Liberal writer tells it like it is.

[sailaway21]

Christopher Hitchens is in most respects a card-carrying liberal. He is a renowned atheist and author of a best-selling book on the subject. He is enormously entertaining on the television as he apparently thinks nothing of indulging in a cocktail or two prior to the TV event. He's also about as good an authority on the writings of George Orwell as you'll find. He used to be one of the shining lights in the firmament of liberal commentary. That kind of went by the boards in the aftermath of 9/11 and his subsequent support of the Iraqi war effort. He remains though, a singular voice that cannot, nor should not, be ignored on a variety of subjects. He is, without doubt, his own man.

Herewith his latest from Slate and, if you read anything not Mark Steyn on the matter, all you really need know about the recent events in Bombay and our media's treatment of them. Mr. Hitchens, like Mr. Steyn, has read the published narratives and has come forth with a resounding, What are you, Nuts!?

The media's disingenuous failure to state the obvious. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine

Perhaps the only thing missing from Mr. Hitchens thoughts is something that did not make it past Mr. Steyn. You've no doubt noticed how the BBC and NPR, et al referred to the terrorists, Islamic terrorists, not as such but as "militants". That phraseology implies a certain legitimacy to their cause. A legitimacy only obvious to those inclined towards thinking that the only Jewish settlement house on the Indian subcontinent being part of the massacre was happenstance.

[jrd22]

Thanks for the link, interesting article. With the astonishing amount of media bias displayed during the US election international media bias has been eclipsed.

[CalebD]

It is a shame that the mainstream media seems to dance about the idea that the Mumbai attacks were made by 'militants' or 'extremists' and not 'terrorists'. At least they distinguish between the 3rd graders view of the world that GWB these were just 'evil doers' who need to be punished.
Clearly, the WTC attacks on NYC were perpetrated by 'extremists' and 'militants' but they were clearly terrorists whom GWB portrayed as the bad guys: "OBL wanted dead or alive" (remember that? Remember "bring it on!" or "mission accomplished"?). No matter how you beat around the bush in classifying these criminal and terrorist acts they are reprehensible whether they happened in NYC, Mumbai, Syria or Somalia.
US news coverage is always eclipsed by US centric reporting that omits some of the coverage that even the BBC covers.
On a happier note I was glad to read that some liberal democrats are already unhappy about the way Obama has filled his cabinet. WTF did they expect, some kind of Maypole dance? Serious times require a broad consensus and keeping Gates as defense secretary was a no-brainer to me - even I want a smooth transition with our military entanglements. GWB was a lot smarter then he let on IMHO but did not get the best advice from his cabinet and advisers - how else does a Connecticut boy who went to Yale learn to talk like an average Joe 6 pack (like Sarah Palin aka, Tundra Barbi who will be back on stage soon enough mind you) and manage to somehow win 2 US presidential elections. I just wish he could finish a complete sentence.
Thanks for the link Sway as I do not think it was an accident that a Jewish institution was attacked in Mumbai. It is also interesting to note that the attack on Mumbai was carried out by water - soon there may be required small arms training for coastal water cruisers here. These (Muslim) terrorists will utilize any avenue they think is vulnerable and they have clearly demonstrated that. I even heard a rumor that NYC police might be given automatic rifles in the future and I have to say that even though I don't like the idea, I am not against it given what happened in Mumbai. We had plenty of automatic guns patrolling our area in NYC after 9/11 and as long as you don't fcuk with them it is as if they did not have them. These are interesting times.

[PBzeer]

Taken with the Iranian rebuff of Obama's first overtures for negotiations on nukes (heard in passing on NPR), one wonders when the dreamers are going to wake up to the big bad cold world out there.

As an aside to a point from Caleb, I don't think Bush had to "learn" Joe Six-pack speech, I think it just comes natural, despite his privileged upbringing.

[sailaway21]

It's not merely the media that is at the heart of this matter. It is the battle to maintain our culture and our way of life. We're long past the stage where the "Palestinian problem" is only a Middle Eastern issue. The problem is being exported to the western world, in particular Europe.

In Britain, for instance, the fertility rate is about 1.8. That means that Brits are not replacing themselves. It's worse for the rest of Europe. List of countries and territories by fertility rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The difference is being made up by immigration and that immigration is increasingly Muslim. It might be noted as well that these Muslim immigrants do not have the western inhibition about replicating themselves. For every British woman having 1.8 children the Muslim women are having around 5. At this rate, Britain will be a Muslim country somewhere around 2050. The rest of Europe will have long since become a Muslim entity.

The problem exhibited in the media is merely a reflection of the greater cultural problem overall. When you are unwilling to say that Western culture is superior to Middle Eastern culture , preferring the cultural relativism of the multi-culturalists, you create a vacuume. And that vacuume is being filled by Muslims. Now if think that sharia is the best law we can achieve things are going swimmingly. But if think that the institutions of western civilization are worth preserving then the clock is ticking.

The events of Bombay are scheduled to revisit us. In the case of Europe, their progenitors will likely be citizens born and bred within Europe but with an allegiance to their ancestral culture over their national culture. Dissembling about their goals by the media is of concern. Dissembling about their goals by governments is criminally negligent.

[Rockter]

Hitchens is a good debater also, often seen on British television....

YouTube - Sir Salman Rushdie debate Queston time Christopher Hitchens

I have a lot of time for him.
He states the obvious, and powerfully.

[sailhog]

Hitchens is at his best when his eyes are glazed over on national television. He reminds me of Churchill -- the brilliant British alcoholic. Bet he comes down with gout one of these days.

[Rockter]

Perhaps.
How did they remember Churchill though ?
Not only for booze.

[sailhog]

Originally Posted by Rockter

Perhaps.
How did they remember Churchill though ?
Not only for booze.

You're probably in a nursing home if you can recall Churchill's speeches. Americans are especially fond of him because his mom was an American and because he was so partial to America. He was also funny. I remember someone saying he had something to the effect of "that lightning bolt zig-zag of brilliance."

A long time ago I read the Manchester bio. In it there's an anecdote of some old crone at Chartwell bitching at him for being longwinded and drunk. He replied with something like, "I may be drunk now, but in the morning I'll be sober. You, however, will still be ugly."

I don't care who you are, that's funny.

[sailaway21]

I've Churchill's radio speeches on an MP3 disc. Well worth listening to if only for the locution alone.