Arnett, Stooge

andrewsullivan.com ^ | 3/31/03 | Andrew Sullivan

[zook]

ARNETT, STOOGE: A long, long time ago, I voiced an offhand fear that some parts of the left (and far right) in this country were so disenchanted with America, so contemptuous of president Bush, so full of misplaced attraction to the thugs and despots of the developing world, that they could mount what amounts to a fifth column in the event of serious conflict. For the new class especially, the journalists and academics and chatterers, some of whose loyalties extend only to their latest publicist, the notion of simple loyalty to country is and was, as Orwell, noted a contemptible emotion. I was denounced for such a thought - even though it was an aside in an essay devoted to celebrating America. But it turns out I was right. My piece opposite deals with the fulminations of a Columbia University professor, Nicholas de Genova, who blurted out what some of his fellow leftwing academics truly feel: that they want the United States to lose this war, and if that means that Saddam wins, so be it. There is no question in my mind that that is also a simmering sentiment among several important media institutions, like the BBC and, to a lesser extent, the New York Times. (Reading the Sunday New York Times yesterday was to read a paper whose editors have already assumed - or can barely conceal the conjecture - that the war is lost.) And now we have Peter Arnett, mouthing Ba'ath Party propaganda, lying about declining support for the war in the U.S., sucking up to the Stalinists who control the Iraqi police state, and generally making a huge ass of himself. This interview is disgusting. It is propaganda. It could demoralize Iraqi resistance to Saddam; it could therefore increase the likelihood of a longer war and cost American lives. This after barely two weeks of warfare. Two weeks.

[zook]

Be sure to visit his site and support his advertisers.

[Cousin Eddie]

It will cost Iraqi lives also, because it will encourage them to fight on. What a disgusting, pathetic pig.

[ru4liberty]

Sullivan's not the only one who's not surprised. Arnett's antics were specifically predicted by NewsMax.com in November 2002

[LdSentinal]

Here's a "secret" that I'm sure 99% of all Freepers know, but most of the American public does not know . . .

The Left was more horrified about Trent Lott's remarks than they were of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

[bellevuesbest]

>>Be sure to visit his site and support his advertisers.<<

Why? You got an agenda like his too?

[Jeff Chandler]

The wheat is indeed being seperated from the chaff.

[DoughtyOne]

I don't disagree with this article but one point has me scratching my head. Even if some right wing people wish us not to become entagled in foreign wars, I don't see them supporting a Hussein victory.

When a writer makes reasoned comments, I hate to see them include a comment like (and the far right) when the leftists are the true culprits here.

Can anyone please name one well known person from the right who has expressed a desire for Hussein to win, because he didn't think we should be in this.

Further, when a phrase like (the far right) is used, many Americans think this means every Republican. By including this phrase, Sullivan essentially destroyed any value the article had.

For leftists he has shown they don't support Bush. For leftists he states all far right wingers don't either. Leftists think all Republicans are far right wing, so who does Sulivan express to them, are the people that support Bush?

[FairOpinion]

"What a disgusting, pathetic pig. "

----

I agree. While I obviously also think that what he did was treason, aiding and abetting the enemy, but he is just a scummy journalist. Why are people giving a pass to Charlie Rangle, a US Congressional Representative, saying and repeating, that American soldiers are killing women and children, and to Daschle, a leading Democrat attacking Bush on the eve of war? And what about McDermott, also a US Congressional representative standing in Baghdad, saying he believed Saddam, but Bush may be lying?

I deplore private US citizen's behavior, who commit treasonous acts, but I think it's a thousand times worse when a representative of the US people supports the enemy, yet people don't seem to be as upset over that.

[zook]

I think Andrew Sullivan is a tremendous British and American patriot. He's been waging a strong pro-Bush campaign for many months. I buy 100% into that agenda. Don't you?

[zook]

A long, long time ago, I voiced an offhand fear that some parts of the left (and far right) in this country were so disenchanted with America, so contemptuous of president Bush, so full of misplaced attraction to the thugs and despots of the developing world, that they could mount what amounts to a fifth column in the event of serious conflict.

Here're the lines to which I think you refer. No ref there to any right winger explicitly calling for a Hussein victory. But he does talk about a "5th column," which I interpret to mean the idea of implicitly giving aid and comfort to the enemy. I believe he's talking about people like Pat Buchanon, who while quiet now has for years blathered on about his reluctance to take on any Middle Eastern nation other than Israel. Anyhow, it's a minor reference, and I think you'd need to view it in the context of Sullivan's prior comments about the anti-Bush right wing. He's certainly not talking about all right wingers.

[zook]

Rangle certainly deserves a beating. But I guess I see Arnett's crime as worse, for he claims to be and poses on TV a an unbiased objective "journalist." We all know what to expect from Rangle.

[DoughtyOne]

Your reading of Fifth Column and mine may be different.  I happen to think that a member of the Fifth Column would desire a Hussein victory, and do everything in their power to see that it happens.  I don't see Buchanan in that light, and I don't seriously think you do either.  Buchanan differs on foreign entaglements, a perception that I diametricly oppose, but I think it ludacrist to consider Pat desirous of a Hussein victory over the United States.  IMO any person that would try to make that case would only marginalize themselves.

On the other hand Arnet, Ritter, Rangel and others make it pretty damn clear who they wish would win.  These people are devout leftists.  I think Sullivan has his hands full just getting the public to understand how evil and anti-American the leftists are.  As wrong as I think Buchanan is on the issue of our involvement in this war, I cannot term him as anti-American by any stretch of the imagination.

[bellevuesbest]

Sure, I've got no problem there. I visited his site based on your recommendation and I'm not into (to put it mildly) some of what I saw there.

That's is all.

[hdpatriot]

Arnett needs to defect, he's basically already proclaimed his Iraqi citizenship with the trash he's reporting. I do agree with one comment, his point of view could cost additional lives on both sides, is he ready to be responsible for that? He says that the Iraqis respect him, that's a load of crap, he's their puppet, and he's not even smart enough to know it! Okay arnett, renounce your citizenship and give me a call, I'll help you pack! Don't forget to ask your celebrity friends to leave with you, they're too blooming stupid to realize what a great country we have, and the benefits of supporting it!

Let's get behind OUR President and pray for justice and a speedy resolution!

[Rosencrantz]