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Eleventy thousand up fists for the Le Guin reference

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Dec 1, 2023·edited Dec 1, 2023

Only the good die young.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46n1WSuaxOs

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I will forever be in love with old school journalist Peter Jennings when he asked Kissinger, at a hoity toity dinner arranged by Barbara Walters, “How does it feel to be a war criminal, Henry?”

You don't see anyone in the press like Jennings anymore. Or Cronkite. The movie "Network" has come true.

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What did Dr. K (for kill) say in reply? Or did he just harrumph.

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Probably no hell, but at least he’s gone. It’s what we learn from empowering people like Nixon, Kissinger, Bush and Trump that is valuable now. And the Fauci vilification will always make as much sense as blowing up your own beer because a trans person had a promotional can made, which is none at all.

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Ewww, I learned just the other day that my older sister's father-in-law Paul De Man (a wretched human being and enthusiastic supporter of bigamy, Naziism, and oh yeah the literary deconstruction movement) tutored the horrible Kissinger in French while the horrible Kissinger was a Harvard student. I hope De Man and Kissinger are enjoying hell.

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OK, it is from the evil site but it is perfect, and identifies the snark in Biden's very short message.

https://twitter.com/un_a_valeable/status/1730401317485736138

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elseweb I saw Biden's statement paraphrased "He was smart, but I always hated him. He sure did like to talk. Now he's dead."

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"very subdued praise" ... I snorted.

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All I know is that my Dad(who passed in 2016) HATED Kissinger and I didn't see much to like about Kissinger myself, so after my Dad passed, I picked up his 'Anti-Kissinger' campaign. My dad, like many of his age, was in Vietnam and died of pancreatic cancer(which can be caused by Agent Orange). May Kissinger get what's due to him, karmically speaking. I don't think he's going to the good place(if there is one). So good riddance indeed!

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Let's not forget that he ingratiated himself with the Nixon campaign by using his Harvard credentials to get in with the Humphrey campaign and acted as a mole for Nixon.

Fucking weasel was loyal to one thing, the advancement of Henry Kissinger.

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I had, in fact, totally forgotten about that bog-standard betrayal when thinking of all the other horrors.

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I'll read the Rolling Stone piece, but not today. I'm feeling good and want to stay that way.

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This is why there is much less commentary about his death than I expected, and why it is so far from fawning.

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:-)

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Dick Cheney is the next apparently immortal evil.

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If Jimmy Carter wasn't Jimmy Carter, he could call up Dick and say, "I'm going to outlive you next, motherfucker."

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Anthony Bourdain said of him, "Once you've been to Cambodia, you'll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands".

That remains one of the most devastating critiques of the man I've ever heard.

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Of any man.

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I have been to Cambodia, and I agree with Bourdain.

Kissinger instigated bombing Cambodia back to the Stone Age, which destabilized the country so badly that the Khmer Rouge took over, who then killed of a quarter of their own citizenry. Cambodia today is still a destabilized, impoverished wasteland, largely thanks to Kissinger. He was a monster.

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My brother worked in Cambodia for many years. He said, "What do you do when the entire population has PTSD?"

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That is heartbreaking. And history repeats.

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When I think of Kissinger and his ilk, I bring up my favorite quote from one of my favorite movies, The Third Man:

“- Martins: Have you ever seen any of your victims?

- Harry Lime: You know, I never feel comfortable on these sort of things. Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money, or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man. Free of income tax - the only way you can save money nowadays.”

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Harry Lime was the epitome of what evolved out of WW2. The corporate men that only saw an opportunity in human misery.

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Funny how that seems to be the lesson learned since then.

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At least Carter has outlived that soulless scumbag...

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The Ackerman piece is the first one that I read - it is brutal!

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