(1/6) Christopher Hitchens on Barack Obama (SWF 2010)

[TheGreatDeciever55]

------ acceptance of human scripture as infallible spiritual guidance which has led many generations to laugh at spirituality in general--- sine religion hijacked the spiritual realm.. Now people connotate spirituality with religion which is easily the worst blow spirituality has ever faced... Since the monopolization of spirituality by religion has occurred, spirituality has become dilluted, tawdry, and perverted

[TheGreatDeciever55]

In fact the adversary of the lowly animalistic nature of humans (analogous of Satan) is enlightenment (analogous of God) I agree the disrespect of Love and spirituality (a concept seperate from God) is a tragedy, it is not cured by religion. In fact I would argue that religion is one of the main degenerative factors of spirituality.. not only did it build a superficial empire off of it.. But It made people laugh at the concept via religions embarrassing history of fanaticism and acceptance of h

[TheGreatDeciever55]

@FightingForFreedom23 I agree with your sentiment but I think you have some false dichotomies within your comments... There is a lack of respect for love-- but in noway does that connotate a lack of God (which Is the foundation of religion, NOT because religion was invented to make people "better" that was the mission of the enlightened teachers like Jesus-- the mission of religion Is merely to monopolize upon these teachers--- to utilize their power of influence)

[TheGreatDeciever55]

I know this Is irrelevant... But why the hell do British people pronounce AH as ER? Obamer? Chiner? Wtf you guys invented the language!!

[PompousPreacher]

Because zarter87 posted his comment 1 year ago, he has been in a time warp for the past 1 year preventing him from knowing anything that has happened since.

[CrossCreed4800]

I'm sorry, but it just seems like they are blowing smoke up Obama's ass.....I respect Hitchens's thoughts on religion, but I'm not sure I'm so convinced on politics

[partymariner]

I'm sorry but I don't share most of the commentator's adoration of Hitchens. I think he is a pompous ass & completely discredited due to his arduous support and boot licking of George W Bush. I would like to hear his smug answer with regards to how disasterous the wars went and the subsequent economic collapse? I do agree with his evisceration of religion,however.

[MrAtheism33]

@partymariner I think it's important to dissect the reasons that Hitchens supported the war on Iraq. He acknowledged that a dangerous dictator of an oppressed country needed to be removed. Hitchens, having been to the middle east, knows how dangerous and deplorable it was to live under that regime. I don't think he endorses Bush's lying of his ulterior motives for going to Iraq nor his exploitation of the country.

[MrAtheism33]

@partymariner read Hitchen's latest book "The Portable Hitchens" to see how he feels about George W. Bush. 

[UtopiaMinor666]

@MrAtheism33 you mean the Quotable Hitchens?

[MrAtheism33]

@UtopiaMinor666 That's the one. My mistake.

[preemptivestrike20]

Not enough Hitchens....

[resonancegames]

Hitch loves writing so much that he can't stop making out with his pen.

[jrwilson98]

I am not so sure the Heath care bill will hold up to Constitutional scrutiny. A federal judge has already said the portion of the bill that requires all Americans to have Health Insurance or face a fine ruled it Unconstitutional. We will see about the rest, which I think might stand legal scrutiny, but maybe not political.

[charlesvan13]

@jrwilson98

I think many people are naive about medical systems.

The woman on the left said the US healthcare bill was whimpy by AUS standards.

I got fired from a 70k job in Aus for having a pre-existing condition. Their medical system is a big step down from the US. 

[townsendjean]

Hitchen’s patient forbearance with this droning bore of a moderator was admirable! He is always good at suffering fools gladly, but it would have been delicious to see him let go and deftly cut the pompous jerk down to size as he’s done with some mouthy FOX news bullies.

[222rod]

Hitchens! Hitchens! Hitchens! The best!

[controversialbook]

May I please take one moment to thank all Europeans for your sincere interest in US politics and our welfare otherwise? Yes, I understand that Europe's welfare is joined at the hip with ours, but your willingness to dig deeper than just the headlines is not only refreshing, it's reassuring. I find comfort in knowing that at lease someone in the world cares enough to read the small print. Thank you!

[831Chelsea]

love me some Hitchens!!! 

