“As he once wrote of Kipling, his own enduring influence can be measured by a number of terms and phrases—doublethink, thought police, 'Some animals are more equal than others'—that he embedded in our language and in our minds. In Orwell's own mind there was an inextricable connection between language and truth, a conviction that by using plain and unambiguous words one could forbid oneself the comfort of certain falsehoods and delusions. Every time you hear a piece of psychobabble or propaganda—'people's princess,' say, or 'collateral damage,' or 'peace initiative'—it is good to have a well-thumbed collection of his essays nearby. His main enemy in discourse was euphemism, just as his main enemy in practice was the abuse of power, and (more important) the slavish willingness of people to submit to it.” MindTruthLanguagePeacePowerInfluenceLiesConvictionEqualityPropagandaPhrasesDelusionAnimalsSubmissionEuphemismGeorge OrwellCollateral DamagePlain LanguageThought PoliceTermsDoublethinkRudyard KiplingDiana Princess Of Wales Author:Christopher Hitchens
“No thoughts had I of anything, Or at least that's what I thought; I even thought I couldn't think, But now I think I never thought.” World War IiWorld War IAstrology9 11D DayJfkJulius CaesarChristopher ColumbusRfk11 11Diana Princess Of WalesGlenn MillerHarmonic Convergence Book:At This Point in Time Source: At This Point in Time
“Pettiness often leads both to error and to the digging of a trap for oneself. Wondering (which I am sure he didn't) 'if by the 1990s [Hitchens] was morphing into someone I didn’t quite recognize”, Blumenthal recalls with horror the night that I 'gave' a farewell party for Martin Walker of the Guardian, and then didn't attend it because I wanted to be on television instead. This is easy: Martin had asked to use the fine lobby of my building for a farewell bash, and I'd set it up. People have quite often asked me to do that. My wife did the honors after Nightline told me that I’d have to come to New York if I wanted to abuse Mother Teresa and Princess Diana on the same show. Of all the people I know, Martin Walker and Sidney Blumenthal would have been the top two in recognizing that journalism and argument come first, and that there can be no hard feelings about it. How do I know this? Well, I have known Martin since Oxford. (He produced a book on Clinton, published in America as 'The President We Deserve'. He reprinted it in London, under the title, 'The President They Deserve'. I doffed my hat to that.) While Sidney—I can barely believe I am telling you this—once also solicited an invitation to hold his book party at my home. A few days later he called me back, to tell me that Martin Peretz, owner of the New Republic, had insisted on giving the party instead. I said, fine, no bones broken; no caterers ordered as yet. 'I don't think you quite get it,' he went on, after an honorable pause. 'That means you can't come to the party at all.' I knew that about my old foe Peretz: I didn't then know I knew it about Blumenthal. I also thought that it was just within the limit of the rules. I ask you to believe that I had buried this memory until this book came out, but also to believe that I won't be slandered and won't refrain—if motives or conduct are in question—from speculating about them in my turn.” PoliticsFriendshipUnited StatesNew YorkTelevisionEnglandBetrayalLondonJournalismOxfordPettinessArgumentationBill ClintonMother TeresaThe Guardian1990sSidney BlumenthalPresidency Of Bill ClintonDiana Princess Of WalesThe New RepublicMartin Walker ReporterMarty PeretzNightlineUniversity Of Oxford Author:Christopher Hitchens