Nick Cohen and Johann Hari...

[Tetro Kornbluth]

...are having a feud!

Hari wrote this review of Cohen's book What's Left?, which produced the following response from Cohen, which produced the following response to that... this looks like it might run and run.

It's also spilled over into what lefty blogosphere there is, but, sadly, an especially fun discussion/row was taken down after Hari threatend to sue.

Excellent Review btw.

Funny, but I also highly rated the book too.. or at least certain aspects of it. Cohen was better tackling the Left's general malaise rather then any issue pertaining to Iraq.

P.S: Al, have you read the book?

[Tetro Kornbluth]

P.S: Al, have you read the book?

Bits. And I've agreed with most of those bits.

Will probably buy it (and then read the whole thing) fairly soon; I've not done so yet (despite attacks on middle class trendy-lefties being music to my ears) because I can't quite stop thinking of Cohen as being the hard-left oddball he was a few years ago.

Why do you hate middle-class people Al, you classist bigot.

Actually I agree with quite a bit of the book aswell, though not all of it. The review above is actually pretty good in showing that George Galloway is something a strawman.. how many people (at least outside of Bethnal Green & Bow) actually take him seriously at all any more? He's clearly a buffoon of the highest order. Plus he does not really make his position on the Bush adminstration clear, he celebrates the invasion and condemns the protesters while trying to distract from who's leading the charge. I might have supported the war had I believed the Bush adminstration was competent\trustworthy\truthful-in-it's-intentions.

I didn't take part in any march, simply because I hated the anti-war movement so much (something Cohen articulates well from my POV.)

[Tetro Kornbluth]

P.S: Al, have you read the book?

Bits. And I've agreed with most of those bits.

Will probably buy it (and then read the whole thing) fairly soon; I've not done so yet (despite attacks on middle class trendy-lefties being music to my ears) because I can't quite stop thinking of Cohen as being the hard-left oddball he was a few years ago.

He still is an oddball, he is only really respected now by people who wouldn't agree with him about much other than that he slags off the right people (e.g. the anti-war lobby), and also by those on the left who can overlook his stance on the Iraq war to issues on which he provides a more sensible contribution.

Also, I have a query regarding remarks about "middle class trendy-lefties" like those you make sometimes:

Is your problem with them based on the assumption that if one is middle class then one cannot be genuinely left-wing, and only therefore must being doing it only because it's trendy"?". Is the problem that they are middle class, or that they are leftie or trendy?

If it is the last one I agree, given there are loads of people whose leftism is so obviously an ill thought out image (e.g. a certain sex-obsessed poster from MN who seems to be moving in a path that will become similar to Cohen's IMO).

However, sometimes I worry that you actually believe that someone from a middle-class background cannot be left-wing, and almost imply that you'd rather they be on the right..

(Apologies if any of that sounded rude)

Hooray!

[Tetro Kornbluth]

In Ireland the hypocrisy was even worse, not only was our Stop the War led not only by the SWP (which is just as bad as in Britain, if not even more comical due to it's contest disputes with the JPF socialist party, but also Sinn Fein and many Irish Republicans were leading the Anti-war charge. Now a peace rally led by the IRA, that's something to behold..