Report: Hitchens beaten by pro-Syrian thugs in Beirut? Update: “I was on the ground and getting it in the head”
posted at 4:54 pm on February 18, 2009 by Allahpundit
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Look on the bright side: This’ll make for one hell of a Slate column once he gets back.
I can only assume they didn’t recognize him, as the opportunity to scalp one of the world’s foremost atheists surely would have been irresistible.
I dont know if you find this as news worthy or not, but Christopher Hitchens is currently in Beirut sponsored by the same group that owns that crap NOW Lebanon. He got in a few nights ago and surprisingly went out drinking. On his way out of the bar he saw an SSNP poster and wrote on it “Fuck the SSNP”. There just happened to be some SSNP thugs near by–most likely asking people for their ID, and most likely to no avail–and saw him write on the poster and kicked his ass. He is still walking with a limp.
Abu Muqawama says he’s confirmed the story. The SSNP is, of course, a Hezbollah ally that advocates a Syrian anschluss of Lebanon (and Israel, natch). Consider Hitch a minor martyr to the cause of the Cedar Revolution here. Exit question one: More or less unpleasant than being waterboarded? Exit question two: Er, isn’t Ace there with him? Has anyone heard from Ace recently?
Update: Belated exit question three: Is it time for me to organize a mighty atheist army and lead it on a march to Damascus for justice? Yes.
Update: Forbes says Totten was in the mix.
But later that night, three of our “scoop” brigade–Jonathan Foreman, Michael Totten and Christopher Hitchens–got involved in a street brawl with some thugs of a Syria-loving skinhead party called the SNPN after Hitchens rather gallantly insulted their swastika flag. On our way to a meeting with Minister of State Nissib Lahoud, Hitchens showed me the gashed knuckles and bruises suffered during the punch up. The attackers had apparently come out of nowhere on posh Hamda Street, where they had gone to buy shoes. “I was on the ground,” Hitchens said, “and getting it in the head.” It was a miracle they didn’t pull Kalashnikovs.
Note: I changed the headline to reflect that the attackers were pro-Syrian, but not necessarily Syrian in origin.
Update: Ace sets the record straight.
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I’m pretty boring. Back on topic – it’s way more exciting and keeps you an active commenter.
Entelechy on February 18, 2009 at 7:16 PM
Sorry, just never been sort of threatened on a website before, unless you count Foxsports.com which I don’t. Digress, back on topic.
FlyoverJ-HawkFan on February 18, 2009 at 7:19 PM
No, we cannot agree on that (if I read you correctly). Any vandalism of election signs is a serious threat. We are a Republic of elected officials. Any suppression of that election process is serious business.
But back to Hitchens:
Was he asking for it. You bet.
Did he get it? You bet.
Was it right of the thugs to give it to him? No.
Was Hitchen right to vandalize a poster? No.
This whole thing reminds me of Timothy Treadwell. AKA The Grizzly Man.
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 7:20 PM
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 7:03 PM
Oh I see you come from the Flat side of the state huh- Flat Earther? Otherwise known as might as well be North Dakota.
Dr Evil on February 18, 2009 at 7:20 PM
Nonsense :)
Spirit of 1776 on February 18, 2009 at 7:21 PM
I agree, but the irony is that Allah’s allowance of all conservative flavors is what makes the site so great. He doesn’t ban people if they’re in favor of ID. He doesn’t ban people who didn’t like Giuliani. He bans the people who really start with neo-nazi anti-semitic slander, or who are so obnoxious with their language they they resemble your average DUmmie.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 7:21 PM
right2bright was poking fun at our pissing competition Dr. Evil.
Besides, my Montana ancestors spoke caveman and rode Wolly Mammoths to school where they learned how to throw rocks and cower during lightening storms.
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 7:22 PM
How ’bout the sane and/or less drunk in his traveling party? I’m reminded of the day I was walking home from the OSU/Oregon football game. I’m a Beaver in Corvallis, and while walking home my loudmouth, drunk, Duck-fan friend just about got us both whooped on a handful of times. Hitch was acting irresponsibly whether you count him a hero or an asshat.
Take Ace and Totten out of Hitch’s posse and see if he pulls the same stunt…
innominatus on February 18, 2009 at 7:22 PM
True, but this was not a Syrian flag; Unless I misunderstand, it’s the flag of a political party.
