I know I’m not going to live forever, and neither are you, but until my furlough here on Earth is revoked, I’d like to elbow aside the established pieties, and raise my tumbler of Johnnie Walker Black 🥃 high above my head in honor of the brilliant mind and powerful oratory of the incomparable Christopher Hitchens. May his mellifluous voice keep on resonating around the globe 🌎 wherever free-thinkers congregate, and until the end of human extinction, I miss the gorgeous bastard.
@@lepidoptera9337 Indeed Lepi, In truth listening to this man for years have helped my English lexicon and verbatim so much more, as English is not my native language, thanks to Christopher it has improved from what it used to be.
Nice one I miss him too. I can only imagine him now breathing fire into the minds of the world in this very volatile and scary time. Unfortunately what he has been warning us about is now well on it's way.
Didn't know he said that he wrote for posterity. Really thankful that he did, got to know him after his death and oh boy, did he resonated. I wish he was here today as a strong voice against the neo-religious revivalism we see everywhere.
@@jamesdettmann94he wasn’t wrong he said what happened might happened and btw ISIS was defeated and there was a second Arab spring after which included Iraqi people marching (and getting shot in the street) against corruption and Iranian influence in their country and for secularism this was in 2018. That would have never happened without the removal of Saddam. Iraq is moving in the right direction. So actually Hitchens, like his hero Orwell, was right when everybody else was and is wrong, including yourself. You’ve never studied his writing on Iraq I presume? Or studied Iraq at all?
@@1984isnotamanual what are you waffling about, I was replying to the original comment about all of us living to see a heavily armed Russia, Hitchens died three years before Crimea was annexed and eleven years before the Ukraine invasion. I have studied Iraq but wasn't talking about it so calm down lmao
Oliphant produced a cartoon with a man saluting Khameinie with a drink saying, “to Khameinie who has saved us from the brutal repression of the Shah” to which the holy man replied, “Drinking in public my son?” and then saying to one of his henchmen, “chop off his hand and sew his lips together-it is written.” The people of Iran had no idea what they had caused!
I am sure he will be remembered two millennia from now. I mean since he denied the existence of Jesus and you do not by your own admission - what could go wrong?
Examine your idol. He eschewed hero worship. He would spit on all of the obsequious sycophants panting his praise here with such wild eyed abandon. The secular world does not need cavillous self serving profiteers like Hitchens to demean religion and increase societal isolation. Hitchens could no more explain the longevity of religious figures than he could find a cure for cancer. He seemed perplexed as to how many athiest coverts longed for the old connection. I believe it is more than merely the probability that Christmas will be abolished as a holiday thereby ruining the long holiday respite from the worker's drudge. I will leave it to trolls and AI BS fake comments to figure it out for themselves.@@karagi101
One thing we do know, is that his view would not be informed by hysterical irrationality. He would have something far more intelligent and thoughtful to say than the usual ad hominem based anti-Trump rhetoric who are unable to get past their idiotic hatred of him.
@@elvisleeboy *The Trump movement is comically-absurd to begin with, comprised of either fools or extreme fanatics. Nice attempt at water-carrying for this crackpot though.*
The eternal conundrum of Palestine. A land torn asunder by the conflicting claims of two peoples, each with a legitimate historical and emotional stake in the territory. And yet, as I sit here, pen in hand, I am compelled to express my utter dismay at the current state of affairs. The Israeli occupation, now in its fifth decade, has become a moral and political affront to the very concept of human dignity. The Palestinians, forced to live in a state of perpetual subjugation, their daily lives dictated by the whims of their Israeli overlords, are treated as little more than subjects in a colonial enterprise. And let us not mince words, my friends. This is not a conflict between two equal parties. This is a case of a powerful, nuclear-armed state, backed to the hilt by the world's sole superpower, exerting its dominance over a stateless, occupied people. The apologists for Israel's brutal policies will, no doubt, reach for the familiar tropes: the security concerns, the threat of terrorism, the need for self-defense. But I say, what of the Palestinians' right to self-defense? What of their need for security, for freedom from the constant harassment, humiliation, and violence that comes with living under occupation? And then, of course, there is the settlements issue. These illegal, fortified enclaves, sprung up like mushrooms on occupied land, are a stark reminder of Israel's long-term strategy: to annex, to colonize, and to dispossess. The very notion that these settlements can be considered "negotiable" is a farce. They are an affront to international law, a thumbing of the nose at the very concept of sovereignty. But, I ask you, dear reader, what of the so-called "international community"? Where is the outrage, the condemnation, the collective action to put an end to this egregious injustice? The silence, I fear, is deafening. The United States, that bastion of freedom and democracy, is too busy pandering to the Israeli lobby to take a principled stand. The European Union, that vaunted defender of human rights, is too mired in its own bureaucratic inertia to take meaningful action. And so, the status quo persists. The occupation grinds on, grinding down the very souls of the Palestinian people. The settlements expand, a cancerous growth on the body politic of the region. And the world looks on, aghast, but ultimately impotent. But I say, no more. It is time for the world to take a stand. It is time for us to recognize the fundamental humanity of the Palestinian people, to acknowledge their rights, their dignity, and their freedom. It is time for us to demand an end to the occupation, an end to the settlements, and an end to the impunity that has allowed this situation to fester for so long. The Palestinians are not alone. They have the right to self-determination, to statehood, and to the very same rights and freedoms that we in the West take for granted. And it is our moral duty, as citizens of the world, to stand with them, to stand against oppression, and to stand for justice. Anything less would be a dereliction of our duty as human beings.
