror? These leftist fools do not believe that an objective and fair understanding of history is even possible. Itís merely a matter of how one feels about these recorded events. They are truly the progeny of Martin Heidegger and Paul DeMan.
May 10, 2005 - 4:07 pm 4. lindenen:Belgravia Dispatch had an excellent post on Botero’s work: Botero’s Empty Outrage.
May 10, 2005 - 4:30 pm 5. Kevin P:Roger:
The reactionary left doesn’t care about clarity. All they can see is Abu Ghraib, US occupation of a foreign country, death.They take these facts and do not look at any of the reasons for them. They don’t see that the terrible mistakes at Abu Ghraib was detected and stopped by the Army and that that institution is in the process of punishing the criminals.They don’t see that the goal of the occupation is to remove the remnants of a fascist dictator and prevent the terrorists that they lovingly call “rebels” from reinstituting a fascist regime where a 20% Sunni population ruled the majority Shia and Kurdish population by denying them any human rights and treating the majority as sub-humans. The insurgents are not just fighting a foreign power, they are also fighting the idea of a Iraq where all people are treated with equality. “But people are dying.” They were dying before the war in greater numbers and there was no sign that the dying was going to stop. In fact the murder and torture of anyone who threatened Saddam’s dictatorship was SOP and was the only way that Saddam could hold onto power. The intellectual retardation of the reactionaries never ends.
May 10, 2005 - 4:55 pm 6. Tom of the Missouri:Look what my town just installed in an act of really bad timing:
Christopher Hitchens
It is cool art, but it kind of makes me sick every time I drive by now.
May 10, 2005 - 5:30 pm 7. Tom of the Missouri:Sorry. I don’t know how to do links in html.
Here is the link:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/58002A19EF20710286256FF900155AE2?OpenDocument
May 10, 2005 - 5:33 pm 8. Rick Ballard:“The intellectual retardation of the reactionaries never ends.”
I would disagree, Kevin, I’d say it ended around thirty-five years ago. It’s been all limbic system for at least that long. The amygdala is as capable of generating strong response as it ever was, the sensory receptors still function very well (just whisper ‘Abu Ghraib’ to check it out), but there’s nobody home. Retardation refers to higher brain function – no evidence exists suggesting that the reactionary left is capable of exercising such a function. We’re talking Skinner’s pigieons here. They can’t stop pecking.
May 10, 2005 - 5:41 pm 9. Ron Wrght:NICHT MEHR РEndlösung der Judenfrage, keiner Untermensch, Auswitch oder Holocaust!
Roger,
Blessed be for the Blogos as the sword of truth to counter those who would rewrite history. These are the same ilk who would agrue there was no NAZI Final Solution, the subhumans, Auswitch or Holocaust.
While we’re on the topic of rewriting history, tell me this isn’t true:
ÔøΩSecret Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program SuspectedÔøΩ
Eli Lake, NY Sun:
A secret, parallel military program to produce nuclear weapons may be behind IranÔøΩs announcement yesterday that it will break its agreement to suspend uranium enrichment. Western intelligence agencies, including the CIA, suspect the Islamic republic has been hiding the program from the International Atomic Energy AgencyÔøΩs inspectors during the last two years of negotiations.
[...]
HT Regime Change Iran
And see how the Blogos can stop this from happening again:
Link Here
May 10, 2005 - 5:57 pm 10. Terrye:I am glad to see that Christopher Hitchens has stopped bashing Jesus and has decided to get back on message.
In fact I would say the left has the same unreasoning resentment for Bush and everything associated with him that Hitchens has for Christians. In both cases people have allowed their prejudices to effect their reason.
The obvious difference here would be that nobody bombed Abu Ghraib. Perhaps Botero is not smart enough to understand that.
I know I am sick unto death of the self righteous peacenicks who would have been happy to let the Iraqi people die at the hands of Saddam, but are outraged when America enforces the mandatory resolution of the UN, an institution they hold dear.
They are not only hypocrites, they are hypocrites with no sense of proportion.
May 10, 2005 - 6:08 pm 11. Kevin P:Roger:
This is way off topic but it somewhat ties into the theme of the obtuse reasoning of the left. On Huffington Post sportscaster Jim Lampley gives us shocking news. Kerry won. How does Jim know? Las Vegas bookies and the exit polls. He begins by talking to all those who have college degree who know how accurate and scientific these polls are and that they just do not make mistakes.He throws in his sports expierence by telling us that bookies, who told us that Kerry was favored going into election day have these things down so well that you can go to the bank when they speak. This is the proof Jimmy needs to prove that Rove stole the election. I guess I will have to submit to the genius of my betters and conclude that Dewey beat Truman and the 69 Colts actually beat the 69 Jets in the Super Bowl.
May 10, 2005 - 7:02 pm 12. Knucklehead:Teerye,
They are not only hypocrites, they are hypocrites with no sense of proportion.
My attention has been directed elsewhere of late but I rest easy knowing I can return, now and again, to find you remain a femme fatale of perfect proportion. I’ve recently been wearing a hat (a habit I am not fond but in need of). I tip it to you.
May 10, 2005 - 8:02 pm 13. thedragonflies:It’s so much easier to be brave against those who you pretend are fascists, but aren’t, than those who really are fascists. Fuax-bravery against faux-fascists. It all works very nicely in the delusional state of mind of the left.
May 10, 2005 - 8:55 pm 14. AJ Kaufman:Hitchens is the spokesperson for “9/11 Conservatives.” His attack on Moore after Mike’s Crockumentary was, and still is, the best retort that The Left will never read: http://slate.msn.com/id/2102723/
He has also written many good articles in the National Review since. This piece is spectacular too, and quite revealing and telling. It is replete with historical significance that esacpes the eyes of most.
If the anti-War folk knew their history, or even their extremely recent past, they would know that whatever “atrocities” were committed during “Abu-Gate,” they pale in comparison to the barbarism and genocide of Saddam, Hitler, etc. However, as my colleagues show me each day, anything anti-Bush Administration is worthwhile to report.
Revisionist history is an amazing thing. Again, I blame the ACLU for incessantly harping on Abu Ghraib. We should ponder why that organization finds the humiliation of non-Americans (Iraqis) so imperative to their anti-American mission. Just add the “a” already, ACLUnatics. Get a clue.
May 10, 2005 - 8:59 pm 15. bovious:Credit where it’s due dept.: I thought this sentiment looked familiar when I read the Hitchens piece the other day, and your link caused me to go ahead and look it up.
The Instapundit is probably too umble to bring it to everybody’s attention, but from Sept. 2002:
What I find amusing is that many people who complain constantly about “fascism” seem to have trouble recognizing it in an objectively fascist state like Iraq or Syria.
He doesn’t make with the aphorisms all that frequently, usually opting to “indeed” others’, so I thought this one was worth noting.
May 11, 2005 - 8:19 am 16. Robert Schwartz:I finally saw some of the pictures when my son returned the sunday paper to me after cleaning out his room. In the pictures the “victims” are covered with blood. Not so in the photographs. So the “artist” is a liar too.
May 11, 2005 - 10:52 pm