Hitchens: Stop crying over VTech already
posted at 7:09 pm on April 24, 2007 by Allahpundit
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The man is deathly allergic to sentimentality. I think it’s a case of extreme iconoclasm gone awry.
That said, it has been a bit excessive, hasn’t it?
Those of us who watch Geraldo and Shep Smith know the truth.
The grisly events at Virginia Tech involved no struggle, no sacrifice, no great principle. They were random and pointless. Those who died were not soldiers in any cause. They were not murdered by our enemies. They were not martyrs. But—just to take one example from the exhausting national sob fest of the past few days—here is how the bells were tolled for them at another national seat of learning. The president of Cornell University, David J. Skorton, ordered the chimes on his campus to be rung 33 times before addressing a memorial gathering. Thirty-three times?…
On Saturday night, I watched disgustedly as the president of the United States declined to give his speech to the White House Correspondents Dinner on the grounds that this was no time to be swapping jokes and satires. (What? No words of courage? No urging us to put on a brave face and go shopping or visit Disneyland?) Everyone in the room knew that this was a dismal cop-out, but then everyone in the room also knew that our own profession was co-responsible. If the president actually had performed his annual duty, there were people in the press corps who would have affected shock and accused him of “insensitivity.” So, this was indeed a moment of unity—everyone united in mawkishness and sloppiness and false sentiment. From now on, any president who wants to duck the occasion need only employ a staffer on permanent weepy-watch.
Exit question: Deep down, in the darkest corner of his heart of hearts, where terrible truths are whispered, Geraldo kind of enjoys stories like these, doesn’t he? Think of all the opportunities they give him to hug people!
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Sorry, didn’t get to read the link, yet. I’m LMAO at the banner at the top “Discuss Small Business with John Kerry”!? Heh. Irony.
amerpundit on April 24, 2007 at 7:19 PM
Can you say “Heinz”?
amerpundit on April 24, 2007 at 7:20 PM
I think a lot more than just Geraldo enjoy these awful stories. And while the corner of their hearts that nurses such proclivities may be dark, I doubt it’s very deep.
Il Padrino on April 24, 2007 at 7:21 PM
He’s got a point. If the President had engaged in the usual yucking-it-up, the MSM template would have made him sound like Nero fiddling while Rome burned.
Personally, I think it’s pathetic that precious little has been made of the recent loss of LCDR Kevin Davis, Blue Angel #6. Here’s a guy who wasn’t disgruntled, wasn’t pissed off at the world because some girl looked at him cross-eyed, and wasn’t a sociopathic attention whore with a deathwish. He was among the best of the best. He represented everything we should aspire to. Where’s the sobfest for him??
CurtZHP on April 24, 2007 at 7:21 PM
Meanwhile, 65 Ethiopians and 7 Chinese are killed working at an oil field by rebels. Let’s see how much coverage that gets…
Seixon on April 24, 2007 at 7:23 PM
Dude, Hitchens must be reading Hot Air or Ace. We’re the only ones talking about the Cornell thing.
see-dubya on April 24, 2007 at 7:26 PM
Seriously, check Google news for “Cornell Skorton”. Unless he’s reading the Cornell papers, the only thing that mentions the 33 bell rings after it happened on April 19th is my post here.
see-dubya on April 24, 2007 at 7:35 PM
Dude, he’s not reading Hot Air.
Allahpundit on April 24, 2007 at 7:36 PM
Doesn’t that whole 33 vs. 32 mirror what happened at columbine? Wasn’t there controvery over a memorial that include symbolic crosses for the two shooters?
Max Power on April 24, 2007 at 7:39 PM
No reason to think he’s a regular reader, no, but if he was researching the column and looking for examples of maudlin sentimentality connected with VT, it would come up.
see-dubya on April 24, 2007 at 7:40 PM
I think Geraldo does enjoy rolling up his sleeves to get to the bottom of an issue. I remember him persuing the employer of migrant workers cameraman and all. That was back in the early seventies. He seems like part PT Barnum and part Edward R.Murrow. As for Dubya mabey he had stage fright ater seeing the David Letterman top ten. Ya know?
sonnyspats1 on April 24, 2007 at 7:44 PM
see-dubya on April 24, 2007 at 7:35 PM
Dude ease up on the caffine heh heh heh
sonnyspats1 on April 24, 2007 at 7:46 PM
I suffer from the same allergy to sentimentality that Hitchens does. That’s why I adore him. Mark Steyn has been writing similar articles recently. I adore him, too. And I absolutey agree with Hitchens on this and with Steyn on his “A Culture of Passivity” article he has up on his website.
Glynn on April 24, 2007 at 7:46 PM
Think I’m pretty much with Hitch on this one.
