Most remarkable thing about this debate, is that people with clearly opposing views, could do it in such a civilised and respectful way. Something that very sadly missing today!
I feel we've lost a lot of common sense and decency. People are so easily offended that they feel entitled to walk out of a room if someone holds a different opinion to theirs.
The civility is better than we see today, but the constant bullshit spewed from the right is the same as we see today. Anyone who is prepared to argue that Reagan was an honest guy or even remotely competent at governance has nothing worthwhile to add to the discourse. Mease accidentally got one thing right. He said Reagan’s legacy is nothing if not SDI. Thirty plus years on SDI remains a childish fantasy and Reagan deserves no legacy.
Hah! How good is this. What an intellectual, smart, witty and above all, civilised debate. Where are the likes of these men now? What a noisy vacuum we live in these days. Tragic. Thanks for uploading.
Perhaps it was so civilised because they're all good friends? They may have some disagreement but they are all centrist liberals who all fundamentally believe in the dominance of the western capitalist system.
@@kiwitrainguy: Christopher Hitchens passed away in 2011, Clive James in 2019, and P.J. O'Rourke in 2022. As of October 7th, 2023, Edwin Meese carries on at 91 years of age.
I was born in 1977 in the U.K. and remember current affairs broadcasts like this. I was somewhat of a nerd and enjoyed programmes from around the age of 6 or 7 such as this. I recognised in my teenage years (1992 onwards) that open debates changed. Mostly in the "open" aspect, mildy at first. However, I still have faith that we will have no option other than to return to a balanced society.
I said this on Liam's other video, and I'll say it again here: I cannot thank you enough for sourcing and uploading this. To anyone reading: please do not post this link in public fora anywhere. That will only risk attracting content copyright strikes. If you want to share it, please only do so in private messages with discreet people you personally know and trust.
@@legalmonkey As you doubtless know, there's a serious cult for all things Hitch here on UA-cam, so if you can find a way of circumventing any copyright and try reuploading that video -- maybe by not mentioning his full name or undescoring some letters -- it would go down as well as this upload has.
One thing you have to give Credit to Hitch for is that he is amusingly well recorded. The archive of his appearances seems to be a well without a bottom. Really an astonishment in hindsight, considering film was not a cheap technology and that the films must physically survive. Even as a historian it’s an uncanny achievement.
What does "amusingly well recorded" mean? "He is well recorded" makes sense; "he is amusing when recorded" makes sense; but yours doesn't make any sense at all.
@@Longtack55 - That would have been pointless like shooting fish in a barrel- what he would have done is dismantle all the mad premises behind identity politics- particularly the idea that a biological man can become a woman
The fact that the first 3 intro minutes of this video exist prove that humanity was once in fact, for a brief moment in the 20th century, civilized. Spot on good sirs.
What an age we live in, where we can summon up wonderful voices from the past at leisure. I came he for James, and Hitchens with O'Rourke as an attractive addition. I must say, Hitchens doesn't cover himself in glory here.
Literally anyone: _"Ronald Reagan once had chocolate ice cream."_ Edwin Meese: _"No he didn't. I was there when he ordered it, and it was definitely vanilla."_
@@JosetteA Woody Allen "I'd never join a club that would allow a person like me to be a member"... okay im toying with you. but in all seriousness can you honestly not think of any reason people would not like Australians? (keep in mind all groups have something cringe-worthy and if you say no it will sound disingenuous)
What a brilliant upload, thanks a lot. Edwin Meese's explanation of the 'Iran initiative' is absolutely astonishing. Somewhere, probably at the end of a bar, Hitchens is still laughing at that.
I liked how Clive would ask Meese , an eyewitness insider , what actually happened, and meanwhile Hitchens stuck to his fabricated conspiracy theories. It’s what you would expect from someone who never even had the civility to respect religious freedom, and I say that as an atheist.
@@roughhabit9085 You're aware that Hitchens cites the accounts of others, all made in public, when questioning the narrative of Meese? As for the comment on religious freedom, I'm astonished you think that Hitchens didn't respect religious freedom.
