The Subject line is the title of a book by Chris Hedges.

The link is to an interview with Hedges. Chris Hedges has been a foreign correspondent for fifteen years. He joined the staff of The_New_York_Times in 1990 and previously worked for The_Dallas_Morning_News, The_Christian_Science_Monitor, and National Public Radio. He holds a B.A. in English literature from Colgate University and a master of divinity from Harvard University. He is also an adjunct professor of jounalism at New York University. Hedges was a member of the New_York_Times team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for the paper's coverage of global terrorism and he received the 2002 Ammnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. He lives in New York City.

Chris Hedges is a leftist, leaning towards socialist, biased journalist.

His education, past employment and honors are from organizations steeped in socialistic leanings.  Of course its his opinion, and right now 250,000 men and women are fighting to preserve his right to express it.  For me, his opinion isn't worthy of wadding up and starting my bar-b-que.

It seems to me Mathesar, that maybe you should increase the scope of your reading to a greater circle than just the NY Times, LA Times and PBS radio and websites.  

Again, my greatest problems with liberals/leftists is that they are so myopic in their research of issues and the source of their information is so often fraught with lies and knee jerk emotion.  And their asinine attitude that conservative dissenting opinions are evil.

Can you tell me how Iraq threatens our right to free speech or freedom of the press?

that argument makes as much sense as saying that terrorist countries hate us 'because we are free'.

Ever noticed how, the more informed the person (an intellectual) or the profession (teachers, professors, journalists, intellectuals, policy-makers who have no personal financial stake in their own policies), the more likely they'll come up with a "socialist leaning" solution to most policy questions? Ever noticed how non-"socialist leaning" opponents of theirs seem to think that simply P0INTING OUT that their opponents lean left, is sufficient to discredit the left's arguments, despite the fact that it in no way ADDRESSES or REFUTES the policies, it simply points out that they're left-leaning policies? In other words:

A: I have intelligent ideas. Here are a thousand reasons.
B: You leftist.
A: No, really, I really think it will make things better. Here's why I think so.
B: But you're from the left. You ... you ... LLLLLiberal.

Geez ... "socialist" isn't a bad word. Neither is "liberal" or "leftist." "War" and "hate" are.


-- Modified on 3/21/2003 9:13:35 PM

Maybe you can enlighten us as the the solutions you are referring to!  The article in question is a statement of fantasy and emotion from a writer who has an admitted history of bashing conservative thought and leaders with nothing more than his own emotion.  There are no ideas in his article, only emotional demagoguery.  There are no ideas or solutions coming from the left, only inane comments about President Bush is the new Hitler.  How absurd and downright mean spirited.  And an insult to the millions of Jews who were murdered under the Nazi's!

To me a socialist is someone who wants to take my hard earned money and give it to someone else who doesn't care to work or work as hard as me, or sacrifice as I have to attain what it is I have worked for.  To me that is evil!  To me that is stealing!  TO ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN THE HISTORY OF SOCIALISM ON THIS PLANET, WHO HAS AN OUNCE OF GRAY MATTER KNOWS IT JUST DOESN'T WORK!

The only way it has ever lasted more than a few years is by brutal tyranny!  For example the Soviet Union.  Socialist are evil!

When you see the citizens of Iraq dancing in the streets in the next few days, why don't you ask them what the prefer, the evil of war or the the evil of Saddam Hussein.  It is beyond me to understand why you and people of your (lack of) thinking can support the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and his thugs!  An article written challenging him in Iraq ALWAYS ended in torture and death.   And all the socialist countries, France, Germany, Canada want to try to talk him into being a good boy, pathetic and cowardly.  Thank God someone had the balls to take him down!

One other thing, your little dialog, funny how you guys like to lay your own methods on conservatives, remember this:

A:  We want to reduce the number of people on welfare.
B:  They want to starve your children.
A:  We want make schools accountable through school vouchers.
B:  They want to destroy public education.  (as if it could be worse)

It used to work for you guys, but check the facts, welfare is down almost 50% and child hunger is at an all time low in the United States!  School vouchers are working everywhere they have been tried and the test scores are going through the roofs.  Leftist's have had their moment, now get out of the way, you made big mess to clean up!