Blacklake on April 24, 2007 at 7:54 PM
I find myself with Hitch on most every issue. But then, years ago, I actually (cringes) liked Andrew Sullivan. But that was before he became a complete turncoat (to use the nicest possible descriptor). In the back of my mind, I keep hoping Hitchens doesn’t become another Sullivan. Oh well, there’s always Cal Thomas, Thomas Sowell, and Charles Krauthammer to fall back on.
thedecider on April 24, 2007 at 8:07 PM
Geraldo is one of the worst in milking these type of stories. When he had his talk show in the 80’s he made most viewers feel like they needed a shower whenever he rolled the word sex across his lips.
The only credit I give him is that very early he did a fascinating story about Marilyn Monroe’s death. ABC refused to air it and the Rolling Stone magazine ended up printing it. Probably his best work but once he was denied the serious journalism stuff he turned the corner and embraced sensationalism.
But I do think that society in general embraces stories like these in a dark sort of way. Tragic absolutely but too often used rather piously as justification for a pet opinion such as “more gun control” or “more concealed carry permits”. Just as tasteless as Geraldo and Shep’s performance but not as widely seen.
Bradky on April 24, 2007 at 8:09 PM
This “Ms. Verbrugge” seems easily distracted. I disagree with Hitch’s comment that it was a “non-event”. I think it was pretty big.
thedecider on April 24, 2007 at 8:11 PM
Nothing wrong with enjoying your work. Many people seek professions where they will be involved in unpleasant situations. Consider the police, soldiers, (ahem) ER docs…
mikeyboss on April 24, 2007 at 8:17 PM
I read somewhere today that some Virginia Tech students are putting up a memorial for the shooter. Don’t know if it was a joke or what, but what has this country come to if it’s true.
derbal on April 24, 2007 at 8:17 PM
Meanwhile, 65 Ethiopians and 7 Chinese are killed working at an oil field by rebels. Let’s see how much coverage that gets…
And let’s see how the Chinese react
I’m amazed at their softly-softly approach thus far..
Reaps on April 24, 2007 at 8:55 PM
I much rather see him catch a chair in the face.
Bill C on April 24, 2007 at 8:55 PM
Keep in mind, this is the guy who slammed Mother Theresa after she died. But he’s absolutely right about the thirty-three bells. Nauseating.
Jim Treacher on April 24, 2007 at 9:05 PM
Here we go again…
Jim Treacher on April 24, 2007 at 9:06 PM
A blogger I know has a post that you can read here about the whole 33rd victim thing and I think he sums it up pretty well.
MoxArgon on April 24, 2007 at 9:09 PM
Very flinty, Allah: Hitchens is flinty, and thou art even Flintier
( to help out Bradky and other Dim Bulbs, flint is both hard and sharp )
Janos Hunyadi on April 24, 2007 at 9:22 PM
I’m with Hitchens on this one.
Every year I have to grit my teeth and sit through endless breast-beating over the Murrah bombing. It is very obvious that it is a political and commercial enterprise. The Waco Massacre that triggered McVeigh’s resolve isn’t mentioned even in passing. An ugly German memorial was built to emphasize the annual emotional masturbation fest. An annual marathon was started, having nothing to do with the bombing. 12 years later and it’s a big deal. Not because of the lives lost, but because of the attention and money it can generate in perpetuity.
Hiraghm on April 24, 2007 at 9:31 PM
I agree with Hitchens, too.
I think we’ve become a society of victims. While the pain of those affected will last a lifetime, it does us no good to attempt to vicariously live the pain. This goes beyond the reporting the news, past sentimentality and comes closer to a morbid curiosity to even self-flagellation. We simply don’t need to know every second of Cho’s life the moment it comes out. This isn’t a friggin’ suspense novel, folks.
America used to be full of the “get back on that horse” types. Now it seems to be full of something else. YMMV.
eforhan on April 24, 2007 at 10:19 PM
I think there is every chance that Hitchens caught this at HotAir.
Allah, You underestimate yourself.
Rightwingsparkle on April 24, 2007 at 10:34 PM
Just another chapter in the Left’s long-term project to feminize (emasculate) American society!
Lehuster on April 24, 2007 at 10:36 PM
This is Hitchens way of pointing out the obvious wussification of this country. Or should I say the wussification being jammed down our throats by the MSM. We all feel sick and are outraged at the VTech tragedy, but 99.9999999999999% of us are unaffected by it. It’s no wonder dictators and tyrants around the world have no fear of this country any longer. Our so called male leaders spend days and days looking like wilted pansies every time some event like this happens. It’s becoming a media contest about who can grieve the longest and loudest.
roninacreage on April 24, 2007 at 10:41 PM
I agree with Hitchens. The story is a big one and should be well and thorouhly reported, but that doesn’t mean we should wallow in it. The victims should be mourned by their freinds, and family, and by the school.
I feel like I’m intruding in their grief. It’s none of my business, really.
