Posted 12:42 PM by Floyd

Christopher Hitchens, leftist-cum-Clinton critic-cum-pro-war anti-idiotarian, has been writing articles for Slate Magazine. In his latest article, he takes John Kerry to task:

So, the junior senator from Massachusetts has finally come up with a winning line. "Vote for me," says John Kerry. "I'm easily fooled." This appears to be the implication of his claim to have been "misled" by the Bush administration in the matter of WMD.

I don't disagree, but I regret to note that later in the article, Hitchens takes on the role of pot to Kerry's kettle when he writes:

Indeed, Ho Chi Minh in 1945 modeled his declaration of independence on the words of Thomas Jefferson, appealed for American help against France, and might have got it if FDR had lived. Uncle Ho shared in the delusion that there could be an anti-colonial and anti-dictatorial empire. If that is indeed a delusion. …

Kindly, sainted Uncle Ho. He wanted to be a democrat so badly that he spent a decade working for democracy behind a desk, in the Kremlin. (And when he left the USSR to direct the revolution from close range, he went not to Saigon or Hanoi but to ... Hong Kong.) Later Ho showed his enthusiasm for Jefferson's ideal of the citizen-farmer that he set execution quotas of 5% for certain villages. And it was undoubtedly his respect for America that caused him to eliminate 85% of the original cadres of the North Vietnamese communists. When Ho gained control of South Vietnam, everyone knew what a libertarian he was. So a million people fled hundreds of miles over open sea in small coastal craft.

Now who is it that's easily fooled?

It's a shame to see Hitchens smooching up to totalitarian monsters, because on balance he has done a lot for civilization and liberty. I followed Aaron Haspel's link to a Michael Lewis interview by Robert Birnbaum, and on the same site there was an interview of Hitchens. Here's how Hitchens sticks up for Western values of freedom in the face of Islamic terror:

RB: You discuss simplicity in this book and one example you cite is the fatwa…and that if an adversary can not disavow the murder of writers for what they write then you can have no further debate…

CH: I did that on Crossfire…

RB: Who was your adversary?

CH: Some American Muslim leader. You see, for me, this battle has been going at least since…Some scumbag from some verminous mosque came on …I said, "Let's get one thing out of the way, you are opposed to the offer of money for the murder of my friend [Salman Rushdie] then we can discuss anything you like?" He appealed to Pat Buchanan, who was his defender, of course. "Islam's feeling have been very much hurt." I said, "We'll get to that, I promise you. But first I want your assurance…" And he said, "For Muslim peoples, it is the feeling…" I said, "Look, hold it right there, you are not getting past me. You're just not. I'll waste your whole hour if you want." And I did. And at the end I came right up to him. I know where you live. I have your home phone number. It's the only way.

Lots of people argue for liberty. Hitchens gets an award for extra effort.