Category Archives: Media Criticism

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary, War Commentary

A Hitchens Roundup

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Thoughts from Nick Gillespie, Michelle Malkin, Wretchard, Rob Long, Lileks, Peter Robinson, Melissa Clouthier, John Podhoretz, James Fenton, Joy McCann, Jason Cowley, Doug Wilson, Simon Jenkins, and last but by no means least, his brother Peter.

I first recall being impressed with him in the nineties, in his fearless willingness to take on the lies of the Clintons. He was devastating, to anyone who paid attention.

[Update a while later]

The Atlantic remembers Hitchens, as does Michael Totten.

[Update late morning]

Here’s another from Pete Wehner.

[Almost noon]

And Ron Radosh weighs in.

[Early afternoon update]

David Corn: sharing an office with Hitch.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, War Commentary

Willful Blindness

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Thoughts on the idiocy at the Obama Defense department:

It reflects the Obama philosophy that we cannot even hint that an interpretation of Islam — drawn literally from Islamic scriptures — is the force motivating our enemies. Even though this is unquestionably true, to say so, to acknowledge it in any way, would mean, according to administration thinking, that we are at war with Islam itself — with all 1.4 billion Muslims, including the hundreds of millions who do not subscribe to this interpretation. Unwilling to entertain the possibility that the enemy has a coherent, knowable doctrine — which is a powerful catalyst precisely because it draws credibly (not inarguably but credibly) on scripture — we have forfeited the natural right to defend ourselves and the troops who make it possible for us to live freely.

This is criminal recklessness. It is idiocy beyond description, so I should just stop trying to describe it. Watch it in all its jaw-dropping ignominy.

You can’t win a war when you pretend that you’re not in one.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society

The Search For The Climate “Leaker”

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Eric Holder’s Justice Department has joined forces with the UK authorities:

In the U.S., the academic and political Left have had fits about Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli exercising even more specific, anti-fraud authority to seek further records from University of Virginia in following up on indications from the first Climategate release of possible fraud against the taxpayer.

Apparently, that represented an abuse of the police power. No word yet if they are outraged by DOJ’s current foray or that of the UK raiding team.

The DOJ attorney sending the preservation letters, as it happens in this small world, a graduate of the University of Virginia (UVA). And UVA is also the subject of litigation a group I am associated with, the American Tradition Institute (ATI), that has filed suit on behalf of Virginia taxpayers seeking Climategate-related emails the school holds.

This is a case which has members of the Virginia faculty and establishment beside themselves and demanding an all-out effort to oppose production of the requested documents in an effort to wear us and Cuccinelli down.

So far UVA has spent upwards of $1 million fighting Cuccinelli’s request, and school officials continue to fight us in court every step of the way.

Clearly, this is no small matter in the quarters insisting that this taxpayer-financed information never see the light of day. Even the criminal legal apparatus of the U.S. and UK must be invoked against this threat, apparently.

They’re upset because their fraud has been exposed.