Re: Alex Cockburn going the Hitchens way?
On Jun 19, 2006, at 12:27 PM, ravi wrote:
> >
Today, I had the opportunity to read Cockburn’s piece at CounterPunch, and what stood out most in his rant was its similarity in style to Hitchens’ fling rage in all directions with a drunken sneer (and hope something sticks).
He writes:
The war grinds on, but the pwog Democrats prefer to talk about other matters, such as the fact that Rove is not going to be indicted. Thank God. the left will have to talk about something else for a change. As a worthy hobby horse for the left, the whole Plame scandal has never made any sense. What was it all about in the first analysis? Outing a CIA employee. What’s wrong with that?
The last sentence alone seems to distance him from reality. What is wrong with outing a CIA employee? In the minds of the American
public, I would think, everything!
Ace is right. It was alternately hilarious and revolting to see the
liberal left getting up in arms about outing a CIA employee in
violation of the law - a law that was passed with radical pubs like
Counterspy and Covert Action in mind. What the hell is so sacred
about preserving the identities of the Ghouls of Langley? Even more
unseemly was the crush that the liberal left developed on Joe Wilson,
who was just the kind of slick functionary who makes the empire run.
What’s so great about that?
Seems like a bad idea to sacrifice principles (the CIA is a bad thing
to be opposed whenever possible) for political expediency (oh those
conservatives - so unprincipled!).
There is also, I think, a confusion of terms, in the above. The
left has Let us deal with this question: Since 9/11, where has been the good
news for the Administration? I can think of some answers to that, and I invite your criticism:a) Significant increase in Bush poll numbers and legitimacy b) Blank cheque from the public for wars and civil rights violations c) Huge benefits for friends and the infrastructure in general d) Gains in the House and majority in the Senate, 2002 e) Re-election, by a wider margin, for Bush, 2004
Bush’s approval is off its lows, but aside from the year after 9/11,
it’s been a straight downtrend. A real opposition could do something
with that.
Doug