1. I loved Hitchens but it's worth noting that the entire trajectory of his career goes against the narrative Brooks is constructing here. The more of a reactionary crank Hitchens became, the bigger platforms he gained.https://twitter.com/nytdavidbrooks/status/1286619122835619845 …
-
-
5. The post-9/11 Hitchens -- supporter of Iraq War, un-PC contrarian who said women weren't funny & Dixie Chicks were "fucking fat slags"-- had immense mainstream success: Atlantic, Slate, best-sellers, White House access etc.
Show this thread -
6. Hitchens entire career illustrates that the path to success to move away from radical politics that make people uncomfortable (is early critique of American imperialism) and market yourself as stylish pseudo-contrarian who upholds status quo.
Show this thread -
7. Fittingly, the person who best explained what happened was Hitchens himself, prophetically in 1985: “To be able to bray that ‘as a liberal, I say bomb the shit out of them,’ is to have achieved that eye-catching, versatile marketability that is so beloved of editors"
Show this thread -
8. Hitchens entire 1985 statement on the profitability of faux-contrarianism is instructive.pic.twitter.com/MPjkz5LUmy
Show this thread -
9. Also, while I'm here: Brooks is wrong about this: "The liberal New Republic has less viewpoint diversity than the conservative National Review." TNR runs both socialists, Biden-style liberals, & Never Trump conservatives.
Show this thread -
10. Louis-Ferdinand Céline was one of France's greatest novelists. He would be unemployable today because there was no set of priors he wasn’t willing to offendhttps://twitter.com/nytdavidbrooks/status/1286619122835619845 …
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
This Tweet is unavailable.
-
It was a lot harder to get taken seriously by the journalistic establishment if you were anti-Iraq War than pro. That, plus the sneering contempt for those who disagreed with him you're talking about make it even more absurd to position him as some kind of iconic freethinker.
- Show replies
-
-
-
You didn't slur enough when you typed "Islamofascism" to quite catch the Hitchens "style"
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
Hitchens embarrassing Emmett Tyrrell Jr. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atk7V3W6oUc …
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.