Christopher Hitchens: Long Live Labor - Why I'm for Tony Blair.

Slate ^ | April 25, 2005 | Christopher Hitchens

[quidnunc]

I joined the British Labor Party as soon as I was old enough to be eligible, which was sometime in 1965. I was not long after that expelled from its ranks, along with the majority of the Labor students' organization, because of Prime Minister Harold Wilson's contemptible support for the war in Vietnam. (I should have resigned, but I waited to be expelled instead.) Since then I have re-enlisted a few times, canvassed in a desultory way, off-and-on paid my dues, and hosted the odd Labor figure in Washington. It wouldn't have been thinkable for me to vote for any other party at election time, though in the 1979 election the Callaghan regime had become so corrupt and incompetent and reactionary that I didn't vote at all.

-snip-

Meanwhile, most of the groaning and sniping about the missing WMDs comes from the hard right, which has a hold on the Tory party and more than a hold on the tabloid press. Anti-Americanism in Britain has long been a conservative rather than a radical trope, and dislike for George Bush is very common among the aristocratic remnant, as well as among those who are nostalgic for the British empire that America supplanted after the war. That especial form of British anti-Semitism ("You catch it on the edge of a remark," as Harold Abrahams puts it so well in Chariots of Fire) is beautifully ventriloquized in the way that certain BBC announcers pronounce the name "Wolfowitz."

-snip-

[Archon of the East]

I would not agree with Hitch on many social issues but One thing I'll say about him is he always gives a unique perspective on things and his analysis is almost always on the money. When I disagree with him it's generally on principle.

[Soul Seeker]

Nonetheless, he took a bold stand against the establishment and against a sullen public opinion and did so on a major issue of principle.

And for this I will not forget. Best wishes on his re-election.

[1066AD]

Blair and a few others might be right about Iraq but they're mostly totally wrong on just about everything else. Example : Europe, immigration, taxation etc.

[Malesherbes]

Right on, 1066AD. Blair is eloquent and has courage, but he remains a socialist. Hitchens, always worth reading, still fancies himself according to the leftist image of his youth, but he has chosen to live in George Bush's America, not in Tony Blair's Britain.

[eric_da_grate]

I agree with Hitchens whole-heartedly on Iraq...He's rock solid on this issue and totally unconflicted about what needs to be done about it.

I've watched him on talk shows for over 2 years now defending this move and he's unwavering in his conviction...A real highlight for me was on the night of the Iraqi election, CSPAN covered the story in real time with results and commentary, in which Hitchens was a guest...His knowledge of Iraq and the workings of its tribal factions is quite impressive.

He's a very clever, thoughful guy.