[FightingForFreedom23]

The religions have been corrupted and hijacked by evil people. Are you gonna say a plane thats been hijacked is bad, when the idea of a plane is to fly you from one place to another? No? So why would you say religion itself, and the idea of religion...is bad? It was SUPPOSED to unite us and bring us together under a common, higher purpose...but WE SCREWED IT UP. We are the ones who distorted the message and turned it into negativity. Its our fault, dont blame God for it, thats very ignorant.

[ciresieman]

@FightingForFreedom23 Now only if the religious leaders of the world would acknowledge what you've just said and repeat it to the world. Religion would cease to be the target of so much criticism and everyone would focus on that "evil" (as you put it) Until that happens religion condones, and may even be considered to be in bed with that evil.

[IconicFiber]

@FightingForFreedom23 Its hard to blame someone who probebly doesn't exist. You sound like one of those dopey touchy feely spiritual people. You make me want to vomit.

[FightingForFreedom23]

@IconicFiber Oh really, ok then, well tell me..whats so vile about..saying how we need more unity and peace in the world, or how we need a feeling of brotherhood and cooperation between men...whats so vomit inducing about that! lol Ill just assume youre speaking from ignorance. I take it you havent studied history, or the world today, and cant understand how CLEARLY, our biggest problem in the world is a lack of spirituality, and a lack of LOVE for ourselves and others. Its really quite a shame.

[FightingForFreedom23]

@IconicFiber You know its people like you, who dont like being a good person, and dont respect spirituality and love..you are the biggest problem in the world. You are what it means to be unevolved. Youre stuck back there in the animal, jungle mentality of survival of the fittest. Maybe one day youll understand that the way to truly evolve is not to be like animals, but it is to be Godly and that means being GOOD. One day youll understand LOVE is more powerful than fear. One day, youll see.

[PCrePs]

@FightingForFreedom23 Imagine a plane, that instead of having a clearly defined, accurate flight plan, has a vague description of it's target landing area. It mentions some non-descript buildings, some vague aims and estimates, and that's about it. Eventually, it will hit buildings. Saying religion has been hijacked is a weak argument. You may think you know the true purpose of it, and the mind of God, but so does every religious fanatic, and most of them have more conviction than you do.

[FightingForFreedom23]

@PCrePs First of all kid, you are nobody to be saying anything about my convictions. Second, your argument is a weak one and has nothing at all to do with my point. The idea of a plane is noble..to transport people fast and efficiently. The idea of religion is noble, to unite people under a common banner of love and brotherhood. Now, if a plane is hijacked by evil terrorists, that doesnt make the plane bad! Same thing with religion, we men have screwed it up! What part of this is unclear to you?

[FightingForFreedom23]

@PCrePs And dont give me this ignorant kid bit...you know as well as I do, as well as everybody else does...that religion was SUPPOSED to be a good thing. It was SUPPOSED to teach people how to live good and moral lives. It surely wasnt supposed to teach people how to be animals and egotistical..that is OUR FAULT. We dilute religion, we dilute, government, we dilute police and military, all these institutions are NOBLE. WE screw it up, dont blame government, military, or religion for it!

[PCrePs]

@FightingForFreedom23 You obviously don't know much about the formation of most religions. At best they were callous attempts at population control, but really it was usually someone taking advantage of ignorance and fear, and using it to gain power over the rest of the population. On what basis were religions created with the best of intentions? Give me some real world examples with scriptural evidence please. Or should I assume you've never properly read any religious texts?

[FightingForFreedom23]

@PCrePs Ive studied every religion, and Im reading the Bible right now as an adult. Ive already read through it as a kid, being from a catholic school we read the Bible every single day. I know exactly whats in the Bible, buddy. And the scriptures you guys point to as negative are a high minority, very few scriptures actually condone any negative action and promote quite the opposite. Ive also studied the historical perspective of religion, which you obviously havent, so Ill explain it to you.

[FightingForFreedom23]

@PCrePs This is the historical line of religion from the history books and its fairly objective. The same can be said for every religion, but Ill focus on Christianity now. Christianity first was formed because of a guy named Jesus, who taught things like equality, love, brotherhood, unity..during a time when the Roman Empire ruled, one of the darkest most oppressive empires the world has ever seen. Over time, the good message that Jesus taught got turned into a tool of fear and control.

[knoose]

You are one of the true greats of this world, of all time.

If you lived in the 1600's, people would talk about you today.

You are a modern philosopher and professor of the mind.

