Christopher Hitchens

I always enjoy reading or listening to Christopher Hitchens. I don't always agree with him, not at all. But he says what he thinks - and it's always worth my consideration - and his command of the English language, his superb way of expressing himself, fills me with admiration (and, admittedly, some considerable envy).

I missed this a month ago. It's his description of Glenn Beck's rally in Washington, D.C.  Since it's a bit late now, I won't comment on it, except to note that it agrees very much with my earlier post - one of my first posts, in fact - on hysteria and demographics.

But I do wish I could turn a phrase like Hitchens: "...the overall effect was large, vague, moist, and undirected: the Waterworld of white self-pity."

OK, I guess I can't let it go at that, so let me point out one particular paragraph:

In a rather curious and confused way, some white people are starting almost to think like a minority, even like a persecuted one. What does it take to believe that Christianity is an endangered religion in America or that the name of Jesus is insufficiently spoken or appreciated? Who wakes up believing that there is no appreciation for our veterans and our armed forces and that without a noisy speech from Sarah Palin, their sacrifice would be scorned? It's not unfair to say that such grievances are purely and simply imaginary, which in turn leads one to ask what the real ones can be. The clue, surely, is furnished by the remainder of the speeches, which deny racial feeling so monotonously and vehemently as to draw attention.

Yes, exactly! The whole thing is well worth reading (and short), even if it's a month old. Well, it's still very relevant, since the Tea Party hasn't gone away (more's the pity).