Christopher Hitchens says "Howard Dean is totally worthless"

[Eric J in MN]

Tonight on "Hardball," (guest-hosted by Mike Barnicle) Christopher Hitchens said, "Howard Dean is totally worthless as a politician and a human being."

Hitchens was the liberal guest, to balance the Republican guest.

The show was full of distortions about Howard Dean's statements, and then Hitchens took the discourse even lower.


I guess being a good governor for 11 years doesn't count much to Hitchens. If the media decides to twist someone's words, then the person is "worthless."

[thinkahead]

1. pot calls kettle...

well you know what I mean

[Kathy in Cambridge]

2. So is Hitchens

he's a has-been hack.

[killbotfactory]

3. Was he drinking Vodka?

He's usually sauced. The guy is nuts.

[lancdem]

9. He's usually pretty disheveled looking, too

and in major need of a bath.

[dorktv]

4. Well some people just need to put down others to make

themselves feel better.

[barbaraann]

5. Another time I'm glad I cancelled my cable.

:-)

[SayitAintSo]

6. Hitchens is a pig .... through and through ...

Always has been .... arrogant little bastard ...

:puke:

[TexasPatriot]

7. Hitchins from the left?

lol
he left the left long ago
i used to like Hitchens (10 years ago) but he's way out in the weeds these days

[lancdem]

8. I knew Hitchens hated Clinton

and now it looks like that venom has spread to all Dems. BTW, I highly recommend Sid Blumenthal's book if you want to read about Hitchens. The two of them used to be good friends until Hitch tried to turn Blumenthal over to the IOC as a liar.

[SharonAnn]

11. I just read that section last night. I could hardly believe what

Hitchens did - somehow I missed that during the impeachment fracas.

And to have Hitchens on a show as a "liberal"? WTF? That would be like having Newt Gingrich on as a liberal.

[liberalnurse]

10. I'm a Dean supporter

and realize the media is so, so bought off....but, Do we really need to revisit their predictable behavior again? What do you suggest will impede the activity?

[Jim Sagle]

12. A campaign of REALLY LOUD and vociferous phone calls and letters to MSNBC.

[tishaLA]

13. Don't worry! Pat Cadell seems to like Dean

he went on and on about it. Dean supporters would really like what he said, in fact.

[Eric J in MN]

15. Pat Cadell was one honest man surrounded by distorters tonight nt

nt

[Punkingal]

14. Hitchens is a lunatic....

just a lunatic. I think his blood must be 100 proof, the way he talks.

[Nlighten1]

16. Who was the Republican on the show?

besides Chris Matthews that is.

[Eric J in MN]

28. STEPHEN HAYES of The Weekly Standard. Matthews wasn't, Mike Barnicle host

nt

[tsipple]

17. Well, If Hitchens Said That...

...Howard Dean is now officially elevated to the level of St. Peter, approaching Jesus Christ. :7

In other words, you can pretty much take whatever Hitchens says, flip it 180 degrees opposite, and discover the truth.

[rusty charly]

18. "worthless as a human being"

qualifies as hate speech, by repug standards. but i guess it fits since he was representing the left. hoo boy.

[tsipple]

19. By the way...

...Does anybody think that sort of comment is persuasive? Possibly entertaining (for its shock value), I suppose. And that's all Hardball is, an entertainment program.

With ever-shrinking audiences, though, maybe MSNBC ought to consider bare breasted women jello wrestling while fawning over Bush. I might even tune in for that.

[Crunchy Frog]

20. Well, we'd better get ourselves

steeled up, because this is just a taste of what we have to look foreward to over the next year. No matter who our nominee is.

[ajacobson]

21. Forget Hitchens

-he's a Bushevik now. Hangs out with David Horowitz and that crowd now. PUKE!

[Parrcrow]

22. Are the right wing talking heads blowing their wad?

Hitchens leaves a grease smear on my television screen and I swear that I can actually smell him.

Later on Scarborough, some dick-head (other than Scarborough) compared Dean to a terrorist for claiming that bin Laden deserves a fair trial. They deliberately misinterpreted it as a claim by Dean that bin Laden is innocent. This sort of attack may be very difficult to sustain with any credibility. They cannot resist their own ridiculous excesses.

In 2000, the consistent exageration of Gore's considerable achievments were distorted to cartoon like idiocies. All of which were gigglingly picked up by the main stream media. That really didn't work anyway since Gore was elected President. Hopefully this time these right wing idiots will marginalize themselves and be seen for what they are.

[TeacherCreature]

23. TC says Hitchens is a pimp

yucky drunken idiot.

[LibertyorDeath]

24. He should be chained to dennis miller and made to watch

reruns of American idol indefinitely.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cryofan]

26. can you give some details about why he said that?

[Eric J in MN]

27. Howard Dean had previously said

A few weeks ago, Howard Dean was asked, Why do you think Bush isn't releasing White House memos from before September 11, 2001?

Dean replied, The most interesting theory is that the Saudis tipped him off, though I don't believe that.


Hitchens is offended by this, and/or Dean's later comments on the comment.
-------------------------------------
Hardball December 29, 2003

HITCHENS: I think, probably, a lot is forgiven people for having momentum., And since only the press can confer momentum, only the press can take it away.

And therefore, they think, well, we‘re stuck with the guy at the moment. But it didn‘t take that long for people to work out that the guy is irresponsible. I would rather say, actually, not that he is not wrong, but that he is flippantly wrong, he is frivolously wrong on serious matters.

You notice that fat little chuckle he came up with just a moment ago. That seems to be characteristic of him. He says, oh, well, who knows? I mean, I was told the president committed high treason. Maybe it‘s not true, but, you know, it‘s what I heard. It‘s worth passing on.

This is—this is serious. This is extraordinary.

BARNICLE: Coming up...

HITCHENS: And it‘s all the time. And it‘s on matters of life and death, too.

If I and Stephen, say, who happen—we both happen to agree on—say, on the war in Iraq—if we‘re wrong about this, we‘re seriously wrong. We‘ve put ourselves really out there to be found out to be seriously wrong.

BARNICLE: But you are right

(CROSSTALK)

HITCHENS: I will take that lump. And if I‘m right, I think we would have been seriously right, too.

BARNICLE: But you are not running for president.

HITCHENS: If Dean is wrong on this, he is flippantly wrong. He is

trivially wrong. He is frivolously wrong. He is cheaply wrong. The guy

(CROSSTALK)

BARNICLE: OK.

HITCHENS: ... absolutely worthless as a human being or as a politician.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3839973/