Yep.
Buy Danish on February 18, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Right, except that Grizzly Man wasn’t speaking against a neo-nazi flag with a giant swastika on it, nor was he then being beaten by a group of men too cowardly to actually fight him.
So, have you an analogy that is a little less relevant? My guess is no.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 7:23 PM
FlyoverJ-HawkFan on February 18, 2009 at 7:19 PM
Not a threat at all, not even “sort of”. All’s good.
You kid, but I really stay out of most of them, not the Hitchens ones, just the religious/atheist threads. No one ever wins, nothing is ventured, lost, they just seem to be a waste, unless they produce good traffic and there’s collateral gain…I guess we could say that about any of them…too much time on hands today. Will change soon enough.
Entelechy on February 18, 2009 at 7:24 PM
Dear God. Some things never change. You’re all still the same even after those years spent at Ft. Harrison a lifetime ago.
wccawa on February 18, 2009 at 7:25 PM
really, really hate that open registration always manages to bring in this special breed of retard.
This is a conservative site, but one that in my opinion needs to be more liberal with the ban-hammer.
Hollowpoint on February 18, 2009 at 7:11 PM
Be nice to us FNG’s, some of us have done a lot of reading on this site and studying.
FlyoverJ-HawkFan on February 18, 2009 at 7:25 PM
Awright…You push one of the religious zealots while I’m kneeling behind him and I’ll point him to one of the atheists after he falls over.
Django on February 18, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Whether you count Hitch as a hero or an asshat – it was irresponsible of him to act that way, and possibly put other members of his traveling group at risk. Wonder how much his “bravery” was amplified by having Ace and Totten nearby…
innominatus on February 18, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Looks like LGF can go ’something Hitchens wrote on a poster’ itself.
One and only one person cheered on the attack, and that person was either roundly criticized or summarily ridiculed for it…by people on both sides of the argument.
How do we know that Charles Johnson doesn’t distort all the things he reports as much as he distorted what happened in this thread?
James on February 18, 2009 at 7:26 PM
And I believe we hold people to a higher moral order than we do animals.
Esthier on February 18, 2009 at 7:27 PM
Geez, MC. You’re wound up tighter than a Michelin HIGH SPHINCTER shock absorber tonight. What’s up with that?
However, ten bucks sez you’d be a hoot to party with in Beirut.
wccawa on February 18, 2009 at 7:27 PM
A Frum fan, I take it.
Same deal: This is a top-rated “Conservative” site. Ban all the remaining Conservatives and nonRINOs, and suffer the same fate as LGF. Where is Charles on Alexa now? 800,000th?
YAAARRRGGHHHH on February 18, 2009 at 7:28 PM
Your words can only be taken as a full and unequivocal enforcement of my observation.
semloh on February 18, 2009 at 7:28 PM
Then I’m sure you know how rare you are. Welcome.
Esthier on February 18, 2009 at 7:28 PM
Glad you got that bloated bubble moral indignation out before it blew forth from your belly!
Now I remember you, you’re the guy who accused me of being a Nazi sympathizer because I disagreed with you. Someone above mentioned the Godwin Rule of the Internet. How timely.
Nice straw man, but here is what I meant:
As others pointed out, when you go into the bears den, expect to be mauled. It doesn’t make it right, but don’t act all surprised when it happens.
Is there where you launch into another “Montana is a NEO NAZI SKIN HEAD” rant? Because man, my head would look really weird if it was bald. And I don’t do tattoes. And I am quite partial to Israel and Jews. Hmm, wonder why…
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 7:29 PM
Note to HA Christians: Belligerant comments in hostile places should only be written in sharpie marker.
Tanya & AP….everyone’s a hypocrite. You don’t get a high and mighty stool just for being an athiest.
Personally this Christian couldn’t help cheering at Hitchens brazeness against those evil thugs, drunk or not. I wish him a speedy recovery and will be anxiously awaiting his take on the incident.
jadams on February 18, 2009 at 7:30 PM
BTW, try not to get so hysterical. It is not at all becoming.
semloh on February 18, 2009 at 7:30 PM
Guess you atheists are loving this as typical religious violence! You don’t provoke the enemy unless you are willing to fight.
