THE WAR PARTY UNMASKED

Antiwar.com ^ | 8/25/03 | Justin Raimondo

[Burkeman1]

The case of Christopher Hitchens is emblematic of so many things: how success can ruin a writer, how far an aristocratic British accent can get you on the American scene, how Trotskyism can morph into Rumsfeld-ism without any visible exertion. The former features editor of the Socialist Worker newspaper is today the Court Polemicist of the War Party, whose jeremiads now grace the glossy pages of Vanity Fair magazine. His evolution, more clearly and interestingly than any other figure, maps the progress of a new ideology, a political phenomenon unique to our time, one that is neither "left" nor "right." It is new because what made it possible is the global primacy of American military power, and Hitchens is its most consistent and articulate spokesman.

Up until now, this new ideology has gone under more than a few aliases: neoconservatism, Shachtmanism, the Third Camp, Menshevism, social democracy, New Labour, the New Democrats. But now Hitchens, clever to a fault, has coined a new phrase, one that fits as none of the others ever did.

At the end of his review of Eric Hobsbawm's recent memoir, in Sunday's New York Times, Hitchens discusses the decline of the British far left as the dominant force in the Labour Party. He notes that the supposedly unrepentant admirer of the Soviet Union and longtime Communist Party stalwart looked on this development approvingly. The labor movement, Hobsbawm argued, was a relic, its militancy long since dissipated by the rising standard of living. Hitchens writes:

"This was timed with extraordinary, if accidental, deftness. For many people on the existing left, it raised the curtain, not only on the decline of British Labor but also – and then much less thinkable – on the corollary ascendancy of Margaret Thatcher. Hobsbawm, in a whole chapter on this episode, makes it clear that he understood and even welcomed the logic of what he had said: the left had to be defeated, and its illusions dispelled, if progress was to resume."

In a "dialectical" twist that seems almost a caricature of the concept, however, defeat has turned into victory for the British left. Shorn of illusions and radiating certainty, New Labour has achieved a new ideological synthesis that would have warmed the cockles of old Karl's heart. As Hitchens put it:

[Burkeman1]

I suspect this will be met with the same non response as all articles are by anyone who has the slightest bad word to say against this idiot war? And yes, he is gay. So is Andrew Sullivan who loves Bush and would sleep with him if he had the chance.

[Burkeman1]

We may not agree with this guy on all issues but he makes more sense than most.

[John Valentine]

I don't agree with much ofa anything in this rambling diatribe.

So he makes more sense that most? Most what? I've seen troops of orangutangs in the Sumatran jungle that made more sense. At least they had the sense to keep their mouths shut when humans were about.

[Burkeman1]

That would be funny if anyone knew what the heck you were talking about?

[squidly]

And what pray tell does Mr. Raimundo have to offer besides a page full of jingoism?

[Burkeman1]

Jingoism? I hardley think Raimondo has ever been accused of that term.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Christopher Hitchens is finally growing up, unlike you, Mr. Raimondo.

[zechariah]

Marxist Right ping.

[z]

[hocndoc]

Thanks for the laugh.
Peak a BOO!
Is this the new left fighting style?

[Burkeman1]

Really? Hitchens sees the US as the best exporter of "progresive" ideas since the death of the Soviet Union (read his crap back then when he supported the Soviets).

[RichInOC]

I don't know...does Dubya have a furry back?

(If that doesn't make sense to you, back off, go over to andrewsullivan.com and read "Da Bears". It will.)

[ETERNAL WARMING]

read his crap back then when he supported the Soviets

That's the point...he grew past such nonsense.

[BCrago66]

You have good reason to be defensive.

[squidly]

You're right, that's probably not the best word for him. But this article was pretty laughable by most anyone's standards, latching onto the description of "neocons" as a "Marxist Right" and..... whose commissars are ruthless in purging all dissidents.

Really now, Raimundo is a guy who already has his mind made up about everything and will grasp at whatever is available that will support his predecided conclusions.

[zarf]

Isn't all this really about the evil Joooo's and the Christian filth who support them?

[Burkeman1]

Yeah right! Ask him? Has he changed one position when it comes to state control of the economy? Does he not hate Christians or the Christian culture that still exists in America? Nice ally! WOW! He hates Muslems as well! Wow! Given that Hitchens also thinks Mother Teresa is a whore I would tend to think most Freepers would dismiss him.

[lentulusgracchus]

Be sure to check this article on Trotsky's lingering influence among the people around Paul Wolfowitz and the other "Neocons", which was linked to the full article posted in part above:

Prominent Trotsky-influenced authors on Islamism and terrorism.

Some of these guys are being invited to White House conferences.

There are at least four of these people who've been influential on the subject of dealing with Islamism, including Chris Hitchens himself, who (news to me) is an old Trotskyite himself.

[DPB101]

Trotskyism can morph into Rumsfeld-ism without any visible exertion. The former features editor of the Socialist Worker newspaper is today the Court Polemicist of the War Party, whose jeremiads now grace the glossy pages of Vanity Fair magazine.

Burkeman1...with all due respect. How is a sane person supposed to respond to that?

[11B3]

Becoming rather a fixture of the mewling left aren't you? Deny reality all you want, right up until the time it smacks you right between the eyes. Until then, take your anti-American commie buddies to some communist garden spot like Cuba, and STAY THERE.

[Burkeman1]

Yes- anyone who questions anyting about the war or what is good for our nation is an anti semitic piece of dung. Thanks for the logic. Crawl back into your hole now.