Thoughts on Christopher Hitchens - A Man Who Made People Think
Christopher Hitchens at a party at the house of Grover Norquist following
the CPAC convention in January 2004 - Photo: Hugh Greentree via Wikipedia
Agree or disagree with his ideologies and philosophies, you cannot deny what a great contribution he made.
He could be controversial but he backed it with with force, passion and conviction, but I think more importantly he made people think a little more deeply than they normally would.
He was a great man, and his opinions will be missed.
A favourite quote from him...
“Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and
disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for
silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any
more than you would expect others to live for you.”
Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Christopher Hitchens dies aged 62
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A man I truly admired. Unlike so many, he had the courage of his convictions, often fell out with his friends, as true friends should, hammered the establishment, was not afraid to criticize popular figures. His colourful background testifies to his originality as a thinker, writer and communicator. Compassion, understanding and wit were just a few of his qualities. His atheism, a result of deep thinking and reason, will bring a flood of nasty comments from the religious who have never even read his ideas, let alone tried to understand them. I did not always agree with him, but I will miss him.
Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Christopher Hitchens dies aged 62
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I too am an atheist, but, unlike Hitchens, I don't think it's anything to brag about. He made a career of being impressed with himself. "Hello there, I'm Christopher Hitchens, and you're not."
Though he happened to be right about Muslims, Hitchens was horribly wrongheaded about so many other things and, as an overgrown, overweening adolescent, closed to the possibility that he might be.
Frankly, I think the smoking and drinking were the only means he had of living with himself. His own brother did allow that he was able to be in the same room with him. He will NOT be missed, except by precious acolytes, much in evidence on this thread, who mistake wit for wisdom.
Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Christopher Hitchens dies aged 62
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Few writers have the talent to rise from the tomb of the New Statesman and ride the carousel of Vanity Fair.
Abandoning the intellectual poverty of the leftist magazine in a society growing annually more provincial, he emigrated from Britain, embraced the American Empire and used his rhetorical skills to promote its values. In return, he enjoyed the social pleasures of belonging to an exclusive, highly rewarded media-elite which consolidated his international reputation.
Rarely skilled in argumentation but brilliant in evoking witty metaphors and allusions, Hitchens' dismissal of the devious, lustreless and highly publicized Mother Theresa may provide his permanent remembrance: Mother Theresa... lover of poverty - enemy of the poor.
This may be his last leftist comment.
Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Christopher Hitchens dies aged 62
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A great polemicist and controversialist. A true radical who hated authoritarianism particularly when it was disguised in the politically correct language of the fashionable, modish, intellectual, liberal/left elite.
Anyone who hated the sexual hypocrisy of Bill Clinton and the political cynicism of Hilary, who opposed abortion on demand by declaring life began at the moment of conception, who coined the phrase “Islamo-fascism”, damning without reservation those who committed 9/11, revelled in the death of Bin Laden and supported both the Falkland and Iraq wars, was a worthy heir to Orwell, another great man of the independent radical left, whom he revered.
Although I'm not religious in the conventional sense I disagreed with his militant atheism, but then nobody's perfect. He is a great loss to a world gradually slipping into a new age of authoritarian liberalism as oppressive and totalitarian as anything devised by the Soviets or the far right.
Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Christopher Hitchens dies aged 62
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I've gone without Radio 4's Today programme all week, but this morning I felt the sudden urge to switch on. And with a kind of inevitable sadness, I heard Christopher Hitchens being talked about in the past tense. I'd seen him talk on three occasions, and read almost everything he's published. His elegance, his unshakeable belief in non-belief - as an agnostic I'm always left in a kind of awe a...t people who can take up these positions with such surety - and above all, despite the controversial and occasional wrongness of his views, the ability to argue with clarity, panache and reach. I turned off the radio, made myself some coffee and read one of his favourite poems as a tribute, Auden's 'September 1, 1939'. Anyone who loves this poem will always be on the side of the angels, whether they believe in angels or not.
