His book, Anti-Americanism is a great piece of thinking about the psychology of Euroweenies. Another thoughtful French intellectual is Alain Finkielkraut, whose book The Defeat of the Mind was an early drubbing of multiculti moral equivalence. I remember the Village Voice featured him in a piece called 'Smart French Racists'. The Voice, like Salon, was independent for about 5 minutes before it was taken over by Stalinists toeing the party line

Oops, Anti-Americanism is Revel. Same thing

I found this piece interesting, since I had long noticed that America and France seem to get along better when France is governed by the left and not the right. Levy offered the first explanation for this I'd ever read.

You know, it's interesting that the "neocon" movement has pulled in a lot of classical liberals or libertarians who are basically willing to overlook the social conservative agenda that they don't like, perhaps because that agenda is only loosely attached to what is essentially a foreign policy movement in a time when foreign policy has become the political trump card (note all those polls saying Americans prefer Democrats on almost every issue besides national security).

Does anyone really know (or care) where Paul Wolfowitz stands on abortion and the War on Drugs?

I read pretty much all of his sneer-athon in Atlantic Monthly and took it all very personally. He might like the America concept but he cannot conceal his disdain for real Americans.

I would hate to meet him since I would have to pummel him with my open hand and he would likely humiliate me intellectually for doing shit like that.

Re: the ability of the left to detect sarcasm.

There seems to be a sense of humor deficiency on the left, while there's plenty of it on the right. Who on the left can match Mark Steyn for laughs? I guess Hitchens comes the closest.

These people are the ideological descendents of the Merry Pranksters, but "merry" and "pranking" are not much in evidence...

Thanks for this one, Bill; I hadn't seen it before.

I second spongeworthy in that while I believe that he was trying to defend his works by explaining the root of his sarcasm, and the reason why he prefers neocons over fascists (um, is that supposed to be a compliment?) his contempt for Americans is too blatant to ignore.

This line seals it- "I saw Jane Fonda in Paris recently, on a TV program. She said that the only thing she's ashamed of is that famous photo of her with a group of Viet Cong. I don't understand why."

Then excuse me Mr. Levy, but if you don't understand why Fonda should be ashamed for that, then you sure as hell don't understand Americans.

I read pretty much all of his sneer-athon in Atlantic Monthly and took it all very personally. He might like the America concept but he cannot conceal his disdain for real Americans.

Me too. Well, just the first piece, which was enough to convince me the guy was a waste of time: small in thought, big on style, full of preconceptions. He might be remarkable for a Frenchman or even a socialist, but he sure as h*ll didn't impress me as a thinker. Maybe some of his other stuff is better.

This line seals it- "I saw Jane Fonda in Paris recently, on a TV program. She said that the only thing she's ashamed of is that famous photo of her with a group of Viet Cong. I don't understand why."

I agree about that bit being repellant, almost a deal-breaker. But I also think that both you and spongeworthy underplay the relevance of an anti-war French leftist acknowledging the base morality of the war in Iraq, as well as publicly lauding the motivations of neoconservatives. This intellectual honesty - working from base premises that don't cast spurious aspersions on the secret motivations of political opponents - is essential to any rational discussion on the costs and benefits of the war among parties that disagree.

And if you still don't think it's significant or positive for a famous leftist thinker to work from these base premises - much less a French intellectual with a big pulpit - then find me another one. For a related example, Christopher Hitchens made some pretty repellant comments about Ronald Reagan when the man died, but I still fundamentally respect him. Shrug.

It's also relevant to use this perspective for evaluation: he is a leftist, right? Well his leftist impulses about gun control, the "backwards" nature of certain strains of American jingoism, etc., may indeed put you off. But liberal ideology is rooted in an application of morality that focuses on concern for one's fellow man. Even conservatives that disagree with liberalism understand the basic altruistic motivations of the ideology, if not the means or many of the people that claim the ideology. So, while this guy is representing a bunch of positions and attitudes that clash with ours, at least you have to respect the fact that he didn't sell out this fundamental altruism in his stated positions on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, like seemingly every "liberal" advocate (except the New Republic?) did, once consumed with the fervor to oppose the current administration. Double-shrug.

Thanks for posting this, Bill. It's a great read.

I also found his series in the Atlantic a bit...windbagish. So I probably would not have bothered to read the Salon interview had I not seen this post. But it would have been my loss.

How many times have we seen those on the left throwing their hands over their ears and shouting "Chimpy McHitler!" whenever Iraq comes up? Bush is evil, end of story. BHL is thinking beyond that, and not just from an armchair in Paris, either. It's a breath of fresh air, and gives me some hope for the future of political nuance. That he sees the moral value in overthrowing a brutal dictator, even with his reservations about the war, is worth the price of admission.

Bill,

I understand what you're saying that on a fundamental level it is of monumental importance to have a French intellectual with a big pulpit acknowledge the base morality of the war against Islamic fanatics, or fascism in general. Considering the number of voices in Europe that completely ignore the stakes at hand in this conflict, we can take all the support we can get.

However, I don't get the impression that he's in the foxhole with us. He seems more like a third party observer that doesn't want to get his hands dirty by doing the actual work of repelling the theofascists from his own country, never mind the dictators of the middle east. Having his "moral acknowledgment" is helpful, but when he contradicts his moral authority by defending Hanoi Janes abhorrent behavior in Vietnam the support rings hollow.

I honestly don't mind his social positions that much. I don't agree with them, but because he is anti-gun, anti-death penalty isn't necessarily the turn off. The thing that I can't get past is the contradictory nature of his "moral" acknowledgement. At one point in the Salon interview he says something along the lines of "all War is wrong". Well, all war isn't wrong. We weren't wrong to fight Hitler and Japan, and we weren't wrong to remove the Taliban and Saddam. It sounds like he wants to get rid of theofascists, yet will not participate in its removal.

Can't have your cake and eat it too.

Tman -

However, I don't get the impression that he's in the foxhole with us.

I don't think he's in the foxhole with us. Particularly, I think that his belief that war is a means to be avoided to achieve the freedom he claims to want is an argument that intellectually dead-ends. So don't overestimate the esteem I'm heaping on our French friend; I just respect him for coming to the debate - and losing it - with honest premises about the motivations of his opposition.

Bill,

Agreed, I won't overestimate. Now if we could just get him to ADMIT he lost the damn argument and write about THAT, then we might be getting somewhere.

We recommend you to visit excellent alley baggett site. qY0ptan0x

We recommend you to visit excellent big naturals site. qY0ptan0x

We recommend you to visit excellent lez site. qY0ptan0x

You guys are the 34355 best, thanks so much for the help.

ionolsen23 I just don not have anything to say right now.

ionolsen40 I like your site

viagra .

He begins to die that quits his desires... Conrad

So many countries, so many customs... Ralph

Misfortunes never come alone (singly)... Adam

He that lives with cripples learns to limp... Emery

To work with the left hand... Augustus

rwmev rtsqfk alxkshi qxurmdfyl znplte xonzsvwi tvqgczshy

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are leading the way at this years MTV Europe music awards with four nominations...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are leading the way at this years MTV Europe music awards with four nominations...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are leading the way at this years MTV Europe music awards with four nominations...