BoSox_or_Bust on February 18, 2009 at 7:33 PM
People like you and those I refer to- “conservatives” who seem to believe conservativism is defined solely by social issues and religion we can do without, as they spend most of their time raging against those with different religious beliefs than they.
Hollowpoint on February 18, 2009 at 7:34 PM
Actually, I believe Madison understood you well, but when you make an analogy like that, you’re essentially forgiving the animals for their brutality and putting the blame on the victim.
In the Grizzly case, the man was responsible and knew he was putting himself in a dangerous position, but, as I said already, we expect animals to behave like animals. However, we expect more from human beings.
The argument you’re using is the same one that was used to cover for the riots over the Danish cartoons.
Esthier on February 18, 2009 at 7:36 PM
Ok. That paragraph made me dizzy. My monitor is spinning.
wccawa on February 18, 2009 at 7:37 PM
Let’s get AP and go have round 2 with those fascist f***s. You can take the small one.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 7:37 PM
Aren’t they all small when you take the AKs away?
wccawa on February 18, 2009 at 7:39 PM
I wouldn’t try to characterize all newbies as being undesirable. It’s just that the obnoxious idiots (some of whom came after being banned from other sites, and for good reason) who get added to the mix tend to stand out.
That said, welcome to HA!
Hollowpoint on February 18, 2009 at 7:40 PM
The leap to state-sanctioned censorship is a non sequitur. The poster was in a public space, and the act of putting it up was itself vandalism. Had Hitchens scrawled his message on the wall beside the poster, that would have been vandalism.
Note too that an action like Hitchens’ is only excusable when the speech in question is exerted to the end of depriving others of their rights. Defacing a sign for a Nazi or communist party or the KKK or the like is not just excusable, but praiseworthy. I do think it is a laudatory action to tear down Nazi Youth posters in Baltimore. Defacing someone’s speech in any other event is completely inexcusable, as that would be depriving an individual of his right to speech.
You are arguing, basically, “who are we to decide if a group is actively working to deprive others of their rights?”, and your argument reduces to: “judge not, lest ye be judged.” I say: “judge, and be prepared to be judged yourself.”
hicsuget on February 18, 2009 at 7:40 PM
The sign is private property and an expression of belief/opinion.
I didn’t see anything establishing the sign was the thugs property.
Unalienable right to defend your property.
There are other ways to do so that don’t require resorting to violence.
Unalienable right to defend your freedom of speech.
Again, violence isnt the only way.
Wonder while Hitchen was on the ground, did he suddenly find God? Think he was praying for his life?
Irrelevant to the actual issue here.
Let’s not forget our unalienable rights were established through violence.
Rights have been taken away by violence as well. Why are you so hung up on violence as a option?
Keep turning the other cheek, your daughter will be wearing a burka.
You make a stupid and ignorant assumption.
BTW: Wow, so many people have AP pegged! Good to see.
Eh, everyone deserves criticism at some point. Including those of use who criticize AP about this or that.
klickink.wordpress.com on February 18, 2009 at 6:57 PM
aikidoka on February 18, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Buy Danish, here’s what he fy’d.
Entelechy on February 18, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Please refresh my memory with a link. If I did call you that, it was for damned good reason. My guess would be that you were defending Buchanan’s admiration of Hitler and blaming the Holocaust on the British. Otherwise, please don’t make accusations you can’t back up.
Funny that you just mentioned straw man, because in this thread, I made no such assertion, so quit your whining.
Hitchens was insulting a flag bearing a swastika. It was not a national flag, it was a political flag, so by no means was he insulting the country. A few of those political supporters thought the best way they could respond to him scribbling with a Sharpie was to assault him.
Maybe it’s just me, and I’m weird, because I’m used to being in a nation where people aren’t animals. Maybe you are. I don’t know. Being a savage doesn’t excuse savagery in my eyes.
Oh, and Godwin was damn well invoked the minute it came out that this was a neo-nazi political group who owned the flag.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 7:43 PM
Are you kidding? Bring them to a country where the woman doesn’t get executed for them raping her, and they get microscopic?
Then we can put them in a snow globe and put it in a paint mixer. Good times.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 7:45 PM
Give it a rest, man.
Tzetzes on February 18, 2009 at 7:46 PM
Damn, you’re a sharp lady.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 7:46 PM
Smells like love…
klickink.wordpress.com on February 18, 2009 at 7:47 PM
Jesus Christ, where do pieces of work like you come from?