All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
Read the article GUARDIAN/Christopher Hitchens: tributes and reactions
Christopher Hitchens 2010 Photo: Andrew Rusk via WIkipedia
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Day 14 of Occupy Wall Street Protest, New York Image: David Shankbone via Wikipedia
The Old Curmudgeon Who Lived A Lucky Life
PHOTO GALLERY CBS
When
Andy started on 60 Minutes 30 years ago, I was in Middle School. We were usually
over at my grandparents on Sunday nights and even if I didn't watch the rest of
60 Minutes with the adults, I'd always come in to watch Andy Rooney. I think he
was my grandfather's favorite person on TV, as he'd constantly refer to Andy's
pieces throughout the rest of the week. Well, my beloved Grandfather passed on
in 1984, and since then, Andy has always been able to still provide a way for me
to connect to the wisdom, viewpoints and humor of my long-gone but well-loved
grandfather.
I'm surprised at the depth of sadness I feel, not only for
the loss of this man but for the way that he was able to speak for people like
him- his generation, especially the thoughtful fair-minded thinkers of that era.
Yes, my grandfather could be a cranky curmudgeon, but he was also the kindest,
most generous person I have probably ever known. Andy and Gramps were cut from
the same cloth, and so I take this loss personally. It's like losing a piece of
my grandfather that I've been able to hang onto for the last 25
years.
Read the article CBS NEWS/Andy Rooney dead at 92
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I grew up in a family where "60 Minutes" was a Sunday night ritual. Mr. Rooney's segment brought closure to one week's news and provided food for thought for the new week. He had hilarious hits (I'll always remember his piece where he showed proof that there were more cars in NYC than parking spaces) and some spectacular misses (I'm getting a bit tired, however, of being reminded of his highly regretful comment about homosexual unions), and even when he was kind of boring he was at least consistent in a world that, over the course of his run at CBS, became less and less predictable.
Though the Information Age of the Internet and thousands of TV stations has added some conveniences to those of us who love to expand our knowledge, I will always miss the time when most of the people I knew read and saw the same stories at approximately the same time. Conversation was easier when were all "on the same page" and when Mr. Rooney said something about the "everyman" we all saw it and could argue over whether we agreed or not. I think that with Mr. Rooney's passing, The Age of the Everyman has finally passed. May he rest in peace.
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Andy Rooney, mainstay on "60 Minutes," dead at 92
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"Andy Rooney told it how it was," my car mechanic told me shortly after Rooney's last broadcast in October. And he was right. The crotchety curmudgeon with the pointed commentary always reminded me of my father's generation, those who endured the Great Depression, fought in World War II and helped built America into the greatest nation on earth. My father and his peers didn't suffer fools lightly and Rooney, as one of their de facto spokesmen, would find, uncover and, in an entertaining fashion, make a mockery of, all of the foolish things and people who managed to make it into his corner of the world. I greatly enjoyed watching him each Sunday night on 60 Minutes but more than that, I loved watching my father howl in laughter when Rooney delivered his well-timed punchlines! Rest in peace, Andy, and thank you! You'll be sorely missed!
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Andy Rooney, mainstay on "60 Minutes," dead at 92
I envision at this moment Andy telling Steve Jobs to put down the IPod long enough to have a real old fashioned conversation. Andy was more than a cross of Yoda and Granny Clampett, more than a curmudgeon with bushy eyebrows. Andy Rooney was of that special generation whose work ethic was matched only by his principles.Not a coincidence that when CBS took away his place to work, his heart soon stopped beating.
Yes there wasn't a Mrs. Smith behind Mrs. Smith's pies, but he also told us there wasn't a reason to be in Vietnam or Iraq. Sometimes Andy slipped and words got him in hot water, but younger folks like us should take heed: Bring things to a boil from time to time, bring passion to your work no matter your boss, and keep that childhood idealism and curiosity no matter how gray and tussled your hair becomes. I celebrate my more-than-just a few minutes with Andy Rooney.
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Andy Rooney, mainstay on "60 Minutes," dead at 92
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Two thoughts on the passing of Andy Rooney, one personal and one observational.
Some years back I sent Andy a note through a friend at CBS asking his advice about a project I had in mind about the liberation of Paris in World War II, a momentous event at which Andy had been present as a young reporter for Stars and Stripes. Nothing ever came of my project, but I remember it fondly to this day due to Andy's very kind and supportive reply to me about it. On his last broadcast a few weeks ago he noted that he rarely responded to letters he received, but he did indeed respond to mine.
