-Caveat Lector- Smearing Hitch February 10, 1999 One of our favorite journalists, Christopher Hitchens, the smart and acerbic contributor to Vanity Fair and The Nation, has come under fire for providing the House managers with an affidavit contradicting Sidney Blumenthal's sworn testimony and implicating Clinton in a concerted effort to smear Monica Lewinsky as a "stalker." The attacks began in a February 8th, Washington Post screed by Lloyd Grove that would set the tone for the mainstream press' handling of the story. Grove begins with a misty-eyed history of the long friendship between Hitchens and Blumenthal, followed by a litany of quotes from shocked establishment journalists, expressing disbelief and ad hominem outrage that Hitchens should have done such a thing to a close friend and colleague. Joe Conasan's statement that he "can't say [Blumenthal's characterization of Lewinksy as stalker] didn't happen" is a sneaky bit of rhetorical character assassination along the lines of, "have you stopped beating your wife?" Grove goes on to quote Joan Bingham, executive editor and vice president of Grove/Atlantic Press, who wonders, "why Hitch would do this, unless he's trying to promote his book." Another unnamed journalist avers that, "this says something about the true nature of Christopher's friendships." Another somberly intoned, "I think it is such a pity that I'll never be able to speak with Christopher again or have him in my house." Grove's calculated tactic is to depict Hitchens as a crude Judas, or worse, as just another huckster Beltway journalist engaged in a publicity stunt to hawk his latest book. Grove deflects the story away from Clinton and turns it into a minor insider drama, where serious political and moral costs are finally tallied in lost dinner invitations. That Hitchens (and his wife) may be speaking the truth is apparently not a matter for discussion, anymore than are Clinton's numerous and documented betrayals of his friends and constituencies. And yet Clinton's laundry list of repeated betrayals are at the center of this drama. On February 9th in The Washington Post, Hitchens states that far from trying to betray his old friend, he had reasons to believe that Blumenthal was, "being readied, to be used as yet another human sacrifice by his employer" and was acting partly out a desire to stop Blumenthal from immolating himself upon Clinton's altar of moral hypocrisy. Clinton, unlike Hitchens, has a publicly documented history of allowing his closest aides and friends to take the falls for his indiscretions (and a question for another time is why so many are willing to take the fall). When Clinton doesn't betray his colleagues, he abandons them for the sake of political expedience. From Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders to Lani Guinier, to the many traditionally progressive constituencies who elected him only to be rebuked once he shut the White House door behind him, Clinton has made a career out of betrayal and abandonment. Hitchens' affidavit lends credence to the darkest of the rumors that surround Bill Clinton. Those whom Clinton betrays dare not protest too loudly, for he will stoop to use the full powers of the Presidency in order to harrass and intimidate any such troublemakers into submission. And when he can't fully control an inconvenient situation of his own making, Clinton will simply call in the military and order the murder of some foreign populace in order to deflect the media's too easily distracted spotlights. Clinton's willingness to destroy individuals, careers, and innocent foreign nationals in order to protect his position is boundless, documented, and reprehensible. But I doubt few of those self-righteous Washington journalists, so quick to shun Christopher Hitchens for telling the truth, would so hastily deny Bill Clinton access to their homes. Lucio Benedetto Austin, TX >From Why Clinton? A Left-critique of Bill Clinton & the New Democrats http://www.netcom.com/~lucio DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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