Christopher Hitchens is stupid

Yes, sometimes atheists are stupid and even a smart guy like Hitchens can be stupid about some things. I'm saying that because some people have been throwing the example of Christopher Hitchens around because of my post, "Are Republicans stupid."

I've been hearing things like, "Well, Hitchens is supporting Rudy Giuliani. Are you saying Hitchens is stupid?" Actually, yes, I am. And now I've even made it the title of this post. On this issue Hitchens has had a shocking lack of smarts. He was supporting the same candidate that Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson is.

Then there was this criticism from Jeremy who thought that attacking arogop with vitriol, by calling him stupid, wasn't the way to have a debate or discussion.

And that's Jeremy's first mistake. This isn't a debate or discussion, this is my blog. My blog is my thoughts, feelings and reactions to the news and other blogs I read when I have one of those I-must-express-this desires bubbling up within me. It is not a political tool to convince people, it's a recording of my thoughts and feelings on issues of the day. I am not running for any office. I am not endorsing any candidates -- yet, (though I am leaning toward Joe Biden as I'll explain later).

I am not here to give you a fair shake but you can write what you want in my comments section and I will probably not remove it (at least I haven't removed a single one yet) and I may respond to you. Or, I may ignore you.

Jeremy thinks that on the internet it's much more interesting to let someone talk. No, it's not. There's a shit load of stupid on the net and it's a waste of my time to even read it much less deal with it all. In the end you've all got the same problem I do, how do you get anyone to pay attention to your ideas and thoughts? I'm sure most people aren't bothering to read what I write and they have found other blogs that match their own tastes and interests. Asking nicely isn't going to cut it. You're going to have to grab my attention with something that doesn't sound blatantly stupid or boring.

I don't have time to ask rational and calm questions about everyone's beliefs, and then, without personal attack, explain what's wrong. This isn't about creating a more productive dialog because I'm not really interested in a dialog with the stupid or the uninteresting. However, I hope I offer some thinking aids to those who do wish to engage them.

When I call something "stupid" it means I think it's so obviously wrong I shouldn't have to explain why it's wrong. But when enough people say the same stupid things over and over again, then I am forced to explain why stupid is stupid. In my previous post I had complained about the Christianists that had taken over the GOP and I had called arogop "stupid" for being a straight ticket Republican with such poor reasons for being one. At the time Huckabee was rising in the polls and I was getting an overdose of PP, Political Piety, from the GOP candidates. It caused me to forget my real gripe with the GOP. Thus I screwed up and I want to correct that now.

In the case of Jeremy's GOP choice, Ron Paul, a radical Libertarian, and arogop's choice, Rudy Giuliani (which was recently Hitchens choice too, but I hope he was smart enough to change that), its not the Christianists that are the problem. No, it's a different and more dangerous level of stupid we must deal with now.

I kind of understand the appeal of Ron Paul, but he isn't worth voting for even as a protest. Protest votes are votes that are thrown away. The problem with Ron Paul is that he wants to fix things that most people don't think are broken. He wants to change the tax system, get back on the gold standard and such. A lot of "experts," real economists with knowledge that most of us don't have, are out there saying his fix would be a disaster. It won't fly with the public. Also Ron Paul isn't giving due consideration to what is broken, that system of checks and balances on executive power and the level of corruption, deceit and mendacity that the Bush administration has sunk to.

Rudy Giuliani is also ignoring the corruption problem and he also appears to be saddled with his own corruptions and abuses of power. Mitt Romney scolded Huckabee merely because Huckabee called the Bush administration arrogant and Huckabee back tracked. Not a one of these guys even acknowledges there is a problem except for Ron Paul.

In my opinion, if you're not Keith Olbermann special comments angry at the Bush administration then you haven't been paying enough attention to what is going on.

And it's been going on for years. Go back to John Dean's book, "Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush," which was a case for the investigation and possible prosecution of President George W. Bush for criminal conduct that was "worse than Watergate." Consider all the scandals that have been popping up that seem to support Dean's views still, years after the book was published.

If Bush and his loyal cronies walk away from this mess unscathed, then the temptations for the next kleptocrat will be too great.

I'm not going to spell all this out for anyone because better people than I have already done that. David Brin has blogged on it, here. That's a good place to start.

UPDATE:
Ed Brayton has a post on his blog, "Ron Paul Rejects Evolution," with video. Either Paul will say anything which he thinks might get him elected or the man is pig-fucking ignorant.