On the distaff side, however, I feel compelled to note that in Cameron Crowe's recent documentary "Pearl Jam 20" a clip was used in which Andy was shown mocking young fans who were grieving about the death of Kurt Cobain. It was, no doubt, simply Andy being curmudgeonly Andy, but it showed a sad generational lack of empathy on his part for the grief of others at the death of a revered public figure. My own great admiration for Andy suffered a slight dent upon seeing that clip. It doesn't, however, stop me from expressing my own sense of mourning about the death of Mr. Rooney, who lived a long and productive life informing, amusing, provoking and even challenging us to consider all things further.
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Andy Rooney, mainstay on "60 Minutes," dead at 92
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I've never understood why people made fun of Andy Rooney, but I think it's due
to the disappearance of common sense and the fact that he had it. He didn't
exploit the medium of TV with its deceptive ways of worming its way into our
brains, he simply sat there being himself and telling the truth as he saw it.
Radical.
Read the article NPR/Andy Rooney, '60 Minutes' Commentator, Dies
My eulogy to Andy would be that he was controversial, yet thought provoking at
the same time.When he hit a raw nerve that set off a group of people, he made
others think about it, that would have otherwise never pondered an opinion one
way or the other.He was a curmudgeon sometimes, but that is the truth about all
of us. We have days and opinions that sometimes can be hurtful to others, which
makes us human, and imperfect. So, RIP Andy!
Read the article NPR/Andy Rooney, '60 Minutes' Commentator, Dies
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Andy Rooney was everyman. If you went to school, got a job, fought for your country and tried to make sense of life, you had no trouble understanding him at all. His "mindless prattle" may have seemed, to the young, to be an old man's trademark. It wasn't. It was the trademark of a discerning mind, at odds with the way the world was changing, trying to re-evaluate his place and standing in that world. He always told it like it was, un-sugarcoated, the same way his generation did; at the lunch counter, at the gas pump, at the bar; lamenting the things that were fading away and trying not to recoil at the things ahead. Andy only bitched about life because he loved life so much. Thanks, Andy
Read the article CNN/CBS commentator Andy Rooney dies at 92
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From the story above;
"He had been hospitalized after suffering "serious complications" following minor surgery last month."
Andy Rooney loved to use sarcasm in his stories...He liked to take an opposite point of view on simple things, and exam them from a different point of view, just to make poeple think...
If he had come across a story like this about a 92 year old dying after being hospitalized for suffering "serious complications" from "minor surgery", he would have written a story about how old people should stay away from hospitals, because so many old people seem to die there....
He would have pointed out that old people heal slower than younger people, and about how hospitals are actually full of new different germs, and many old people get sicker going to the hospital, then just staying home and toughing it out at home, with their old familiar germs they already know.
He would pointout how much he hates growing old....not much spring left in his step anymore, he just can not jump out of bed in the morning anymore, like he use to as a kid...and he is not very flexible anymore, like he was as a kid...He could bend really well when he was younger, not so good at 92 years old....
He would have pointed out that there is no such thing as minor surgery for a 92 year old person...just going to the bathroom is a major risk event....
He would have also pointed out that he flew along with the airmen in World War II, and survived that, even some really bad holiday dinners...and he would have chuckled under his breath at the line died of "serious complications" from "minor surgery" in his own death...
He is still laughing under his breath at that phase, I'm sure...
Andy would have loved to write a story about his own death, he would have had so many good lines to use....we well miss you Andy....I'm sure he will point out all the irony about his own death to god....
And I hope I did not have any typo's in this little story...growing old really sucks....
Read the article CNN/CBS commentator Andy Rooney dies at 92
Dakota Meyer: Honoring the Bravest of the Brave
I had the pleasure of skeet shooting with Sgt. Meyer last weekend in Virginia. He is truly a quiet, thoughtful, easy going fella.
If you are from the country and played high school football, as I did, you felt like he was the guard or tackle on the team. Not a glamor position, but one that defines team. He was as humble as can be. Glad to be alive and shouldering the honor with all the humility the good Lord had given him.
I also felt the sense that as he stated in the article, many guys would and have done the same in that spot. It made me proud of our men and women who put themselves in harms way for us. As a New Yorker of almost 20 years, who lives less than a half mile from ground zero, shooting skeet with this fine American soldier made me very proud to be an American and I could not think of anything better to do to remember that day 10 years prior.