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 7:49 PM
Thinking like that, that’s how wars are lost.
And the Dem/Coms took over America.
Liberty is dead. The meek commies have inherited the Earth.
klickink.wordpress.com on February 18, 2009 at 7:50 PM
No…I am not, if you thought that than I made a poor and unclear argument.
I am a believer in judging–or judgment. I believe the ability to make a judgement and to take a stand is important. I believe in discerning black or white from grey. I cannot abide fence sitters.
In the case of vandalism being vandalized (i.e. swastika graffiti being defaced or the SSNP sign issue) then you and I are in the same camp. My posts haven’t been as much about the Hitchens’s affair as they have about the application of speech suppression in America.
But what I gleaned from your earlier posts was that we as private citizens have a duty (lest we be shamed) to deface lawful displays of things we find offensive. If that is indeed your point (but I am no longer sure given your later clarifications) then we would part ways in our beliefs.
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 7:51 PM
Oh, do go on, please. I’m waiting with bated breath.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 7:52 PM
Hitch has got himself some balls. Quick recovery, old chap.
VolMagic on February 18, 2009 at 7:52 PM
I’d never advocate banning someone because they favored a different candidate or differing views. But the BS we’re seeing suggesting that Hitchens had it coming for being an Evil Athiest? Those who can’t hear the name “Mitt Romney” (whom I was opposed to) without going off on an anti-Mormon rant? Screw ‘em.
Hollowpoint on February 18, 2009 at 7:54 PM
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/283102.php
Ace has an update with more info… seems overplayed here vs. what happened according to Ace’s post.
gekkobear on February 18, 2009 at 7:54 PM
That’s it! I am calling Al Gore. We just found a never-ending-source-of-alternative-energy. Now, if we could just harness your moral indignation we’d be all set.
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 7:54 PM
I guess that’s a “no” on backing up your accusations? Shocker. Not even an attempt to retort? Just greeting card shtick that makes Woody Allen seem humorous? Have at it, bud.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 7:56 PM
Oh, c’mon, MC. Does Madison have fairy-dusted, frosting covered unicorns prancing though your neighborhood all night long? WTF?
I gotta lotta respect for you, but I am NOT seeing your angle here. Maybe I should get you drunk in MY town and send you skeetering down the street at 2 am with a magic marker.
wccawa on February 18, 2009 at 7:56 PM
I am not concerned here with what is lawful; I am concerned with what is right. The law cannot take a neutral stand on political speech, so even the speech of communists and Nazis must be protected by the law. But just because it must be protected by the law does not mean it should be permitted to stand unchallenged (or to stand at all) by private citizens acting in a private capacity.
Had Hitchens been caught doing this by a policeman, he should have been punished as the law would dictate in any other circumstance. And the judge who would have had the unpleasant task of sentencing him should have hailed Hitchens as a hero.
Sometimes the right thing is not the legal thing. That is where the independent judgment of every individual is necessary.
hicsuget on February 18, 2009 at 7:57 PM
So it was Ace’s story after all. Anti-climatic :(
Spirit of 1776 on February 18, 2009 at 7:57 PM
BTW, try not to get so hysterical. It is not at all becoming.
semloh on February 18, 2009 at 7:30 PM
Not hysterical, just realist. Seen many years of uncensored ridiculous violence. Not saying I agree, but with my glass half-empty mentality, this is what happens.
FlyoverJ-HawkFan on February 18, 2009 at 7:57 PM
Ace’s story:
Lefty blogs, apparently cued in a by a Hezballah-friendly reporter, have the details of this wrong.
I wasn’t there. I was there, however, for the immediate after-action report, and have heard it told ten times by now, including most of it from Hitchens. Although I didn’t really bother asking much, as I’d already heard it.
Hitch and two others you’d know, one from the internet, one from conservative-tilting media (I won’t mention them, because the Syrian Nazis are dangerous and kill people), were out on some or such errand. The Internet Guy was just telling Hitchens that the Syrian Nazi party had little support in the country but was paid by Syria to kill people, and that he’d been told they’re the one party you don’t fuck with.
