Christian Right Diverse, Polite, and Thoughtful
While I'm a huge fan of Christopher Hitchens as a writer, let's face it, the man can be a jackass. And while I largely share his views on organized religion, I find his condescension rather mean-spirited. So when he penned a column for Slate articulating "What I've learned from debating religious people around the world," I was expecting the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 26, 2009 12:46
Losing Our Religion
Dan Gilgoff passes on word of a new survey projecting that a quarter of Americans will be atheists or non-believers twenty years from now. If current trends continue, a quarter of Americans are likely to claim "no religion" in 20 years, according to a survey out today by Trinity College. Americans who identify with no religious tradition currently comprise 15 percent ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 23, 2009 07:44
Christopher Hitchens on Edward Kennedy
Christopher Hitchens is an iconoclast's iconoclast, famously willing to piss on anyone's grave, whether it be Mother Tereasa, Bob Hope, or Teddy Kennedy. Interestingly, this time he smacks down with one hand whilst patting on the back with the other: Sure, the "tragedy" of Chappaquiddick had its necessary moment, but even in those days Barbara Walters was doing her damage control, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 31, 2009 15:09
Financing the Life of the Mind
Russell Jacoby laments that it has become almost impossible for intellectuals to sustain themselves without institutional backing: Yes, a few souls manage to hustle and do quite nicely, for instance, Christopher Hitchens. Yes, a few magazines like the “New Yorker” pay a living wage, but for most to survive, if not flourish, requires a working (and willing) spouse, family money or ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 4, 2009 09:06
Police Taser Use: Cost-Benefit Analysis
In response to a commenter's assertion in my Police Taser Deaf, Retarded Man post that "officers are killed in the line of duty are the time," Jim Henley retorts, "Define line of duty and all the time." Kelley Vlahos does just that in a piece for The American Conservative. The numbers are surprising: According to federal statistics, the number of police officers ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 29, 2009 14:29
Larry King Minutes
Hugh Hewitt has come up with a brilliant meme: "LKM" stands for Larry King Minutes --the number of broadcast minutes that Larry King would devote to your death if it occurred today. Michael Jackson has set a very high standard, swamping all other coverage from Larry's show and triggering hours and hours of extra programming from Larry. Conor Friedersdorf and Andrew Sullivan ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 2, 2009 14:51
Martinis and Breasts
"Christopher Hitchens says that martinis are like breasts: One is one too few, while three is one too many." - via Andrew Exum, who recommends doubling that recommendation to ward off the swine flu. I'm not so sure about Exum's medical advice -- although he is a doctor (of philosophy) -- but Hitchens' advice is both sound and a superb mnemonic ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 27, 2009 17:29
One of These Is Not Like the Other
Timothy Sandefur is embarrassed: So I was watching this insane video of Christopher Hitchens and Salman Rushdie discussing the War on Terrorism with Mos Def. And it’s amusing to laugh at the utterly hapless ignorance of "Mr. Def," as he is repeatedly called—until you stop and wonder. Why is the black community not outraged by this? Bill Maher hosts a talk ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 31, 2009 11:38
Hitchens in Beirut
[caption id="attachment_32270" align="alignright" width="199" caption="Christopher Hitchens at Beiteddine (Photo by Michael J. Totten)"][/caption] A story that I've ignored thus far in this space is Christopher Hitchens managing to get himself beat up in Beirut by confronting some thugs. Michael Totten, who was a participant in the encounter, has the definitive account. Scott Payne is an admirer of Hitchens' boldness: I spend a ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 27, 2009 11:21
Mumbai, Bombay, and Imperialism
Christopher Hitchens has started a campaign to call Mumbai Bombay again, generating responses from Ezra Klein , Tim Fernholz, Isaac Chotiner, DJW and others. The debate surrounds the history of colonialism and religious intolerance prompting Jim Henley to note, via a Google Reader comment, "Fellow doesn't get that the imperialism part is where he assume it's his business one way ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 5, 2008 13:37
Only Muslim Extremists Get Upset About Cartoons
Good line, purportedly from Jon Stewart: Obama is not upset about the cartoon that calls him a Muslim extremist. Who gets upset about cartoons? Muslim extremists. via Steve Garfield. See "New Yorker Obama Terrorist Cover" for background and commentary on the story. UPDATE: Amusingly, I see via Memeorandum, the hubbub goes on. Obama is continuing to beat this dead horse: Democrat Barack Obama said ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 16, 2008 06:37
Jesse Helms’ Foreign Policy Legacy
Christopher Hitchens joins the legions dancing on Jesse Helms' grave. Rather than piling on about the racism of a Southern politician whose career began sixty-odd years ago, he instead focuses on Helms' foreign policy: His chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was a period of national embarrassment and, sometimes, disgrace. The Helms-Burton Act of 1996, imposing additional economic sanctions on ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 7, 2008 12:57
Conservative Bloggers Silent On Torture?
Shaun Mullen wonders "Why Are Right-of-Center Bloggers So Silent On Torture?" He searched high and low and could find no right-of-center bloggers who made any mention at all, for example, of yesterday's NYT story "China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo." I'd note that Andrew Sullivan wrote roughly 600 posts on the subject yesterday, including this one, which pretty well covered our bases. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 3, 2008 11:28
Question Time for the USA
Christopher Hitchens draws attention to a proposal by John McCain that received scant attention when announced last week: "I will ask Congress," said the presumptive Republican nominee, "to grant me the privilege of coming before both houses to take questions, and address criticism, much the same as the prime minister of Great Britain appears regularly before the House of Commons." Hitchens is ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 19, 2008 12:58
Hitchens Calls Sully ‘Lesbian’
A Media Matters report of remarks made by Christopher Hitchens in a weekend television debate with Andrew Sullivan is getting some blogospheric attention. On the April 5 edition of MSNBC's Tim Russert, Andrew Sullivan and Christopher Hitchens debated the significance for Sen. Barack Obama of comments made by his former pastor Jeremiah Wright about a trip Wright took with Louis Farrakhan ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 8, 2008 07:45
