Informed Speculation

The Real Wrapup

Okay, sorry for that quick exit…I foolishly committed to liveblogging without eating supper, so I was HUNGRY! Here’s the bottom line: Hitchens laid out the case for Iraq in terms of a commitment to democracy and freedom and a stance against the jihadists and their theocratic dreams. Galloway…well, Galloway engaged in a lot of ad hominem attacks, dwelt overly long on the past statements of Hitchens, and never really answered the charges that he hobnobs with (and takes money from) dictators, because, of course, he can’t answer the charges. Galloway clearly showed himself to be an anti-Semite, anti-American, and a traitor to his own country, and if you think that’s too strong, wait until the transcript comes out (I’ll link to one when I find one), or better still, watch the debate yourself on C-Span 2 on Saturday. Hitchens clearly won the debate against the much-vaunted Galloway, despite having to overcome a partisan crowd. Thanks to Michelle Malkin, Moonbat Central, and Sister Toldjah for the links…if you’re just dropping by, the post starts at the bottom and works up to the top…and sorry for the typos, that’s the nature of liveblogging…have a great one, everybody!…
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And it’s over, folks! Final thoughts: Galloway started weak, ended stronger, and the opposite for Hitchens…but Galloway blundered tremendously with his Jew-baiting and 9/11 is the fault of Americans tactic, and that was the overwhelming misstep of the evening. Give it to Hitchens…and thanks for dropping by!…
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H: I don’t mind losing the support of the MoveOn.org crowd to take solidarity with the Iraqis…I don’t take orders from Michael Moore, nor Oil-For-Food money…ladies and gentlemen, you will feel better about yourself if you help the Iraqis…you’ll look on with regret if you support those who sabotage Iraq…
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H: …don’t mind being called a popinjay, since a popinjay is a target…
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G: …ridiculous spectacle of this popinjay who continues to support the war…
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G: This war on Iraq is a disaster: when Talleyrand was told of the murder of a political opponent, an aide said, it’s a terrible crime! Talleyrand said it’s worse than a crime, it’s a blunder…
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G: If either the U. S. or its friend Israel (amazing how anti-Semitic the Left has become) attacks Iran…blah, blah…we have more people who hate us now…
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G: Bush and Blair have put religious fundamentalists in power; believe me, Sistani is an Islamic fundamentalist…
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Galloway appears to be wrapping up, claims the left represents the American mainstream, says Hitchens is trying to conjure up a false picture of Iraq; Iraq is getting worse…
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G: I think this debate is running out of steam…we needn’t get any more belligerent towards each other…the most reasonable thing he’s said all night…
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Amy Goodman: Christopher Hitchens, is the media friendlier since you’ve changed your views? H: I frankly think that’s a waste of a question…
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H: We must treat enemies like enemies…not surrendering to the whims of a courtier to dictators…I would never do that…and this man comes straight from embracing this murderers and blame you for what is happening…
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H: Are you in favor of abandoning Afghanistan to the warlords? G: It’s already happened…
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H: What I say doesn’t require your endorsement or your animal noises…
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H: I didn’t defend Barbara Bush…but I won’t go to a poor Louisianan and say “Did you know the Arabs stole your money?”…Hitchens warns audience not to jeer the U. S. soldiers…
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G: Calls Hitchens a court jester…not of Camelot…but of Barbara Bush, “the Marie Antoinette of modern politics”…
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G: Hitchens is a monkey and an apologist for the Bush family – goes after Barbara Bush for her ‘underprivileged’ comment…
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H: I’m not going to let Galloway call me racist…for people to pump out propaganda before the bodies are even recovered…to say that these people died because they were black…that they died because we’re helping Arabs (mass boos – Hitchens’ worst point – so I was wrong again)…
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H: The President can’t order troops into Louisiana unless ordered to by Governor…there were more than enough troops….they weren’t order in in time…aren’t you proud of Honore?…
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Amy Goodman: What about New Orleans? Get ready for a Hitch moment…
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H: Shame on the people who call this a liberation movement…
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H: Even Cole (though he changes his mind once a week) admits that Sistani is Iraqi’s spiritual leader, and he favors this transition to a democratic Iraq, as do the Iraqi people…
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H: Thanks Galloway for restating his support of the murderers and beheaders…
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G: when asked if forces should leave immediately, states yes…
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G: Iraqis want the occupation to end: Get used to it, get over it, or you’re fooling yourself…
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Galloway quotes Juan Cole, calls him more cerebral than Hitchens (scattered boos at the mention of Cole)…
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Galloway now compares jihadists to Vietnamese fighting for freedom…this guy is a real piece of work…
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G: Only 6% of prisoners of ‘resistance’ are foreigners…
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G: Stands up for the jihadists again, how noble they are!…
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G: What Hitchens can’t stand is that U.S. agribusiness is losing(????!!!)…
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Galloway screaming again now at the top of his lungs…now it’s the fault of agribusiness in the United States…
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G: Halliburton stealing all our money…
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G: If it looks like a duck…oh, clever…U.S. has engineered a puppet regime and intends to never leave Iraq…
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H: Yes, we had some fun with Heston, it was all good sport; 1991 was not an invasion of Iraq; but I congratulate you on being absolute consistent in your support of thugs and criminals…
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G: If you’re capable of such grave flipflops, how can you trust you?
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G: Vanity Fair, the whiskey, and all your money changed you…were you wrong in 1991 or are you wrong now? How can we trust you now? Galloway again screaming at the top of his lungs…
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G: I worshipped the ground you walked on then! You chose the lesser evil…
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G: Falls back on Hitchens’ 1991 stance again, though Hitchens has already admitted he was mistaken…
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H: I checked with the chairman of the Campaign for the Restoration of Iraqi Democracy, they don’t remember you…if Saddam was such a monster, why did you praise him?
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G: I was Saddam’s biggest enemy! I’m the king of the world!…
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G: I was against the Baathists before I was for them…
