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Henry Kissinger Has Died

nytimes.com

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Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#361

Post by sammyjoe72 »

chirau wrote: post #132

As a person from the third world and more specifically Africa, I cannot find myself to mourn his death or say any good thing about Kissinger. Good riddance actually. I would have loved to see him get his day in court when he was still alive. What he masterminded in Angola and several other African countries that ended up in civil wars because of him are some of the greatest atrocities to people of the third world. I…

There are plenty of people all around the world who know what heinous things he did. He won’t ever be mourned, and hopefully we never see the likes of him again

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#362

Post by nyc_data_geek1 »

imgabe wrote: post #329
shadowgovt wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, which is to say, it is possible the rational view here is the man who facilitated the rise of the Khmer Rouge by testing an entire country as collateral damage is, well, a bastard.

Maybe. Maybe the alternatives available at the time were believed to result in something 10x worse than the Khmer Rouge. Would he still be a bastard then? Or someone who had to make a hard choice among terrible options? I don't know, for the record. I'm just pointing out that it doesn't sound like a reasoned consideration of the evidence taking into account the historical context. It sounds like someone who thought "…

Maybe try listening before opining further; you are offering a purely uninformed opinion out of ignorance.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#363

Post by nyc_data_geek1 »

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.

Or books, in this case. Multiple primary sources.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#364

Post by rtuulik »

allturtles wrote: post #267
Kye wrote: post #32

The pro-Kissinger side will obviously have plenty of defense. Here's a good unrolling of the "piss on his grave" perspective for those who are confused (or angry but concerned they may not be showing enough consideration to a different perspective): https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/henry-ki... Anthony Bourdain on Kissinger [0]: “Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry…

The first article reads to me as totally absurd: > Every single person who died in Vietnam between autumn 1968 and the Fall of Saigon — and all who died in Laos and Cambodia, where Nixon and Kissinger secretly expanded the war within months of taking office, as well as all who died in the aftermath, like the Cambodian genocide their destabilization set into motion — died because of Henry Kissinger. I don't know how t…

The claim is that Kissinger sabotaged peace talks thus extended the war in order for his guy to win the elections.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#366

Post by yourapostasy »

Pxtl wrote: post #99
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…

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…

> ...was an almost superhuman ass-kisser.

This piques my curiosity. Does anyone have the mechanical specifics of how this worked, as in actual conversations when Kissinger was in his element that demonstrated this quality in action?

Teens today who have never experienced Steve Jobs' Reality Distortion Field normally don't believe my shorthand description of the RDF like the above encapsulated description of "superhuman ass-kisser". Fortunately, I can show them the historical records, giving them not just the video of his meticulously-rehearsed MacWorld presentations, but the context of the enormous stakes he was playing with, to change their minds. And to teach them that what seems extraordinary can be accomplished with extraordinary effort, if one is willing to relentlessly study and practice.

So whenever I hear about extraordinary abilities, I'm always curious to see how they worked up close, mechanically, in dissect-able action.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#367

Post by xkekjrktllss »

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.

The reasons have much more to do with much better diets, getting better sleep, not working stressful and physically demanding and dangerous jobs, etc.

Re: Henry Kissinger Has Died

#368

Post by animal_spirits »

aniforprez wrote: post #359
kyrra wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some counter programming, here is an obituary written by someone more pro Kissinger: https://www.wsj.com/articles/henry-kissingers-century-01a1a9... It was written by a man who already wrote the book: "Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist."

I'm sorry but not every person needs "counter programming". Kissinger was a war criminal and we don't need a "balanced take" of a monster

Nuanced and unbiased conversation is much needed in this world, and having multiple viewpoints from people with different biases helps us all.
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