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/
Top Medal for Marine Who Saved Many Lives
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Well Done Sgt. Meyer!
As a Vietnam veteran, I know that a Marine values the lives of his comrades over and above his own. I understand the pain of "survivor guilt," in that you could not bring every one of those men out alive. But consider this: 36 men, who obviously would have otherwise died in combat, lived because of your courage and initiative! Perhaps, you believed that you deserved no more than a Bronze Star, if that, for your actions, but going back into the face of heavy fire five times to rescue those men, merits far more than that! Also consider that this nation's highest decoration for valor in combat is not awarded lightly. That was a decision for others to make.
I was inspired by another recipient of this award, whom I had the honor to meet: Army Captain (Chaplain) Angelo "Charlie" Liteky, who went out beyond the perimeter in combat in Vietnam to bring back an estimated 20 wounded men. Father Litkey put his life at risk every time he went out beyond the wire to bring each of those men back, an estimated 20 times, but no one knows for certain how many times he went out, or how many men he saved. He only stopped going when there was no one left to bring back!
How do you determine when a man becomes deserving of this award? When he saves 12 lives? When he saves 20, as did Father Liteky? When he saves 36 lives, as you did? That is an extremely difficult decision to make! On the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, D.C., there is a quote by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, "Among the Men Who Fought at Iwo Jima, Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue." But,"Uncommon Valor" is not nearly as common as Admiral Nimitz thought! Your valor in this particular ambush was quite uncommon indeed! That why is was determined that you were deserving of this nation's highest combat decoration! Your courage and initiative in combat were in the highest and best tradition of the U.S. Marine Corps!
Semper Fi Devil Dog!
Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/
Top Medal for Marine Who Saved Many Lives
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Dakota Meyer you are a hero! Not once in my life and from knowing people that have served from WW II on have I ever heard one say they were a hero but every one of them has been!
They went when called and they did there best just like you . Yes other may have done the same but this time it was you because you were there not them and you reacted with out thinking of your own self first only them and there life’s so you put them ahead of your self. No gift is greater then when a man will lay down his life for another man.
That is just what you did and that is what makes you a hero of heroes! Yes some times you can not do every thing you wish you could but look at this. How many families now do have there military person with them because of you? How many kids will have that father now for more years because of you? No you did not fail at all but you succeeded in saving many families and keeping them whole including your own!
So hold your head high and know in your heart you’re the best of the best even if you, your self do not want to believe it we all do! That is why you have been honored and now you join a branch of the very few, the heroes of the heroes!
Read the article ABC NEWS/Dakota Meyer, Marine Medal of Honor Recipient, Says He’s No Hero
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I am always amazed at the common thread between the Medal of Honor recipients: Humility.
As a child my dad gave me a book that told the story of all of the honorees since WWII. In the interviews they all speak of the sacrifices of others, doing their job, and the classic "I am not a hero." Many of them, like Mr. Meyers, do not celebrate the day or their actions but mourn the events leading to their award. My father, a Vietnam vet, always said the best Marines he knew with were soft spoken, loved their fellow Marines, fought selflessly, and did not clebrate the horrors of war. They were not just good soldiers, they were good people.
Read the article SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/Marine Daakota Meyer to Recieve Medal of Honor
READ MORE BEST COMMENTS: SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2011
They pick people who have made a mark on society. I think it's a great pick. The world is rapidly changing because people are tired of corrupt politicians and their corporate overlords taking freedoms away.
It never happens overnight. Leaders do it in small increments. And, when people speak out against something that seems insignificant, people like you defend the intrusion,
I'll give you an example. They just passed a bill supporting indefinite detention, which includes Americans. People like you will defend the law saying, terrorist don't deserve trials. Well, guess what, under this metric, all they have to do is call you an enemy combatant and your rights are gone.
If this nation falls, it will be because many accepted their spoon fed propaganda.
Go ahead! Keep believing worldwide revolution is just a bunch of hippies and losers if it helps your world view. Many of us are done playing this corrupt game managed by a few corrupt leaders.
Read the article TIME MAGAZINE/The Protestor