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G: Iraq invaded Iran at the behest of the U.S. (and people cheer! What kind of fools…?)…
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H: Colin Powell running for most overrated person in the world – I don’t care if he’s UN speech was a stain on his record…
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H: Saddam Hussein gassed his own people…I’m not prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt…
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H: I did not endorse the Saudi royal family, nor the Egyption dictatorship…
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H: I’m not here to answer questions on behalf of the Bush Administration, but the President was right to do what Clinton had only promised to do…
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H: That was not the only reason given by Mr. Bush, he presented a whole menu of wrongs by Saddam…
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First part of the debate is over…Amy Goodman says evil of Saddam was not the main goal of U.S. invasion, it was WMDs…did U.S. engage in active campaign of deception?…
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G: Says Hitchens did write like an angel, now he works for the devil…
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G: Brings up the Carlyle Group (sp?)…again with the personal attacks…tells Hitchens he should be ashamed of himself…H: but I’m not…
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I’ll say this; a little Galloway goes a long way…this crowd is trying to support him, but even their support is lagging…
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G: Lebanon wasn’t Democracy; now he praises the leader of Hizbollah…
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G: Do you want me to run through the dictatorships you support? H: Please do…
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H: Galloway met with Tariq Ali to discuss diverting funds from Oil-For-Food, and he will not sign an affidavit denying it…and until he does, I will follow him every step of the way…
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H: Iraq was a strange target for Holy War…is your strategy to avoid war by being nice to the jihadists? This is masochism…brought to you by a sadist…
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H: How dare you stand next to Saddam and the Syrian despot, and say we brought on 9/11 with our own behavior?…
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H: When you look at the situation in Gaza, of course, one wants to fly planes into buildings…why didn’t I think that?…
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H: You picked the wrong month and the wrong city to blame 9/11 on America…
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Hitchens: The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was probably a bigger spur to violence then free elections in Iraq
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Hitchens: That was the appeal to the cerebellum, was it? You’ll excuse me for waiting, I was waiting for the other shoe to fall…
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Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers…Galloway took a huge fall when he started bashing the Jews and saying the U.S. deserved 9/11 because of our policies..
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G: Again takes on the Jews, again huge boos!…
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Folks, no matter what happens from here on, Galloway lost, and big – if anyone tells you different, they didn’t watch with any honest eye…
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G: By their unending support of the Jews, the U.S. brought on 9/11…he’s completely lost…he’s rattled!…
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G: Completely lost the crowd, blamed 9/11 on the Americans…biggest boos of the night!…
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G: No al Qaeda in Iraq before Bush and Blair…
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G: A shameless hack…his whole M.O. is to attack Hitchens personally…what a grade A A–hole…
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G: Again appeals to Hitchens’ past – because, naturally, he has no answer to the charges presented by Hitchens…
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G: How far has this neocon rot gone into your soul?
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Galloway again: Defends the Lancet figures, the hall is turning against him…
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H: We make no apologies for standing with the Iraqi left versus fascism…
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H: While the Leftists are masturbating over their Cheney fantasies, the Iraqis are fighting the biggest fascists seen in years in the jihadists…
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H: Iraq is not being occupied by President Talibani…he was born and lived there…
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H: takes on the 100,000 Lancet figure…absolutely shown to be false…
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H: isn’t it revolting to praise the killers of Casey Sheehan, and then to come to American and appeal to the emotions of his mother?…Hell, yeah!…
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H: the human toothbrush and slobbering idiot Asad, Mr. Galloway’s new pal…
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H: Galloway is as revolting as Michael Moore comparing the jihadists to the minuteman…
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H: Galloway praises jihadists who killed UN diplomats…who fight for sharia…big applause!…
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H: How can a man be a pacifist and stand by the dictator of Syria and praise 145 operations a day by insurgents?
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H: Admits he was mistaken for 1991 stance…
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G: England and America two biggest rogue states in the world! Scattered boos…thank God that jerk’s through for now…
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G: Now it’s blood for oil (or is it Israel?)…I’m confused…the last three minutes Galloway’s been screaming at the top of their lungs…
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G: the Neocon slur! What a parody of a leftist (and a despicable moral coward and degenerate to boot)…
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G: Quotes the Lancet study! BwaaaHaaaHaaa…
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G: Americans massacred thousands in Fallajuh…
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What a weak argument from Galloway: are you with the foreign occupation of Iraq, or the right of Iraqis to be free….
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Galloway screams the whole time, no control over dynamics whatsoever – color me unimpressed…
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G: Takes a cheap show at the dead of Louisiana lying in the streets for a week…
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G: Hitchens ready to fight to the last drop of other people’s blood…(that’s a new one)…
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No real arguments yet from Galloway whatsoever…
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Oh, boy, here we go: Cindy Sheehan…big round of applause…
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G: Calls Hitchens a slug, leaving a trail of slime…wow, what a powerful argument!
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G: Still going on and on about 1991…
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Hitchens told ‘gun nut’ Heston to keep his wig on, asked him to name 4 countries bordering Iraq, Heston could name now…
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Galloway: Tries to tie Hitchens to Palestinian terrorism, says Hitchen was against War in Iraq in 1991…
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Anyone who can speak and feel this way is far beneath my contempt, and I hope yours…I’m pumped out now…