[bonfirejovi]

Obama is Bush 2.0, he is a useless idiot and a corporatist to boot. His economic policies are a disaster and he has expanded the patriot act and the wars to pakistan. What a guy!

[azmanabdula]

Only in Australia,to all intellects...........welcome!

[FightingForFreedom23]

Why would anybody care what Mr. Hitchens has to say? No offense, but his level of discernment and spiritual development is SEVERELY lacking, and I hear he now has cancer...a dis-ease that can have many causes, one big one is repression of anger. I suggest this guy start getting spiritual and start showing respect for the life around him, instead of always focusing on the negative and trying to bring people down. Hes a very negative person, he isnt at ease..so he manifests DIS-EASE.

[knoose]

@FightingForFreedom23 hahaha....lacking like your own mind i see.

Your the dis-ease of the earth. A plague of death thats been haunting our escalation as a species for thousands of years...

[FightingForFreedom23]

@knoose Would you care to explain more? If you can, which I doubt, or you wouldve. In truth, lack of spirituality has been the plague of death on the Earth. And if youre talking about religion, I have to disagree. Im not religious but I understand that all religions have the same basic message of love, brotherhood, peace, understanding..all the good stuff. Religion, in its purest form, has been our great light. We, in our egotistical, animalistic ignorance, corrupt the religions..you get it now?

[INFPlondon]

The first question asked of the panellists is "has Obama's 'yes we can' turned into Obamas no we cant?" Well my good fellow, if a question is meaningless any answer given must also lack significance.

[smooch0408]

Thanks to Hitch for a very emotional article. I hope he gets better, we need him. Thanks for everything you do, Mr. Hitchens

[mooseman5309]

The better America does the worse Republicans look.

[MrCuntyballs2U]

No he bloody can't ..... No bugger can..... Were just not that evolved....... Hitch is a clever cunt, clever enough to smoke himself to near death..... Obama can't beat the fags either..... Some wills?, hitch must be writing his

[theoneali]

hitchens lol who gave this guy any credibilty

[gtalcstories]

I think hitchens isnt entirely correct when he says that obama hasnt fallen for his own propaganda.

During the campaign Hitchens himself called Obama an egomaniac after Obama said that people will look back to his presidency as the moment "when the rise of the oceans began to slow, our planet began to heal

Obama has shown many times that he believes he transcends politics and can himself solve washingtons problems.

Though i hate the t party more, on this Hitch is to kind to Obama.

[zarter87]

how is the great mr hitchens doing? i would very much like to know, i love and respect this man

[DailyHitchens22]

@zarter87 He just today published an article in Vanity Fair where he talks about his cancer. I posted a link to it on my blog.

[MyFace43]

@DailyHitchens22 ohhh nooooo he has cancer? there is no god : (

[TAz69x]

@DailyHitchens22 care for a comment-reply Update [for myself and others] on this same question 1+yr later?

=3

[ceclovitch]

@zarter87 Sadly he died on the 15th of december, if you didnt know. Big loss for all of us....

[myjizzureye]

@zarter87 He's farqued mate, worm food now.

[gizmofsu]

Australia is almost China-like in how they handle the internet;

On 31 December 2007, Stephen Conroy announced the Federal Government's intention to censor "inappropriate material" from the Internet. Under the proposed system any Australian who subscribes to an ISP would receive a "clean" version of the Internet. The Federal Government's stated aim is to protect children from accessing violent and pornographic websites.

I guess it's easier to forget about your issues when you focus on others.

[cwilsons]

@gizmofsu I guess you're not from Australia. The filter is on hold due to massive protest from the public and telecommunications industry. Comparing Australia to China by comparing proposed legislation with established practice isn't realistic.

[gizmofsu]

@cwilsons I guess you fail to see the irony. In this very debate it is sited that China is just below America as "Forces for good" to the Australian populace. A reasonable population (imo) couldn't make that argument. But the Australians can!

I see a closer comparison to Australia personally. That's not to say great people don't come from down under. Some very honest and genuine people live there.

[jhohcable]

I'm hoping Hitchens pulls through, the world needs more of him.

I always keep up on his Slate articles, and his new one is decent, so I'm glad for that, his writing doesn't seem to be suffering so far.

