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Henry Kissinger Has Died

nytimes.com

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Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#291

Post by imgabe »

seanhunter wrote: post #271
imgabe wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading through the descriptions of the episodes of this podcast it seems a lot like they start with a conclusion and then confirmation bias themselves (and everyone else who already agrees with them). Maybe not the most objective source.

You're expecting a podcast titled "Behind the Bastards" to be an objective source?

The podcast, no. But if a comment is going to offer a link with the conceit of “consume this to fully understand who this person was” it would be good if the source were not something with the explicitly stated thesis of “hey, this guy’s a bastard”. I mean, you don’t even need to listen to it to know what the conclusion is going to be.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#292

Post by wkat4242 »

hammock wrote: post #161
Pxtl wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've already listened and it's excellent. Tl;dr version: Kissinger was an almost superhuman ass-kisser. He had an incredible knack for playing along with whatever insane idea somebody had and made everybody in the room feel goddamned brilliant. The richest, most powerful, and most beautiful people in the world just loved being around him because he consistently sounded interesting and made them feel intelligent. And…

>He had an incredible knack for playing along with whatever insane idea somebody had and made everybody in the room feel goddamned brilliant. The richest, most powerful, and most beautiful people in the world just loved being around him because he consistently sounded interesting and made them feel intelligent. You call that ass-kissing, others may call it diplomacy. He may have furthered his own interests but did he…

Those wars in Cambodia and Vietnam didn't further the interests of the US at all. They just wasted tons of lives for nothing. Same as with the recent Afghanistan campaign.

At least the military industrial complex got even richer of it. That's the only reason.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#293

Post by mostly_lurks »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #280
imgabe wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which makes it such a shame that people throw them around like they are an authoritative source of anything. It’s literally just some guy who read a book and has a microphone. It’s as good as whatever book they read.

Podcasts, in general, are not made to cater to bonafide genius intellectuals. Maybe every so often a conversation within a podcast episode contains some extraordinary analytical insight not found elsewhere, but to expect an entire series of episodes to average out to anything close to that is too high of an expectation. That being said, it is probably correct to ignore most of them.

> Maybe every so often a conversation within a podcast episode contains some extraordinary analytical insight not found elsewhere

Much like comments written on the internet.

> That being said, it is probably correct to ignore most of them.

See above.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#294

Post by shadowgovt »

jhbadger wrote: post #282
Metacelsus wrote: post #133

From the obituary in the New York Times: "Michael T. Kaufman, a former correspondent and editor for The Times who died in 2010, contributed reporting." So, Kissinger outlived the guy who wrote his obituary!

That's very common. Basically all elderly people of note have obituaries written by reporters on staff so that an article can be gotten out quickly if the subject dies suddenly. Not uncommonly, the targets of the obituary are of a higher class and have better medical treatment and so live beyond their obituary writer.

Perhaps worth noting that he lived 13 years past the time the obituary was penned.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#295

Post by KingMob »

jmclnx wrote: post #16

>Born in Germany in 1973, Kissinger first came to the US in 1938 He had a time machine ? :) I think there was a typo in the article, they many 1923 I would say. Anyway, may he Rest in Peace. EDIT: the date is now fixed

I hope his rest ISN'T peaceful.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#296

Post by c54 »

imgabe wrote: post #237
jjeaff wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

in my experience, this is basically how all podcasts and documentaries seem to be made.

Which makes it such a shame that people throw them around like they are an authoritative source of anything. It’s literally just some guy who read a book and has a microphone. It’s as good as whatever book they read.

It’s an easy and entertaining consumption method and the sources are linked right there…

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#297

Post by shadowgovt »

imgabe wrote: post #291
seanhunter wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're expecting a podcast titled "Behind the Bastards" to be an objective source?

The podcast, no. But if a comment is going to offer a link with the conceit of “consume this to fully understand who this person was” it would be good if the source were not something with the explicitly stated thesis of “hey, this guy’s a bastard”. I mean, you don’t even need to listen to it to know what the conclusion is going to be.

On some topics there is no such thing as a rational centrist view.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#298

Post by CalChris »

LispSporks22 wrote: post #289
breput wrote: post #6

Do yourself a favor and listen to at least one of the six part series that Behind The Bastards podcast[0] did on Kissinger. It will give you a background, with sources, on the "controversial" statesman that you'll read eulogies about over the next few days. [0] https://omny.fm/shows/behind-the-bastards/part-one-kissinger [1] https://omny.fm/shows/behind-the-bastards/part-two-kissinger [2] https://omny.fm/shows/behind…

Also check out The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens. I think it was made into a documentary later. The man was worthy of the title of war criminal, but of course we don't prosecute our own and we certainly don't recommend to the ICC (we're the good guys, you see). It will be interested to see what obituaries settle on this week though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIVDZYVDraM

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#299

Post by __rito__ »

A war criminal.

He saw mass murder and genocide along with the rape of tens of thousands of women in East Pakistan in 1970 and not only did nothing he said nothing should be done at all because Pakistan was an US ally.

He did it all full on record and on paper.

There's nothing "alleged". He is a war criminal. Plain and simple. And I abhor this man.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#300

Post by Quekid5 »

kelseyfrog wrote: post #201
Quekid5 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Four years? The Venture Brothers had a "Dr Killinger" character with his 'Magic Murder Bag' about 15-ish years ago. Kissinger's crimes have been known about for a loooong time... but the establishment didn't seem to care. EDIT: Apologies if you meant "forty" years. That'd be about right for mainstream.

I was referring to a specific image template and heavily hedged with "at least", but you're right - anti-kissinget sentiment had been around for decades.

It's all good :)
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