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30481 ECAAR letter -- rank: 1000

September 20, 2001 The Honorable Joseph Biden, Chairman Senate Foreign Relations Committee United States Senate Dear Senator Biden: In the wake of the terrible events of September 11 in New York and Washington and rapid moves toward war since then, we write to ask that you hold immediate public hearings on the impending conflict and its diplomatic, military, security and economic implications. We share with all Americans the horror and outrage provoked by these attacks. Yet we know that horror a ...

Document Size:	10214
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Sep 26 10:40:51 PDT 2001

30482 Hitchens etc -- rank: 1000

[posted from non-sub'd address] Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 19:43:50 -0400 From: ravi narayan <ravi at streamcenter.com> Nathan Newman wrote: > > When that proportionality is lost, it becomes quite reasonable to abandon > causal explanations, try psychological if you want, but ultimately you often > are in the realm of the purely irrational- where John Hinkley, Son of Sam, > Hitler, Bin Laden and the statistical freaks of hate and violence dwell. > i actually tend to agree wit ...

Document Size:	6794
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Sep 26 10:30:48 PDT 2001

30483 "Cause" vs. "Justified" (was: Re: Hitchens responds to critics) -- rank: 1000

Nathan Newman wrote: >On the purely political level, you may think it is a good idea for the left >to say to the families of the dead that, yes, bin Laden is an evil guy, but >heck, we knew that, so really we caused this result since the results of our >actions were foreseeable, so you killed your dead loved ones by voting in >this government. People are not fools. Shit, Nathan, who besides Ward Churchill has said anything remotely like this? Why are you arguing with people who d ...

Document Size:	5693
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Sep 26 06:36:15 PDT 2001

30484 Sparts weigh in -- rank: 1000

[apparently the WV editorial team suffered some setbacks from the blast, because this just arrived yesterday - some of this is nutty, some brilliant, typical WV fare] Workers Vanguard - September 14, 2001 oppose domestic repression, imperialist "retaliation" THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK SEPTEMBER 12 - Yesterday's attack on the World Trade Center, carried out through the hijacking of civilian airliners that killed hundreds of passengers and crew, was an indefensible act of criminal ter ...

Document Size:	16730
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 14:24:09 PDT 2001

30485 Hitchens responds to critics -- rank: 1000

Nathan Newman wrote: >But just because a lot of crime has root causes doesn't mean that there >aren't some areas of violence and criminality- the Jeffrey Dahmers of the >world as an example - that escape almost any useful causal barometer. Let me see if I have this right: because Dahmer did something horrible, trying to explain it would be to defame the memory of his victims? Or behavior like his is truly inexplicable? Or...? Doug

Document Size:	4904
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 12:54:51 PDT 2001

30486 original sin -- rank: 1000

[posted from non-sub'd address] From: "Dorkin, Eric" <EDorkin at jenner.com> To: "'lbo-talk at lists.panix.com'" <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Subject: RE: Hitchens responds to critics I think that the "original sin" remark has a more expansive meaning than simply referring to the mythological cause of humantiy's literal fall from grace. Rather, to understand original sin is to understand human nature most fully -- to understand the telos for human bein ...

Document Size:	7606
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 11:58:03 PDT 2001

30487 Hitchens responds to critics -- rank: 1000

Carl Remick wrote: >>What's that famous quote from Fitzgerald about intelligence being the >>ability to hold two thoughts in one's head simultaneously? >> >>Doug > >Of course, Fitzgerald was a big drinker, too. Maybe Hitchens has >the right approach after all :) Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to drinking. Far from it, in fact - I'm quite fond of alcohol. Though I generally wait for the sun to be low in the sky before sinking my first. Doug

Document Size:	5014
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 11:48:17 PDT 2001

30488 Hitchens responds to critics -- rank: 1000

Steve Perry wrote: >the fitz observation you cite is, appropriately enough, from 'the crack-up.' Anyone have the exact wording? Doug

Document Size:	4572
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 11:47:05 PDT 2001

30489 Hitchens responds to critics -- rank: 1000

Carl Remick wrote: >Since you mentioned it, I sometimes wonder if much of Hitchens' >famed iconoclasm is just boozy cantankerousness. Frankly, I think >it's a waste of time for the list to spend so much energy >micro-scrutinizing his writings and motivations -- an activity >which, of course, I am contributing to by posting this. Why don't >we just let Hitchens' liver rot in peace? Well, for me it's sad to watch him evolve like this - I used to admire his stuff lots, and still ...

Document Size:	5155
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 11:40:15 PDT 2001

30490 Hitchens responds to critics -- rank: 1000

Ken Hanly wrote: >Do you really maintain that criminals are just >criminals that there are no explanations for criminal acts. Nathan can't believe that about street criminals, or he'd be working for the NRA rather than the NLG. Am I wrong, Nathan? Doug

Document Size:	4707
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 11:37:36 PDT 2001

30491 Hitchens responds to critics -- rank: 1000

Nathan Newman wrote: >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Seth Ackerman" <sackerman at FAIR.org> >> On the other hand, the attack killed over a hundred Pentagon >> employees without touching any nearby neighborhoods. Which is more than >one >> can say about certain "pinpoint strikes" on "military targets" carried out >> by some of the building's occupants in recent years. And I say that as >> someone whose parents l ...

Document Size:	6278
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 11:36:03 PDT 2001

30492 Hitchens responds to critics -- rank: 1000

Nathan Newman wrote: >Unfortunately, those who insist on such explanations of the morally >unexplainable cheapen and disgrace the anti-war movement. Sometimes >criminals are just criminals What is this, an original sin theory of human behavior? I'm still trying to comprehend the spectacle of a very smart guy with two advanced degrees dismissing the importance of explanations. Even horrific behavior can, and should, be explained, no? Doug

Document Size:	4919
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 10:53:16 PDT 2001

30493 Hitchens responds to critics -- rank: 1000

Dennis wrote: >This is embarrassing. You'd think Hitch was writing about holy ground, the >secular Mecca, if you will. I'm sure he donned his Lincoln stovepipe hat >before sitting down to type these lines, humming "The Battle Hymn of the >Republic" between hits on his ever-present Rothman. And you've got to wonder how many drinks he was into his day when he wrote that sad response. Doug

Document Size:	4882
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 10:50:22 PDT 2001

30494 Hitchens responds to critics -- rank: 1000

Nathan Newman wrote: >It was an interesting rhetorical slight of hand to move from my comparison >of the Taliban, who have oppressed their own people far more than anyone >else, and the architects of the Holocaust to make my comments a blood libel >against the Germans. No one is arguing for the evil of the Afghanis in >general - tough son-of-a-bitches though they are - but of the Taliban >leadership that was foisted on them partly with US support. > >But to "analyze ...

Document Size:	6332
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 10:42:24 PDT 2001

30495 Hitchens responds to critics -- rank: 1000

Nathan Newman wrote: >The Germans suffered serious injustice following World War I; so should be >just "explain" the Holocaust as a misguided overreaction to justified >grievances? Of course not, but it's a start, isn't it? Otherwise you're in Elie Wiesel territory - to analyze is to defame the memory of the dead - or Goldhagen territory - some mysterious characteristic of Germans. Or do you agree with them? Doug

Document Size:	4895
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Sep 25 05:34:58 PDT 2001