“Those who died were not soldiers in any cause. They were not murdered by our enemies. They were not martyrs.” Exactly. It’s terribly, terribly sad that they were murdered, but it’s not a national tragedy. Was it a national tragedy when that guy murdered 87 people in a nightclub by throwing burning gasoline in there? No, it was just a hideous crime.
Flags at federal facilities were flown at half-mast this past week. Why so for this mass murder, but not for the nightclub arson massacre?
Plus all this attention really does encourage copycats.
juliesa on April 24, 2007 at 11:03 PM
Anyone who can write like this, is a treasure. I adore Mr. Hitchens, for and in spite of his curmudgeonry. The application of the word “lachrymose” in relation to the nation which still leads the free world was fabulous.
What he forgot to mention was how much fodder this massacre, and the prolonged coverage of it (Greta has just begun…) has given the rest of the world to bash the U.S.A. even more.
I agree fully with his assessment of the correspondents’ dinner. Whatever Mr. Bush would have done would have been the ‘wrong’ approach. The event has lost its meaning and, if cancelled, no one will miss it.
I’m so happy Mr. Hitchens is on the right side of the WoT. I wonder what he would name it…
Entelechy on April 24, 2007 at 11:22 PM
Why no Gerardo hug, or Flags at half-mast for those who fall into this category?
Illegal Aliens Kill More Americans Than Iraq War
PinkyBigglesworth on April 24, 2007 at 11:24 PM
That “33rd bell” should have been replaced by a Bronx Cheer.
The sappification of the nation is nauseating.
Don’t remember this inclusion of the killers into memorials for the victims until recently.
And it should be mocked and reviled until it stops.
(How about all of the poor Japanese soldiers who got blisters from having to behead so many stumbling American soldiers during the Bataan Death March, huh? Have they gotten compensation yet?)
profitsbeard on April 25, 2007 at 12:24 AM
Take off 2 decimal points and the same goes for 9/11. Doesn’t really hold up, now, does it?
Jim Treacher on April 25, 2007 at 2:38 AM
I’m not big on conspiracy theories, but in Imus and VT you can see nearly simultanious attacks on Amendmens #1 & 2 by the weeping class. Let’s not fall for it.
dhimwit on April 25, 2007 at 6:49 AM
He was in the military.
Probably voted Republican.
I’d wager he was white and I know he was male.
There is no political angle to his death that can be used to advance leftist agendas. Since he didn’t die in combat, they can’t even pounce on the opportunity to bash Bush and denounce the war.
So with all that in mind – why do you think there’d be a media “sobfest?”
You must not have gotten the memo.
Professor Blather on April 25, 2007 at 7:51 AM
Well that was officially the most disturbing post I’ve ever read, on any non-liberal blog, ever.
McVeigh’s “resolve,” huh?
Waco should be mentioned because it “triggered his resolve?” His “resolve” to murder a couple hundred people? To blow up a freaking day care center full of preschool kids?
Nice.
Kind of like U.S. policy “triggered” Osama’s “resolve” to murder 3,000 Americans. Kind of like the rejection of a few girls “triggered” Cho’s “resolve” to shoot up his campus?
Right.
Dude. Get some help. Or stop and really think how the post you wrote is exactly, as in word for word, like so many of the posts I could find on liberal blogs. The vilest ones.
If you really think McVeigh had “resolve” and that somebody else’s “trigger” had anything to do with it – you’re as bad as any liberal idolozing Cho today. Or telling us we should “understand” bin Laden.
Moderators, unless you want to see that particular comment posted on a thousand liberal blogs to prove how screwed up conservatives are – you might consider zilching that comment.
“Triggered his resolve …”
Sick. Disturbing.
Professor Blather on April 25, 2007 at 8:12 AM
You’re not serious? Compare this to the nauseating display over Anna Nicole or the circus around Jon Benet or the grotesque parody that was Princess Di’s final act. Or Natalie the Aruba girl or Scott Peterson’s wife and unborn baby.
This is comparitively speaking the height of dignity. Hitchins is a fabulous writer but this “oh let’s say something really shocking” schtick is getting old. Yeah we know, Mother Teresa was a bitch.
honora on April 25, 2007 at 8:49 AM
I think Hitchens has a point, but there’s another way to deal with the maudlin sentimentality, which is to simply not participate in it. I think to criticize it is, in a small way, also an effort to profit from it. Better to send a donation and ignore the sentiment, because in criticizing the sentiment, you risk offending those who still grieve and will grieve for many years.
On the broader subject of Hitchens, he is all for clinical and steely analysis unless one of his personal hobbyhorses is touched — read his attacks on Kissinger, Reagan, Mother Theresa, and you’ll see a descent into blind emotionalism that rivals, in an opposite way, any teddy-bear memorial that anyone chooses to build.
The Colossus on April 25, 2007 at 9:34 AM
Duly noted. Thanks for setting me straight.
Although, I was bracing for someone to start calling for an end to military displays at air shows as dangerous.
CurtZHP on April 25, 2007 at 10:42 AM
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