http://www.salon.com/2011/12/17/christohper_hitchens_and_the_protocol_for_public_figure_deaths/

I go back to something Judith Butler’s been saying for years; some lives are grievable and some are not. And in that context, publicly mourning someone like Hitchens in the way we are supposed to do — holding him up as someone who was “one of us,” even if we disagree with him — is also a way of quietly reinforcing the “we” that never seems to extend to the un-grievable Arab casualties of Hitch’s favorite wars. It’s also a “we” that has everything to do with being clever and literate and British (and nothing to do with a human universalism that stretches across the usual “us” and “them” categories). And when it is impolitic to mention that he was politically atrocious (in exactly the way of Kissinger, if not to the extent), we enshrine the same standard of human value as when the deaths of Iraqi children from cluster bombs are rendered politically meaningless by our lack of attention.

Actually, I wouldn’t call Obama a particularly great speaker at all, in the grand scheme of things – just far and above most anyone else in the American political landscape, particularly Bush (who immensely lowered the standards for nearly a decade which partially accounts for people thinking Obama is a great speaker).

Hitchens was a great manipulator of the language in the grand British tradition. The type of clever language that occasionally makes you pause to figure out what’s meant, and then to grin maniacally. In addition, even when speaking more plainly he was a great persuader and articulate point-maker who never slowed down.

Obama admittedly has a different purpose when he speaks, but I find his manner of speech somewhat grating. It’s just too simple, direct, and slow – he uses enormous pauses between sentences, and even mid-sentence. I presume this is so that all the dim-wits in America can understand him. And he often makes little jokes, but they’re never actually funny and seem incredibly stilted (and obviously prepared) – not like the quips that come from great wits like Hitchens (and Stephen Fry, and so many others), even though many of his quips he probably did think of ahead of time and stored up for the right moment.

“did you really have to shit all over the comments” — Really? The man who gave Jerry Falwell a well deserved thumping right after his death? I think Hitchens would be proud. In fact, I’d say he’d be dying to get back into the fray. ;)

Most humans learn this lesson at the age of two.

“Which is why it is all the more important not to let the bullies of the world silence you.” — You do not solve this by becoming a bully yourself. The strong arm tactics you propose do not work over time. Tit for tat alliances, you help me and I’ll help you, are the superior strategy. It’s been gamed out and is not up for debate.

“If I am right and you kill me for it I was still right.” — But we are not talking about being right or not. We’re talking about what is the better strategy for a social minority to pursue. Being the biggest flaming assholes one can be or forming alliances with like minded groups and working for social change? Who was more successful, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or Martin Luther King?

http://boingboing.net/2011/12/14/memoir-of-a-child-kidnapped-to.html

is the kind of thing he actively supported.  Even the journalistic stunt of having himself waterboarded doesn’t erase the fact that he devoted time and intellectual energy to defending the people who did this, and never quite recanted.

1993 CSPAN: (link will take you to 4:55)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0153f7lYpwU#t=294s

I think we’ve all had enough of this crap.

No, because some people will never accept you. It is the same for trans people, for gays, for everyone who some people will just never accept. It is better to be able to find like minds and not to be isolated and kept in silence. It is better to be heard, even if it makes some people hate you even more. Better to flush out the bigots and make them stand up and be honest.

“You do not have the option of removing yourself from the game. You are in it, not to participate is to participate. Make your moves wisely.”

Which is why it is all the more important not to let the bullies of the world silence you. You can’t opt out, which is why you need strong defenders and people who are not afraid to march forward against the tide. You say make your moves wisely because deep down you know this is a threat. Make your moves wisely, or else. Or else, what? If I am right and you kill me for it I was still right. That’s honesty. 

And if logic was all it took to gain atheists, there wouldn’t be any religious people.

One way or another, though, did you really have to shit all over the comments section of a news story about a man who just passed away because he disagreed with you? Coming from someone who is decrying a man for his abrasive attitude, your arguments seem to lose much of their impetus.