April 30, 2002

9:30 AM

Kissinger: Wanted for Questioning....as his list of possible vacation spots grows smaller,smaller. Christopher Hitchens details the ever more complex legal situation of former U.S. Sec. of State Henry Kissinger, who is now wanted for questioning by courts in Chile, Spain, and France. Writes Hitchens: "Recently, I was informed via the former Spanish ambassador to the United States that Kissinger had approached the embassy asking whether he would be safe if he visited Spain. These days he does not travel without legal advice."
posted by Ty Webb (30 comments total)

There are times I'd like to see Madeleine Albright receive the same "hospitality."
posted by donkeyschlong at 9:50 AM on April 30, 2002

I'd personally love to mickey the old f*ck's cocktail and plop him on a plane to Chile. That would make for some interesting newsreading. What a bastard. Makes me wish I believed in the Christian afterlife just so I'd be sure he'd get his.
posted by n9 at 10:16 AM on April 30, 2002

I think we should honor extradition and/or material witness requests the same we expect other countries to honor ours.

Let's see, some terrorist nutjobs attack us, so in the process of a justified retaliation we scoop up a couple thousand people associated with them and ship them to Cuba, where they are held in virtual seclusion pending the beginning of legal action (once Ashcroft figures out how to finagle the Constitution into allowing secret trials without due process or legal representation).

Meanwhile, Henry the K. who bears a large measure of responsibility for military coups and assasinations in several countries and helped plan the illegal bombing of an entire nation is out writing books and doing the talk show circuit.

Yeah, nice to know the US is here to show the rest of the world where the moral high-ground lies.
posted by cedar at 10:38 AM on April 30, 2002

Send him up. Kissinger is a war criminal of the lowest moral grade and should be put through the same processes we recommend for people like him.
posted by whoshotwho at 10:55 AM on April 30, 2002

I think we should honor extradition and/or material witness requests the same we expect other countries to honor ours.

Thats just not going to happen. Maybe when other countries start handing over everybody we ask for - instead of us just 'expecting' it but never receiving it - we'll return the favor.
posted by schlyer at 11:03 AM on April 30, 2002

This must be an error of some kind... I can't believe a former U.S. Sec. of State has been involved in illegal activities.
Are you sure he wasn't fighting terrorism? Communism? Drug trade?
C'mon I can't believe that! Can't be the same country!

Now I must return to my planet.
posted by samelborp at 11:11 AM on April 30, 2002

Everything Hitchens does to me seems ego-driven and self serving, so I'm never quite sure if Hitchens disgust with Kissinger is real, or if he's just figured out that Kissinger makes a fairly easy target at this point in his life.
Either way, I'm always amused when he goes after him.
posted by dong_resin at 12:31 PM on April 30, 2002

I agree with you about Hitchens. His reportage is priapic at best.
posted by artifex at 12:42 PM on April 30, 2002

Thats just not going to happen. Maybe when other countries start handing over everybody we ask for - instead of us just 'expecting' it but never receiving it - we'll return the favor.

Perhaps when America offers evidence rather than conjecture British courts will be prepared to hand the requested parties over. You don't make extradition requests with the words "oh go on, please". Expect that to be good enough all you want, it just ain't.
posted by vbfg at 12:55 PM on April 30, 2002

Everything Hitchens does to me seems ego-driven and self serving, so I'm never quite sure if Hitchens disgust with Kissinger is real, or if he's just figured out that Kissinger makes a fairly easy target at this point in his life.

I suppose, having nothing to contribute, you could just ignore the item and make snide comments about the writer...oh wait, you did that.

I agree with you about Hitchens. His reportage is priapic at best.

Hey, artifex learned a new word today! Just for fun, why don't you back up that assertion?
posted by Ty Webb at 1:08 PM on April 30, 2002

I'm sorry, Ty. I should talk down to you instead: Hitchens is a cock. Consider your intelligence, and mine, insulted.

I don't disagree with the article, though. I just also happen to agree with dong. It's called nuance.

(Evidence: anything Hitchens has written in Vanity Fair. The man seems to think he's Hemingway playing Bogie.)
posted by artifex at 1:16 PM on April 30, 2002

I'm sorry, Ty. I should talk down to you instead: Hitchens is a cock.

Oh, I see, you used a word you don't quite know the definition of. Understand the difference between being a cock and being overly concerned with male sexual activity or virility. There are many online dictionaries that could've helped you avoid this mistake.

(Evidence: anything Hitchens has written in Vanity Fair. The man seems to think he's Hemingway playing Bogie.)

You're certainly entitled to your opinion of Hitchens' work and style, but as evidence goes that's pretty weak.
posted by Ty Webb at 1:33 PM on April 30, 2002

Oh, I see, you used a word you don't quite know the definition of. Understand the difference between being a cock and being overly concerned with male sexual activity or virility. There are many online dictionaries that could've helped you avoid this mistake.

Dude, you're really representing poorly here, but I'll humor you:

pri•a•pic: adj. Of, relating to, or resembling a phallus; phallic.

cock: n. Vulgar Slang. The penis.

If you're still confused, I'll draw you a picture. Or maybe you'd just like to see my dick, since you seem bent on turning this into a pissing contest.

You're intelligent, I'm sure. Your mommy says you are, okay? Settle down. Jiz. I mean, jeez.