So five minutes later they come across the poster for the Syrian Nazi Party on an abandoned bagel shop — abandoned, if I had this right, after Hezballah had attacked it last year due to the overly Jewish connotations of bagelry.
So Hitchens immediately takes out a pen and writes “No, no, Fuck You” on the poster. I don’t know if he’d digested the story and decided to fuck with them anyway, or else he was just reacting to the modified swastika on the poster.
Now, the Syrian Nazis are not popular and neighborhoods have tried to get their posters taken down. But then they threaten people and cause problems.
So the state leaves them up. To avoid getting their posters defaced or torn down, they post a paid Nazi watcher to keep an eye on their posters.
Well, when this Syrian Nazi goon saw Hitch do this, he confronted him and kinda-sorta attacked him. I say kinda sorta attacked, because what his main intent was was to delay Hitchens from leaving — until the ten Nazi goons he had just texted on his cell phone could arrive.
There was some kicking and pulling and hitting. Hitch and the others attempted to get into a cab — the Syrian Nazi goon got right in the cab with them, still hitting Hitchens. They could not force him out. Eventually they all exited, and attempted to get a fresh cab, but other cabbies were now hip to the fact the Syrian Nazis had been riled and wanted no business from them, so two cabs passed refusing their fare.
Now at this point the ten Nazi goons showed up (about five minutes into this– they came quickly) and Hitch and the other two were probably going to get the crap beaten out of them, at best. However, they finally managed to get a cabbie who was either brave or didn’t know the trouble he was getting into and got in, this time without the goon, and left the other ten behind.
There’s a sort of interesting bit I’m leaving out here. I’ll mention it later, when all members of the group have departed.
Now, as far as the damage Hitch suffered, it wasn’t much. He did get some lumps — a knock on the leg, a scrape on the face. And also his writing hand had been stomped on. He’d been roughed up a bit, but didn’t have “the shit beaten out of him.” If I hadn’t been told the story I wouldn’t have known he’d been fucked with at all. Apart from a bit of pain walking and some more pain typing, he was fine.
So, that’s the story. I was holding off on it until we were out of the country, but some rat we ran into apparently began blabbing it to his rat-like kin.
It didn’t happen in a bar. It happened mid-day on the street. It wasn’t a drunken brawl. I have no idea if Hitchens had drank at all, but if he had, it was like his typical lunch-time bloody mary. (I’m not saying he didn’t get drunk– just not then.)
And no one had the shit beaten out of him. The lefty bloggers saying they’ve “confirmed” this are apparently talking to people not in a position to confirm it, or perhaps their Hez buddies who also don’t know shit about it.
Aristotle on February 18, 2009 at 7:58 PM
Then I’m sure you know how rare you are. Welcome.
Esthier on February 18, 2009 at 7:28 PM
Thanks. Will try not to disappoint, but yet still aggravate those that deserve it.
FlyoverJ-HawkFan on February 18, 2009 at 7:59 PM
I think Hitchens deserved to get his butt kicked. You don’t go to a foreign country and start vandalizing the place. Especially when you are a Westerner in a Muslim Country. That’s just beyond dumb.
SoulGlo on February 18, 2009 at 7:59 PM
Huh. “Drunk gets what’s coming to him”, eh?
The real question is, if this had been 1929, and Hitch had done the same to a poster in Germany, would the reaction be the same?
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Ditto since 06 and already some commenter has flamed me today on another thread here… Putting on the asbestos underwear is a bit scratchy.
Bunsin on February 18, 2009 at 8:01 PM
Hezbollah = scum
Zorro on February 18, 2009 at 8:01 PM
My angle is that a guy just implied a murdered 20 year old girl had it coming to her because she was in the wrong place.
I can’t believe you’d defend that crap.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 8:01 PM
Nothing like a good swift kick in the head for him to learn he in not in the U.S. where he has the God given right to express his opinion in that manner.
Of course, he did have the Allah given right to be killed. Appears he was lucky.
Helloyawl on February 18, 2009 at 8:01 PM
Syrian Nazis. I hate those guys. /Indiana Jones.
TheQuestion on February 18, 2009 at 8:02 PM
When I, a thoughtful and unblessed Presbyterian, examine the Koran, I know that beyond any question every Mohammedan is insane, not in all things, but in religious matters. I cannot prove to him that he is insane, because you never can prove anything to a lunatic — for that is a part of his insanity and the evidence of it.