Galloway’s turn now…
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H: The Oil-For-Food debacle – how dare he show his face in this town in light of the $11 billion stolen from the stolen Iraqis!
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H: It is a disgrace that a member of the House of Commons would go to Washington, decline to testify, and insult those who question him…boos, Hitch says he will not take up his time for the boos! It’s getting good..
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H: This mood would be unthinkable if it were not for the removal of the worst tyrant in the region…
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Spread of Democracy – the demonstrations in Libya…we intend to stand by the Iraqis (Kurds?) no matter what…
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Kurds – WMDs not a complete bust – busted up Khan network, Qaddafi…Jacques Chirac: a man so corrupt he’s willing to pay for the pleasure of selling himself…
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Constitution debated widely in a country where it would have been death to question Saddam…
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H: We acknowledge the difficulties, which are quite evident…the positive results:

Saddam is in jail, soon to face trial…Hitchens says some here will not take delight in this, but I do: it’s a long overdue act of justice…
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H lays out the case against Iraq: genocide, starving its people, imploding, Turkey would have invaded, Iran, Saudia Arabia as well, had Iraq fell apart…
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H: if I had that record, I would be quite modest…
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Hitchens: if we followed the anti-war line, Kuwait would be a province of Iraq, Milosivec would still be ruling, Taliban would be ruling, al Qaeda their guests
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Hitchens says he questions the assumption that only the pro-war factions have something to answer to…
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Hitch takes on some fool who talked through the moment of silence: I hope those comments were very much worth hearing…
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Hitchens opening statement: begins with a moment of silence for the 160 dead today…
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Sigh…more Galloway propaganda…
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Hitch has some fans, for sure! The resolution on the floor: the War in Iraq was just and necessary…
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Wow, more Galloway propaganda…you’ll all want to visit his website here…

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One of the sponsors is the National Socialist Review, a favorite of my readers, to be sure…

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God, just looking at Galloway is enough to make your skin crawl…

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It’s widely expected by most that Galloway may run away with it, despite the wrongness of his positions, because of his oratory skills…Hitchens, of course, is famous for the pen, and not the mouth…we shall see. Hopefully Hitch has had a chance to quench his legendary thirst prior to the commencement of the fireworks, and will thus be loose…
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The video feed is very weak…three minute wait again…the whole thing was a half-hour late because of metal detectors…

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Jennifer Rush(?) – local Galloway coordinator – provides intro – leftist propaganda, as you would expect – Amy Goodman about to come on…

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Hitchens v. Galloway is about 2 minutes away…I’m watching a video feed (go here if you’re interested) and am going to give it a go liveblogging it…updates will appear at the top…