I can't believe you lectured us about ad hominem attacks and then proceeded to maul me (imprecisely, poorly) on that very same basis. You suck.
posted by artifex at 2:02 PM on April 30, 2002

*steps in gently* Well, I for one liked the article, not being familiar with Kissinger's past exploits, it was good to read, but it seems harsh that he fixates on him though, they were secret meetings, right. I don't think that quite fits in with the concept of principle of "universal jurisdiction" that he suggests against the former.
posted by bittennails at 2:04 PM on April 30, 2002

artifex:If you're still confused, I'll draw you a picture. Or maybe you'd just like to see my dick, since you seem bent on turning this into a pissing contest.

See, now that's priapic! Overly concerned with virility or with the phallus, not the phallus itself. You're getting it! I know these nuances are hard to understand when learning english as a second language, but keep at it.

bittennails: I don't think that quite fits in with the concept of principle of "universal jurisdiction" that he suggests against the former.

bittennails, correct me if I misunderstand you: You don't think universal jurisdiction applies the fact that Kissinger planned, aided, and abetted crimes in other countries?
posted by Ty Webb at 2:24 PM on April 30, 2002

i say ask him walk a mile along some street in Phenom Pehn. in shoes made from tires.

Henry: "oh im quite busy that week"
posted by clavdivs at 2:28 PM on April 30, 2002

No, TyWebb, applies to all the others as well (in those meetings he mentions), just wondering aloud why hitchens focuses on him so much. I know at some level it is his job, but...
posted by bittennails at 2:35 PM on April 30, 2002

Okay, Ty. You're being deliberately dense and petty. I linked to a definition, made my point rather explicitly. You seem to be one of those insecure people who sees someone else using words that you, in your small-mindedness, regard as "big" (and therefore, your "province") -- and become suitably incensed, feeling compelled to demonstrate your superior knowledge. Except you've done precisely the opposite, as often happens in such cases.

There's this thing. It's called figuration. It exists at the intersection of connotation and denotation. Check it out sometime.

You're tilting at windmills, dude. And no, I don't mean actual windmills.

Also:

I know these nuances are hard to understand when learning english as a second language, but keep at it.

You sound really dumb when you say things like that. Undignified, in fact. Try respecting yourself for a change. You won't be so cranky and coltish.

And no, I don't mean actual colts. Can we please drop this now, or do you have some more churlish rejoinders?
posted by artifex at 2:44 PM on April 30, 2002

(not actual churls)
posted by websavvy at 2:48 PM on April 30, 2002

Hahahaha. Actually, Ty does seem like a churl.

Anyway, I think arti wins. France and Ty surrender. Now what was that about Chris Hitch?
posted by donkeyschlong at 2:53 PM on April 30, 2002

Hahahaha. Actually, Ty does seem like a churl.

Anyway, I think arti wins. France and Ty surrender. Now what was that about Chris Hitch?
posted by donkeyschlong at 2:54 PM on April 30, 2002

Damn.
posted by donkeyschlong at 2:54 PM on April 30, 2002

Okay, Ty. You're being deliberately dense and petty. I linked to a definition, made my point rather explicitly.

I agree that this is a bit silly and off-topic, but I asked you to explain why you thought that Hitchens work was priapic, and you responded that 'he is a cock.' That's a bit like you asking me to explain why I think Edgar Allan Poe's work is morbid, and me responding that 'he's dead.'
posted by Ty Webb at 2:57 PM on April 30, 2002

That's a bit like you asking me to explain why I think Edgar Allan Poe's work is morbid, and me responding that 'he's dead.

Actually, that's pretty witty. (Grins.)

Bygones, mate. No hard penises. Er, I mean feelings. Hehe.
posted by artifex at 3:04 PM on April 30, 2002

this is really OT, but i thought it was cool. there're two ways to say priapism: priapic and priapic :)

oh and btw...

The Word of the Day for April 30 is:

divagate • \DYE-vuh-gayt or DIH-vuh-gayt\ • (verb)
: to wander or stray from a course or subject : diverge, digress

Example sentence:
Whenever the discussion divagated from its purpose, the moderator would bring it back on track.

Did you know?
"Divagate" hasn't wandered far in meaning from its Latin ancestors. It descends from the verb "divagari," which comes from "dis-," meaning "apart," and "vagari," meaning "to wander." "Vagari" also gave us "vagabond," meaning "one who wanders," and "extravagant," the archaic original sense of which was "wandering away." Additionally, it is probably the source of our noun "vagary," which now usually means "whim, caprice" but originally meant "journey, excursion, tour." Even the word "stray" may have evolved from "vagari," by way of Vulgar Latin "extravagare" and Middle French "estraier." Today, "divagate" can suggest a wandering or straying that is literal ("the hikers divagated from the trail"), but it is more often used figuratively ("she tends to divagate from the subject").

stichomancy!
posted by kliuless at 3:06 PM on April 30, 2002

Much love, artifex. No offense meant or taken.
posted by Ty Webb at 3:16 PM on April 30, 2002

How can one not be inspired to pump Google for "phalliculitis"?
How can one not be surprised to hit this hit:

You turn the dictionary leaf
With one claw
to the word
phalliculitis,
And your spittle soaks the catnip sock
of TIME.
posted by Opus Dark at 3:18 PM on April 30, 2002

my god...thats henrys cat. 'quelist' if by any other name.
posted by clavdivs at 6:28 PM on April 30, 2002

Not to get all huggy on ya'll, but this thread is, hands down, the funniest flame-fest I've ever read.
posted by Optamystic at 3:13 AM on May 1, 2002

Getting bck to Kissinger: I think he's a cunt.
posted by niceness at 6:55 AM on May 1, 2002