- Mark Twain
In times of change, the Patriot is a scarce man; brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot.
- Mark Twain
MB4 on February 18, 2009 at 8:02 PM
Oh here we agree 100% but then it becomes an interesting (and not academic) discussion of vigilantes.
This is also where ’saying little’, ‘flying under the rada’r, and not making spectacle of yourself is critical (if you are the vigilante).
If you do the RIGHT thing that happens to be AGAINST the LAW you will have much sympathy–even from judges and juries. But the question must be asked: If we grant leniency, what do we encourage tomorrow? More of the same? That is where a low profile helps.
I think you can understand why. And I think you can see the danger of selective enforcement of law, even if it’s the RIGHT thing to do.
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 8:02 PM
No, a regular westerner doesn’t deserve to get his butt kicked.
Hitchens, on the other hand, is a troll in his essense, a guy who makes people angry for a living. I wouldn’t shed a tear even if this piece of garbage was shot.
Aristotle on February 18, 2009 at 8:03 PM
Ditto since 06 and already some commenter has flamed me today on another thread here… Putting on the asbestos underwear is a bit scratchy.
Bunsin on February 18, 2009 at 8:01 PM
OUCH!
FlyoverJ-HawkFan on February 18, 2009 at 8:03 PM
Well, that makes perfect sense.
Eh, wait.
No, it doesn’t.
klickink.wordpress.com on February 18, 2009 at 8:05 PM
The hits just keep on coming. Simply breathtaking.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 8:06 PM
More than likely.
MB4 on February 18, 2009 at 8:06 PM
Thinking like that, that’s how wars are lost.
There. Now we have obtuseness equilibrium.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 8:07 PM
Excellent quotes.
Of course, the man was probably bi-polar, so, he should know.
klickink.wordpress.com on February 18, 2009 at 8:07 PM
I missed that. It’s been a confusing thread.
But still, you need a drink. What the fuck do you guys drink in Wisconsin?
I suggest MORE of it.
wccawa on February 18, 2009 at 8:07 PM
Yeah, people who give opinions that make others angry definitely deserve to be put to death for it.
Idiot.
Hollowpoint on February 18, 2009 at 8:08 PM
Firstly, if you read the account of the attack in the interview, it says the attackers ‘came out of nowhere’. In other words, Hitch probably didn’t realize they were around when he pulled out the marker. The whole incident seems much more like a fratboy prank (getting drunk and defacing the rival school’s mascot while your friends chuckle) than any brave act of defiance.
Secondly, what exactly did his great act of ‘moral clarity’ achieve? How many of us can even name the group the poster was for without scrolling back up and reading the post again? Did it help an underground movement in Syria? Did it change any hearts and minds? Did it inspire anyone else to make the same move?
This was not an act of political defiance or part of a movement or anything that requires thought. This was a guy out with some friends defacing a poster. Ascribing anything more to it than what it is demeans actual acts of courage.
JadeNYU on February 18, 2009 at 8:08 PM
Nothing obtuse about what I said that you were commenting on.
Unalienable rights.
Liberty is dead.
Dem/Coms.
You don’t get it, you should quit comparing yourself to Madison.
klickink.wordpress.com on February 18, 2009 at 8:09 PM
Hitchens may have started a new Cedar Revolution. In the next week/month the SNPN will have its signs and flags unceremoniously defaced with “No,no, Fuck You” all across Beirut. would be a good thing.
runner on February 18, 2009 at 8:09 PM
Wrong question. What don’t people from Wisconsin drink? I’m not sure, but I suspect their libraries serve beer.
Hollowpoint on February 18, 2009 at 8:10 PM
Anti-semitism rising in Europe. Fascism spreading like wildfire. Leaders talking of world conquest. A New Deal in the process at home. And now people on both sides of the aisle sticking up for the neo-nazis who own the poster defaced by one of our countrymen.
Gee, I so look forward to the future.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 8:10 PM
What exactly is it that you want Allahpundit?
You’re the one who dragged Hitchens’ atheism into this with the second sentence of your post:
This incident has nothing to do with Hicthens’ atheism. He was attacked for political reasons. You made atheism the issue of this post either for comment bait or because it was a perfect opportunity to throw a pity party for yourself.