14 years on, and the villification and paranoia regarding the aims of Iran are at fever pitch. Their army and actual capability for domination and destruction are very overestimated. Nuclear capability just levels the playing field and is useful as deterrence, like America, Russia and Israel have. Israel is not a democracy, in the true sense. No constitution, weak judiciary. It's a theocratic, settler Colonial State. The two State solution was never palatable to Israelis, even moderate secular Jews, and has been scuttled at every turn. Iraq pissed the West off because Hussein wanted to control his own resources.
![Christopher Hitchens on American Politics [V498]](/img/n.gif)
I know I’m not going to live forever, and neither are you, but until my furlough here on Earth is revoked, I’d like to elbow aside the established pieties, and raise my tumbler of Johnnie Walker Black 🥃 high above my head in honor of the brilliant mind and powerful oratory of the incomparable Christopher Hitchens.
May his mellifluous voice keep on resonating around the globe 🌎 wherever free-thinkers congregate, and until the end of human extinction, I miss the gorgeous bastard.
That was very Hitchenesque. Bravo.
@@lepidoptera9337 Indeed Lepi, In truth listening to this man for years have helped my English lexicon and verbatim so much more, as English is not my native language, thanks to Christopher it has improved from what it used to be.
Nice one I miss him too. I can only imagine him now breathing fire into the minds of the world in this very volatile and scary time. Unfortunately what he has been warning us about is now well on it's way.
YES √√√√ 😍🥰
He would find all those who worship and gush praise at him a crashing bore.
This was shot in the now closed Village Voice bookshop in Paris
I wish I had just one ounce of this man's wit.
Hello to everyone watching this at the moment. :)
Didn't know he said that he wrote for posterity. Really thankful that he did, got to know him after his death and oh boy, did he resonated. I wish he was here today as a strong voice against the neo-religious revivalism we see everywhere.
15th December 2011 - the day the world became a much dumber place. Sorely missed.
“ we shall all live to see and regret a heavily armed Russia … “
yep, and people still think he was unhinged. he knew what he was talking about
Spot on about this per usual
Well he was wrong about one thing, he didn't live to see it.
@@jamesdettmann94he wasn’t wrong he said what happened might happened and btw ISIS was defeated and there was a second Arab spring after which included Iraqi people marching (and getting shot in the street) against corruption and Iranian influence in their country and for secularism this was in 2018. That would have never happened without the removal of Saddam. Iraq is moving in the right direction. So actually Hitchens, like his hero Orwell, was right when everybody else was and is wrong, including yourself. You’ve never studied his writing on Iraq I presume? Or studied Iraq at all?
@@1984isnotamanual what are you waffling about, I was replying to the original comment about all of us living to see a heavily armed Russia, Hitchens died three years before Crimea was annexed and eleven years before the Ukraine invasion. I have studied Iraq but wasn't talking about it so calm down lmao
Wish I had the chance to speak with him.
Love this
Oliphant produced a cartoon with a man saluting
Khameinie with a drink saying, “to Khameinie who has saved us from the brutal repression of the Shah” to which the holy man replied, “Drinking in public my son?” and then saying to one of his henchmen, “chop off his hand and sew his lips together-it is written.” The people of Iran had no idea what they had caused!
Everything he's said here about Israel/Palestine is so prescient.
And he speaks good French also.
wow!! He sure got Putin and russia down perfectly,,,what a man he was,,,way better than jesus
I am sure he will be remembered two millennia from now. I mean since he denied the existence of Jesus and you do not by your own admission - what could go wrong?
