They've always been oh-so tolerant, until you drift to the right of Teddy Kennedy. Christopher Hitchens quits the Nation! Is Hitchens now the "Mendoza Line" for Liberalism? http://talkingpointsmemo.com/sept0204.html#092502359pm Not to worry, Cockburn is still on the reservation. He calls Hitchens "just another middle-aged porker of the right"
Was "the liberal crackup" a colimn in the once great American Spectator or was it a book by R. Emmett T. or some other gadfly?
OK, I confess, I stole it from RETyrell. He subsequently wrote a book about the conservative crack-up. I didn't read either of them, but I think his thesis was that liberals hold untenable positions while conservatives are just stupid.
Hmm, apparently Hitchens didn't convince enough of the Nation readers and his colleagues that the fight against al-Qaeda is so similar to the Allies' fight against fascism. Maybe he even offended a few of them with his diatribe against Mother Theresa. What a shame. I always enjoyed reading him, no matter how prickly he was. Hopefully, the Atlantic will invite him back for another exchange with James "my last name does not refer to my intellect" Fallows.
Man, the American Spectator was damn funny back in the 80s. One of the reasons why I think conservative humor irks me today, other than I am not all that conservative, is that the AS set the bar so damn high. Ben Stein's LA column was brilliant, and the movie reviews were great. And none of you punks know what good rock is, either...
Christopher Hitchens is one of the last of a dying breed...an honest liberal with principals. It used to be that the Democratic Party was filled with these types, but alas the party is now controlled by kooks and crooks.
I've always thought Hitchens was more clever than deep or enlightening. But I really haven't read much of his stuff. I saw him on some talk show, and in this age of rude mofos, I was pretty blown away at what a dick he was. Maybe not a crook, but definately a kook. But Ian, I really don't trust your definition of kooky, anyway...
He's been that way since I've been observing him, since the early 80's. He was a curmudgeon at birth, I think. His job on Mother Teresa was his magnum opus. Nobody else would dare such a thing. He's a true believer on the left, but he's principled and can't countenance the corruption in people like Clinton. Unlike most of the liberals these days.
Look, I realize I am barking up a tree if any of you are the blind Clinton hating type, but let's get something straight. You use the term "countenance the corruption". Do you mean, by countenance the corruption, to not be in favor of spending millions on trying to get the guy for his sexual hangups? If so, you are full of it. There is a difference between countenancing corruption and chosing not to become involved, at taxpayers expense, with stupidities... Do you mean supporting proven corrupt or illegal activity? Most of the "liberals" I know have no problem with Clinton being punished for lying about a sexual encounter. Most of the liberals I know feel that the biggest problem with Clinton is that he squandered a perfect economy and potential big foreign policy victories. Much like Bush made the mistake of accusing Dems of not being interested in national security, the Clinton haters went overboard in attempting to get Clinton for things that were stupid, when they should have focused reasonable efforts on what may indeed have been corrupt. By doing so, they completely screwed up the debate. It's a waste of everyone's time to say that the other is in favor of corruption. We each have different moral codes that we try to uphold, and where I may disagree with conservatives or liberals on certain issues, I rarely think their problems stem for corrupt thinking. So stop talking silly.
How about his private eyes (Lenzner and Palladino) collecting dirt on potential bimbo eruptions? And his collection of coerced false affadavits from women that he didn't rape or have sex with? I remember watching the earnest women of NOW saying "well, er, you've got to consider the entire package..." It was just sex like watergate was just partisan politics. Clinton was the biggest slimeball since Nixon, I never thought anyone could be as bad as Nixon but Clinton came close. Clinton also was very Nixonian in his flagrant abuse of the Justice Dept. and the IRS. Nixon had his dedicated haters, too. They just wanted to get him for the job he did on Alger Hiss, right?
I do have to admit that the sex part didn't interest me like it may have interested you. That being said, I see nothing wrong with private eyes trying to discover information about potential witnesses or potential bad facts. It happens all the time. "Coerced" false affidavits? That is a big deal. Why in the world hasn't he been punished for that?
Doing oppo research on yourself is SOP if you're running for State House in North Carolina. I know that for a fact. So I can't possibly imagine it's not SOP if you're running for president.
Why wasn't he punished for perjury? Why wasn't Nixon prosecuted for paying hush money? You guys seem to think that a president having a private gestapo persecuting enemies is ok as long as he's your guy and he's not coming after you. He's right on abortion. You've got to consider the whole package.
He was debarred. Given that he lied about something as critically important as poontang, that sounds about right to me.
Mike...I wasn't the candidate, I was the manager. As to winning...it was '94. David Price lost for Congress in a safe district. So, no, my guy, in a Reep-leaning district, did not win. In fact, he got squashed like a bug. We did pretty well under the circumstances. There were guys in good Dem districts who got beaten almost as bad as we did.
Because it was a bulls**t charge. Oh, and he was charged with it, impeached, and cleared. Oh, and he paid something like 700 thousand fish to that salted snail Paula Jones in a settlement. Ken Starr and the even emptier suit after him whose name escapes me said in so many words they had nothing on him. For that kind of money, you could have had Mother Theresa in Huntsville waiting for the last ride, but Clinton skated like Bonnie Blair. Nice work, GOP. Because he was pardoned by Ford, obviously. And with the nod to Mr. Mike Godwin, the conversation is over.
Explain this exactly. Doesn't the Constitution say that if the Senate acquits you, indeed you have been cleared?
Mike...our opponent got 58% in '92, a good year for Dems. He "only" got 62% in '94, an awful year. If my boy had just listened to me, he'd have gotten at least 40%.