What did you expect?
aengus on February 18, 2009 at 8:12 PM
You don’t get it. I’m not comparing myself to him. It’s where I live, you tool. My linked blog is a bit of a giveaway.
I’m already working through a bottle of vodka a day. It’s getting expensive.
MadisonConservative on February 18, 2009 at 8:12 PM
I would bet I’ve been registered here far longer than you have and with no problems or issues, only a handful of squabbles with other posters and most of those remaining civil, something you don’t seem to be capable of.
Meanwhile, I just read through the comments at LGF and Charles Johnson and others are talking about what total lowlife morons, scum and a__holes post here at HotAir and, oh, isn’t it a shame that they don’t have Chas’ software to clean the place up. They must be talking about you, Hollowpoint.
I was a member in good standing over there for something like 8 years and, in 2 minutes, go from “one of the Lizards” to one of the worst s__theel morons on Earth. Interesting.
If there’s some other aggrieved person I didn’t reply to, sorry, but I’m having trouble keeping track of all the people who hate me today. Gotta love the internet….
Django on February 18, 2009 at 8:13 PM
Hm, in unrelated news, I’ve decided to move.
Spirit of 1776 on February 18, 2009 at 8:14 PM
I’ve always wondered how you chose Aristotle for a handle, when you have absolutely nothing in common with your namesake.
hicsuget on February 18, 2009 at 8:15 PM
From HA’s “terms of use”,
Forbidden words/phrases:
By you using a “profane” word in your post, AP, it seems that you are encouraging others to violate these terms.
jgapinoy on February 18, 2009 at 8:16 PM
It was a poster put up on an abandoned building; it’s not like it was a paid billboard. They were expressing their opinion by putting up the poster, and Hitch was expressing his by writing on it.
It may have been dumb (even if brave) considering the outcome, but hardly illegal or immoral. Hitch did nothing wrong except risk violent retribution by SSNP thugs.
Hollowpoint on February 18, 2009 at 8:16 PM
This blog’s gone topsy-turvy with its latest parlour game
Some hate on this Hitchens from night to morn
They dress themselves in a wreath as a tribute to their own shame
You’d think that Hitchens was Mohammad himself re-born
But the jackanapes are always runnin’ round in some disguise
What they really are, the Devil knows
PercyB on February 18, 2009 at 8:16 PM
Allahpundit dragged atheism into this because he wanted a bit of the spotlight for himself, without having placed him “out there”.
The thugs in question probably didn’t even know who Hitchens was and that he was an atheist.
If you pay close attention (or, actually, not so close attention) you’ll see that atheists love playing the victim card.
In the case of Hitchens–he has my respect, in general. He puts himself out there. He takes a stand (and in this case, a beating as well). He makes his points. This SSNP poster/beating incident has nothing with atheism. Nothing. But an atheist was beaten, so, well, somewhere, somehow, religious fundamentalists are involved.
Cue the scary music.
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 8:19 PM
I have work to do, but I can’t get away from the idiocy of this comment.
The first part is kind of correct – Hitchens does make people angry. He makes LOTS AND LOTS of people angry, and he makes plenty of other people think and reconsider their views, because he’s a great writer, and while pretty inconsistent philosophically, a pretty good political theorist as well.
The greatest thing about Hitchens is that there is no moral equivocation from this man, and consequently he gets a lot of people angry. A left winger is no better than a right winger who behaves immorally (or vice versa) in Hitchens’ world, and for that, he is a international treasure, and his works should be celebrated for as long as we do that kind of thing.
Because he gets people angry. Because he offends you.
Political thinkers who offend the powerful and shake the rest of us out of our complacency are pretty much the only thing keeping us from living in a dictatorial dystopia.
Yes, he’s offensive. So was Gandhi, Jefferson, Frederick Douglass, Thomas More, Voltaire, Rousseau, Jesus Christ, Socrates, and just about every other thinker whose thoughts are still worth reading
Proud Rino on February 18, 2009 at 8:20 PM
Insane reasoning.
Correct sentiments.
klickink.wordpress.com on February 18, 2009 at 8:20 PM
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 7:22 PM
Oh so your from Butte why didn’t you say so. That explains the manners.