@@jeffmilroy9345 Bad logic. Stalin and Hitler will be remembered millennia from now. Does that make them better than Hitchens?
Examine your idol. He eschewed hero worship. He would spit on all of the obsequious sycophants panting his praise here with such wild eyed abandon. The secular world does not need cavillous self serving profiteers like Hitchens to demean religion and increase societal isolation. Hitchens could no more explain the longevity of religious figures than he could find a cure for cancer. He seemed perplexed as to how many athiest coverts longed for the old connection. I believe it is more than merely the probability that Christmas will be abolished as a holiday thereby ruining the long holiday respite from the worker's drudge. I will leave it to trolls and AI BS fake comments to figure it out for themselves.@@karagi101
Howis this video 15 years old, but comments are only from the last ten months
asked Sergey Brin and that other dude who sont pay any TAXES 🤣😂
Must have gotten popular, I’ve been watching this videos for years
'Good to know that even my main account is censored by YT
4:40 38:14 57:35 LOL. 8:35 45:46 1:09:33 1:10:20
What year was this???
How much would Hitchens be bothered by djt?
One thing we do know, is that his view would not be informed by hysterical irrationality. He would have something far more intelligent and thoughtful to say than the usual ad hominem based anti-Trump rhetoric who are unable to get past their idiotic hatred of him.
@@elvisleeboy *The Trump movement is comically-absurd to begin with, comprised of either fools or extreme fanatics. Nice attempt at water-carrying for this crackpot though.*
Is that his wife wearing black sitting next to him?
*No, it's not his wife Carol.*
The eternal conundrum of Palestine. A land torn asunder by the conflicting claims of two peoples, each with a legitimate historical and emotional stake in the territory. And yet, as I sit here, pen in hand, I am compelled to express my utter dismay at the current state of affairs.
The Israeli occupation, now in its fifth decade, has become a moral and political affront to the very concept of human dignity. The Palestinians, forced to live in a state of perpetual subjugation, their daily lives dictated by the whims of their Israeli overlords, are treated as little more than subjects in a colonial enterprise.
And let us not mince words, my friends. This is not a conflict between two equal parties. This is a case of a powerful, nuclear-armed state, backed to the hilt by the world's sole superpower, exerting its dominance over a stateless, occupied people.
The apologists for Israel's brutal policies will, no doubt, reach for the familiar tropes: the security concerns, the threat of terrorism, the need for self-defense. But I say, what of the Palestinians' right to self-defense? What of their need for security, for freedom from the constant harassment, humiliation, and violence that comes with living under occupation?
And then, of course, there is the settlements issue. These illegal, fortified enclaves, sprung up like mushrooms on occupied land, are a stark reminder of Israel's long-term strategy: to annex, to colonize, and to dispossess. The very notion that these settlements can be considered "negotiable" is a farce. They are an affront to international law, a thumbing of the nose at the very concept of sovereignty.
But, I ask you, dear reader, what of the so-called "international community"? Where is the outrage, the condemnation, the collective action to put an end to this egregious injustice? The silence, I fear, is deafening. The United States, that bastion of freedom and democracy, is too busy pandering to the Israeli lobby to take a principled stand. The European Union, that vaunted defender of human rights, is too mired in its own bureaucratic inertia to take meaningful action.
And so, the status quo persists. The occupation grinds on, grinding down the very souls of the Palestinian people. The settlements expand, a cancerous growth on the body politic of the region. And the world looks on, aghast, but ultimately impotent.
But I say, no more. It is time for the world to take a stand. It is time for us to recognize the fundamental humanity of the Palestinian people, to acknowledge their rights, their dignity, and their freedom. It is time for us to demand an end to the occupation, an end to the settlements, and an end to the impunity that has allowed this situation to fester for so long.
The Palestinians are not alone. They have the right to self-determination, to statehood, and to the very same rights and freedoms that we in the West take for granted. And it is our moral duty, as citizens of the world, to stand with them, to stand against oppression, and to stand for justice.
Anything less would be a dereliction of our duty as human beings.
14 years on, and the villification and paranoia regarding the aims of Iran are at fever pitch. Their army and actual capability for domination and destruction are very overestimated. Nuclear capability just levels the playing field and is useful as deterrence, like America, Russia and Israel have.
Israel is not a democracy, in the true sense. No constitution, weak judiciary. It's a theocratic, settler Colonial State.
The two State solution was never palatable to Israelis, even moderate secular Jews, and has been scuttled at every turn.
Iraq pissed the West off because Hussein wanted to control his own resources.
nice!