[Clifton100]

I remember an interview in which Hitchens said that he's not really alive unless he's allowed to write (paraphrased). He would feel imprisoned without it. Which is precisely why I'd never make a good writer, among other reasons.lol

[F33bs]

It seems to me if you are going to have a discussion about Obama, why not include more Americans? With all due respect to the other panelists, Gallup "polls" may be taken seriously by the American press, but not the American people, and the implication that the Tea Party is a continuation of the Revolutionary War is just downright laughable.

It seems the rest of the world, including Australia, has no fucking clue about American politics, and projects their own feelings onto our politics.

[robopoet]

Hitchens starts at 7:25

[jeebersjumpincryst]

@robopoet ha ha - thanks robopoet! appreciate it :-)

[PurpleHoneyBear]

Well we're starting with the wrong question and therefore we won't get any meaningful answers.

No he can't because he never wanted to fix the financial system or health care. He's fought against it the entire way if you actually look at the evidence (Noam Chomsky has gone through this extensively). The point is to expand military intervention thereby creating strategic advantages over the globe, protect domestic elite interests, and you know, maintain the status quo.

[PurpleHoneyBear]

@PurpleHoneyBear There are a number of necessary illusions surrounding Obama. But I don't really put it all off on him because I don't think the president is as autonomous as people give the position credit for. You have interests that get you elected and then you have to make good on your promises to them.

Obama as a person? I like him. I think he's well spoken, he's educated, he writes very well. He's certainly better than Bush by a long shot. Bush just infuriated everyone.

[jeffersonianideal]

The delusional notion that socialism is a step forward. Why not remain principled?There is no logical reason to believe in the two big G's.

[WizzleThump]

WTF was hitchens doing with his mouth and his pencil at the start??? ROFL

[tomosid]

@WizzleThump Yeah, you're right. At 1:55. Perhaps thinking deep thoughts.

[wubbadubdub]

obama has turned out to be totally full of shit

[ashleylovesdaddy]

Moderator shuts up at about 6:10 and Hitchens starts at 7:25.

[JasonERF]

@ashleylovesdaddy thank you :)

[droitnow]

@ashleylovesdaddy thank you :)

[essenesearcher]

@ashleylovesdaddy thx, lets face facts, when hitch is in the mix u just skip to his part.

[ashleylovesdaddy]

@essenesearcher Not just me. At least 30 other people too. Honestly I do listen to the entire debate the first time through. Sometimes I'll watch Hitchens videos more than once just to hear his part again. We all know there is a growing Hitch fan club. I hope he pulls through this cancer crap.

[flumberg]

@ashleylovesdaddy thank you! what aa fucking bore

[rcarass1]

"You didn't mention any of my prizes!" Good ol' Hitch, let's hope he's keeping up that fighting spirit through his current medical rough patch.

For the man who can outwit God, cancer should just be a bump in the road! ^^

[ExtremeBogom]

If you havent been told yet, just remove everything after "&" to rid the annoying gray bar.

[EclecticSceptic]

@ExtremeBogom cheers

[kasuskasus]

Aaw! He didn't his prizes mentioned. :P

[HumaninSeoul]

O-bam-mer? Who is that? hehe ^^

[LowleyUK]

Im pleased Hitchens still looks healthy

[kiwiboi55]

@LowleyUK This is before he found out about the cancer

[GDATERRY]

@LowleyUK Well, this was a bit before he announced his diagnosis, and probably before he started his courses of chemotherapy. Certainly earlier than some of the later videos on this channel.

[DailyHitchens22]

@LowleyUK About 3 weeks after this he started cancelling events. The Vanity Fair announcement was on June 30th and he probably started chemo in early July.

[LowleyUK]

@DailyHitchens22 ok thanks, i didnt see the date. do you know if he is still writing at least?

[DailyHitchens22]

@LowleyUK At least for Slate but I don't know more than that. Chemotherapy takes it toll so he can't be keeping up his normal routines.

[richter75]

@DailyHitchens22 He actually wrote an article for Slate yesterday called; "Hugo Boss -

What I learned about Hugo Chávez's mental health when I visited Venezuela with Sean Penn." from slate(dot)com

Hitchens need a press secretary informing us about his doings, health and whereabouts. He has alot of ppl looking up to him.

[DailyHitchens22]

@richter75 You're absolutely right and I posted a link to the article, about 3 mins after it was published, on my Hitchens blog.

[GowanBray]

Hitch really kicks off at about 7.30

[bankitdrew]

holy efffff long intro

[scissorspaperrap]

@bankitdrew mono tone ...grrrrr