Unfairenheit 9/11

msn ^ | June 21,2004 | Christopher Hitchens

[The Raven]

One of the many problems with the American left, and indeed of the American left, has been its image and self-image as something rather too solemn, mirthless, herbivorous, dull, monochrome, righteous, and boring. How many times, in my old days at The Nation magazine, did I hear wistful and semienvious ruminations? Where was the radical Firing Line show? Who will be our Rush Limbaugh? I used privately to hope that the emphasis, if the comrades ever got around to it, would be on the first of those and not the second. But the meetings themselves were so mind-numbing and lugubrious that I thought the danger of success on either front was infinitely slight.

>>>SNIP<<<

To describe this film as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental. To describe it as an exercise in facile crowd-pleasing would be too obvious. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of "dissenting" bravery.

[Howlin]

Another Berg/Moore ping for tonight!

[okie01]

Bosnia and Kosovo would have been cleansed and annexed.

Kosovo has been cleansed. Of Serbs.

And, so far as annexation's concerned, it was always part of Serbia. Still is. Technically...

[dead]

Thanks for the ping Anna.

Man, that was absolutely scathing. Let Lumpy chew on that for a while.

I'm sure he'll offer no substantive debate on any of the points Hitchens raises. He's simply not up to it.

[A Citizen Reporter]

This is LONG, and exerpts do it absolutely no justice, because you can just feel the rage increasing with every word. Hitchens is a lefty, but he is one who will stand against those who are dishonest.

[swilhelm73]

Wow. I have never seen such a through and complete debunking of a film...

[Huck]

The closest we came to totalitarianism was our "peculiar institution." But then, it was called "peculiar" for a reason.

[ChinaThreat]

Easy now. I think Moore is part of the movement to bring mentally handicapped people into the work force. You know, like the special olympics but they get paid.

[okie01]

Like Rush said. Michael Moore is the modern day incarnation of Joseph Goebbels.

Except that Goebbels possessed human intelligence, while Moore tops out at animal cunning.

[spodefly]

After all the Reagan slams, this article puts Hitch back on my good side.

[Jhensy]

I wish like David Horowitz he could make a clean break with left wing thinking.

Yep. The day will come when Hitchens finally comes clean with himself intellectually and admits that he belongs on the right. Camille Paglia too. It must be terribly hard, however, to realize that one was full of sh*t, and passionate about it, for many years...

[Katya]

"To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental".

I love Hitchens twisted english poetics....this quote along with his infamous Goreasm: "No controlling renal authority"...aka the Ice Tea Defense...no PC BS...although it's all starting to sound very WC.

[torchthemummy]

Ditto!

[section9]

Jesus, but this was one of the more superb Fiskings of Moore that I have seen since Bowling was Fisked.

Hitch is unsparing. He may despise Ronald Reagan, but he has balls aplenty and is calling Moore on his narrative.

That's the key. You can assert that the Bush and al-Saud or bin Laden families had a connection and be right. You can say that too many people have died in the war. You can cite facts.

What Goebbels understood is how you string things together. That's Moore's schtick.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Dolphy]

Thanks, Howlin. Hitchens has reminded me of why I love to read him, even when I disagree with him. It seems, however, that he takes the left's failings so personally that it makes for his most powerful writing.

[Reagan Man]

Yes, Hitch did a magnificent job of lambasting the fat turd. But I'll never forgive him for what he said about President Reagan. Forgiveness will have to come from a higher source then me.

[Howlin]

We'd better be careful:

""Any attempts to libel me will be met by force,"
Michael Moore says, anticipating attacks on his film."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1157091/posts

[section9]

Oh, I quite agree. My enthusiasm for Hitch is tempered by what he wrote about Reagan. He was simply, altogether wrong.

However, he was honest. Give him that much. Unlike the hypocrite Kerry who horned in to get his mug on the camera at Simi Valley.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Fred Nerks]

LAWSUITS THREATENED AGAINST THOSE WHO 'LIBEL' MOORE.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1157091/posts

Does that include all of us on this thread?

[Reagan Man]

I wasn't refering to Hitch's column on Reagan. Although you're right, those remarks were mostly wrong. I was talking about his interview with Chris Matthews. Hitch showed how much of a meanspirited a-hole and shallow thinker he can be. Hitch`s rhetoric was tempered by a second guess Matthews had on. I believe it was Tony Blankley. Maybe.

[MegaSilver]

I think I've read Hitchens before, and I rather like him. I don't agree with his politics at all, but on the basic issues, he's at least intellectually honest.