Hero worship

Matt's already beaten me in linking to Marc Mulholland's excellent post about Christopher Hitchens, and even quoted the same paragraph from it that I would have done. So, have this one as your sample instead:

The core of Hitchen’s hastily spun confection, however, is to condemn the creeping fear amongst Democrats that Bush might produce Bin Laden (or some such other coup, though our gimlet eyed columnist doesn’t wish to concede the ‘for example’ verbalisation of this anxiety) as a pre-election ‘October Surprise’. This, it turns out, is an incredible slur on the dignity of the president, government and nation, evidence of the sick mentality of Kerry et al. ‘None dare call it treason’, but Hitchens, heroic contrarian (what an arrogant neologism), has got the balls.

I've never really understood the reverence certain people seem to hold for Hitchens, or the feelings of betrayal others seem to feel for him recently. But then again, I was never a member of 'the Left', that strange, amorphous movement that everyone either praises or denounces, but no one seems able to convincingly define beyond a temporary straw man, so maybe that explains it.

Marc mentions Johann Hari's interview-cum-Wayne's World-esque-audience with 'the Hitch' where Hitchens seems to be living out the phrase 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'. While "He was similarly appalled by the American left's indulgence of Bill Clinton's crimes, including the execution of a mentally disabled black man", it seems that we ought to be glad that he hasn't "forgotten the 152 people George Bush executed in Texas" but don't expect him to, you know, do anything about it or complain about the new, improved, Iraqi government choosing to introduce it. But then, when you support an administration headed by a man who says Jesus is his favourite political philosopher and includes John "anointed by Crisco" Ashcroft as Attorney-General, you better have faith.