(Pt2) Hitch-22, a candid memoir by Christopher Hitchens (ABC Radio National interview)

[DasIstMeinKampyCouch]

merry Hitchmas

[kinneyesq]

@cnestudy1 Some on the left thought he was in their corner over the years. He was quite a vocal supporter of the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq, however. He's referring to those who previously supposed he was ideologically liberal but were disappointed that someone so smart could support such what appeared to be such a strategic misstep.

[Inigobalboa]

I'm reading the book now.

Totally worth your money and your time.

[Sboy200]

Mark Daily... like this noble man

[Sboy200]

Mark Daily... like him... 

[nbachmann]

Good interview, not the typical wash

[Nerd042]

His laugh at the end made my cheast swell. What is it about him that makes me fall in love with him? His charisma? His wit? His thrilling yet soothing voice? His confidence and yet honest and humble self-challenging doubt? His intellect? His love of literature and debate? His blue eyes? ....

[forren6]

What a brilliant man.

[goneutt]

I'm begining to notice that all the vocal atheists I know are either bald or rapidly going bald. Hitch almost has a comb forward. AronRa, save your hair!

[ExtremeBogom]

His conversation is relaxing yet stimulating.

[37n25w]

It's hard to watch. He is obviously in pain and has difficulty swallowing.

This I believe is just days before he cut short his book tour to

return to the US and was diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

His book is a great read.

[ftjax]

I dissagree with his assessment of G. Bush's war with Iraq. It got a bunch of our troops killed for nothing. Bush was getting even with Sadaam, it was about big oil,

Sadaam was in cahoots with the terrorists, Sadaam supposedly had weapons of mass destruction, etc. all of this stuff proved wrong. If the war so necessary why didn't charge Iraq one trillion bucks for "liberating" the citizens of Iraq ?

[timewilltell7]

@ftjax

hes the only one who changed my mind partly on iraq

[chrish12345]

Things don't mount to a crescendo, the crescendo is the mounting process itself.

[revpgesq]

i agree entirely with his outlook on the continuation on the Iraq war, the bringing to conclusion of the war...of a dictator who violated two of the three established laws: genocide (with aggravating circumstances of using poison gas) and aggression and then broke probation, before a corrupt sherriff(the oil for food corruption). So the posse was a correct solution to avoid rank evil license and appeasement. Saddam murdered 300k at least, and we should boohoo his regime's passing? please!

[PlanetoftheAtheists]

Hitchens is so full of shit when it comes to Iraq. Stick to religion fool, you sound like Jerry Falwell when you speak of anything else

[waldoistwisted]

@PlanetoftheAtheists Conduct an articulate and researched argument against the war or shut your fucking mouth

[hugoegbert79]

@waldoistwisted No, YOU have to justify a war that killed a million people. Not the other way around. No-one has to justify NOT launching a violent, illegal, aggressive, imperialist attack on innocent people, you have to justify why you are happy to send other people off to die or kill others and loot a country's resources. People who oppose the bombing of innocent civilians don't have to justify anything to warmongers like yourself. Peace doesn't have to be justified-war does.

[waldoistwisted]

@hugoegbert79 I'm going to send you a private message bitch slapping your ignorance

[therantingboy]

@hugoegbert79 RE "Peace doesn't have to be justified" - But doing nothing, failing to act or allowing dangerous regimes to continue in order to avoid war does need to be justified. Don't be under the illusion that sitting back and allowing Saddam to torture and kill thousands was preferable to invasion. The issue for me, is the WMD yarn the neocons spun to get the invasion going. I would have preferred honesty from the start.

[km6xz]

I thoroughly enjoy Hitch's writing style but it concerns me how confident he is about facts for which there is no evidence, and rely on opinion alone. Most of his "facts" concerning Iraq become increasingly embellished as every month passes and yet there is no evidence to support his or Cheney's opinions.

He often goes similarly off the deep end in his claims about Russian "theocracy" and a few other favorite targets that anyone with a degree of familiarity would know are fanciful inventions.

[sleepcity]

@km6xz Very much agreed. Also as much as I love Hitch I really wish he had a more solid grounding in empirical science. There have been many debates on religion where Hitch could have destroyed his opponent's point by pointing to already extant scientific data.

[km6xz]

@sleepcity Let's see, Hitch and Dawkins have a mutual grand child by way of marriage between their respective children. That Should end the debate, combining Christopher's logic and prose with Dawkins' mountain of evidence.

But alas, it would make no difference, the highly religious do not "believe" facts but would rather make it up as they go along. To them, evidence has no value, and fantastic folk tales, myths or con-men's fabrications are the only true "truth"

[sleepcity]

@km6xz Can't find much to disagree with there. Are you referring to Dawkins' and Hitchens' "grand child" metaphorically? Or is there something I'm missing?

[km6xz]

@sleepcity It is something they are missing also:>) No, i referring to a "perfect" world, but than again in a perfect world there would no need to struggle against the strangulation of reason, fact, and reality by religion.

It is so funny to hear godists claiming Dawkins is "strident" when i doubt there is a more mild mannered or patient public figure. Actually the evil 4, "the Four Horsemen", with the exception of Hitchens are all quiet, soft spoken gentle people.

[SUpersaiyajinjerkbag]

@sleepcity

They had twins

[Tapiola2007]

@sleepcity That's a good point. I've seen Hitch debate many times and he rarely backs up a number of statements that could be unanswerable with a bit of science thrown in. I think this is deliberate for two reasons: 1) he probably considers the science as self-evident and doesn't need elucidating - does evolution need to be restated? 2) he's a polemicist and sticks to his field of expertise and enjoys stirring up the bees nest! ,) PS: Hitchens rocks!

[menztc]

I love this man's mind and his way with words. I'm looking forward to getting the memoir and also watching him on the bookshow next month.

Thanks for posting this - it was his interviews on Lateline with Tony Jones that got me first hooked on everything he does.

[Assaultpredator]

@menztc

Check out some of his debates brother man

[richardcadbury]

Putting Pt2 at the beginning of the title rather than the end (where it gets lost after the elipsis) was a wise move.

[garghamell]

Prestance only as Christopher can deliver it. Thank you for this clip.

[AIDINSWE]

wOW, love this man

[Hybbeman]

I need to get my hands on those memoirs.