Dr Evil on February 18, 2009 at 8:20 PM
Someone at LGF made a reference to the comments being made on this topic at HuffPo. Charles said that it wasn’t much different than the comments being made here! He’s getting rather snippy, hmmmm?
mimi1220 on February 18, 2009 at 8:21 PM
Ace has a post up on this now.
Bugler on February 18, 2009 at 8:22 PM
No no, you’re thinking Long-legged-Hanna. She hasn’t posted here in ages. Last I heard she was going for a swim in the big pit.
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 8:23 PM
That’s exactly what I said in my first few posts to this thread. The person I was responding to was alleging that I was condoning state-sanctioned censorship. Not only did Hitch do nothing wrong; he did something very right. If he had a large-caliber handgun with him, he could have done some other things right, too.
Thugs forfeit their rights with proportion to their thuggery. Speech promising thuggish actions is not speech protected by the right to speech. Thugs engaging in thuggish actions are not protected by the right to life.
hicsuget on February 18, 2009 at 8:23 PM
Allah hates you this I know
For the Koran tells me so
Infidels Christians and Jews we bomb
They are weak but we are strong
Yes Allah hates you! Yes, Allah hates you! Yes, Allah hates you,
The Koran tells me so.
Allah hates you, you will die
Beat your ass till “I love Allah” you cry
Say the salat, chop off Hitchen’s head,
Eat falafel, go to bed.
Yes, Allah hates you! Yes, Allah hates you! Yes, Allah hates you!
The Koran tells me so.
Aleph on February 18, 2009 at 8:23 PM
Well I’m at least somewhat socially conservative, and I consider myself religious-but I like Hitchens-so go stuff yourself and stop pigeon-holing people. Social conservatives are not the problem.
As for some others on here-what is up with the HitchensHate, anyway? Hitch has more in common with us conservatives than just his anti-Islamism. As a matter of fact, for all his virulent atheism, I consider Hitchens to be a bit of a social conservative himself:
http://liberalwarjournal.blogspot.com/2006/06/proof-that-even-atheists-can-be-pro.html
So go easy on the guy, will ya?
Hitchens also hates identity politics, which I consider to be 75% of what is wrong with the Democratic Party. And back in the day Hitchens gave the best arguments for impeaching Bill Clinton-if the Republicans had used Hitchens line of reasoning in their public arguments (rather than their silly “He lied to us” mantra) we would have gotten him out of office back in 1998.
And anybody who is silly enough to use a “private property” argument against someone who is defacing a Nazi poster in a place like Beirut-you really need to get a life.
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/283102.php
Thanks for posting this. And kudos to that heroic Lebanese cab driver who had the guts to haul Hitchens and his pals out of there. Probably at considerable danger to himself. Hitchens does owe that guy. Big time. I hope he realizes it.
Dreadnought on February 18, 2009 at 8:24 PM
Who you callin’ a tool!?!
See, it’s crap like that got Hitchens in trouble. You assume you can do anything, say anything you like without consequences.
Of course, the way you kisssssss up to AP, he probably couldn’t ban you for name calling, you’re so far up his ass.
klickink.wordpress.com on February 18, 2009 at 8:25 PM
Not to play the seniority card, but no, you haven’t.
If you’re getting so much “hate” (not to mention bans on other websites), perhaps everyone else isn’t the problem, sport.
I’ve derailed the thread enough, I’m done with you.
Hollowpoint on February 18, 2009 at 8:25 PM
I’ll save you the effort klickink…MadisonConservative uses the “You’re a Nazi” line in all his arguments. I am pretty sure Godwin had him mind when he came up the law of the internet chat room.
No matter what your position, Madison will shout you down with, “YOU’RE A NAZI !!!!1111!!!!11!!”
Then he’ll pat himself on the back.
I swear, his property is so stuffed full of Strawmen that if they catch fire, and the flames encounter his gaseous moral indignation, well, NORAD will think a nuke went off at his location.
Montana on February 18, 2009 at 8:27 PM
Isn’t there a hole somewhere you guys should be slithering back into? Some of us are trying to have an intelligent conversation here.
hicsuget on February 18, 2009 at 8:27 PM
According to Charles and several of the posters there, HotAir is full of, and I quote, “morons” and a__holes and they’re the high class types who take the high road. Yeah, that’s pretty snippy. I’m used to this stuff from Kos and the like but LGF?
Django on February 18, 2009 at 8:27 PM
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