You assume that he is accurate and truthful. He disarms rebuttal by taking control of the argument, speaking loudly, cutting off others, and insisting on have the last word. Check your assumptions.
Watched it twice to check my assumptions. No interruptions, only corrections which were needed. He let them speak with good manners. The opposing view had the most speaking time. Watch it again and keep that in mind. Hitchens would not apologise for his dulcet tones which is of course correct.
When I watch this and other similar videos u quickly see that Hitchens wasn’t any kind of genius. Just another guy who can speak with confidence based on a privileged upbringing.
@@ajahnpadawan8812 He was on the wrong side of many issues, but his public school accent played well in the US. And I find him both entertaining and essentially likeable. Would be good to spend an evening arguing with him over a few pints…
What a rare treat this is! I'm a huge fan of both Hitch and O'Rourke, and to see them debating is wonderful. Especially in our contentious times, to see these gentlemen debating so civilly and eloquently about a President of whom I am also a fan is great!
This was a fascinating archival interview that I am so glad has been posted, thank you! The one thing I hadn't picked up on back in the 80's is how much of a party line-spouting wiener P.J. O'Rourke was. Meese and Hitchens were as clear-eyed and well-spoken as always, even though I've always seen Meese as someone whose job it was to serve Reagan well. This video did NOT feel like 43 minutes to me!
@@dansullivan7693 That was my impression of him too, Dan. I remembered PJ as well-spoken and well-thought out, but that was from 40 years ago. I guess he was either not on top of his game this day, or he didn't know what was being talked about for a lot of it. His comments here seem really generic, and not geared toward answering the questions posed to him. It felt to me like he was struggling to cover the subject for much of this interview. Thanks for responding.
@@ofrabjousday1 If this is mediocre PJ, I look forward to when he's on his game! Hitchens comes across to me as a dope, Meese is articulate and lawyerly, James is as usual worth hearing, but PJ strikes me as being the most reasonable & intelligent person in the discussion.
P.J was fairly BAD in his early attempts at gonzo writing too,........ However, he got better,... and then better,... and then a brilliiant reporter most of all,...... Who lets his eyes, ears and questions guide him, beyond his adopted ideologies too. Really missed. Read All the trouble in the word,.... for instance.....
@@MattSingh1 I know they'd known each other in the 1970s, and Hitchens liked James , but I always thought James was a little more ambivalent abt Hitchens.
I'd been aware their friendship but, never been able to find an example of them sharing screen time together, until stumbling across this little gem...
It’s kinda weird seeing Hitchens as a young lefty in light of how much his views changed as he got older and more mature. He was brilliant either way. I dearly miss the man.
Debate between highly intelligent people who have differnt views...i miss this today. Its so sad today to see what has happened to the left and right. Many thanks.
What a gem from the past,Thank you..Anything Hitchens is involved with I watch, he didn’t get all his own way but that’s what’s necessary regarding serious intellectual debate. Messe will always defend his master, obedient till the end. O’Rourke acted like a articulate bodyguard for Meese, cutting Hitchens down once he scented any liberal left opinion. But Hitchens is scared of no one (Chomsky should of been invited to this debate to even the sides up). The real diamond amongst the gems was Clive James, dry wit mixed with knowledge and intellectual articulation is what’s required today in serious debates. Reagan was a enigma, his I’m just an ordinary man doing my job attitude worked, but behind the scenes in the White House as in any power organisation there is always sculduggery a plenty.
The breakup of the Soviet Union has very little to do with Reagan and everything to do with Gorbachev. Had Reagan been negotiating with Stalin or Khrushchev or Brezhnev - or Putin for that matter - Reagan wouldn’t have gotten anywhere. Reagan believed that the world was created in six days. I could never get past that.
@@dthomas9230 it kills me the kind or revisionism that goes on regarding Reagan. As though history has proven him a great president. I guess it’s all relative. I would have taken Reagan over George W Bush. And compared to Trump, Reagan was a saint.
@@tombombadyl4535 That’s what is….nostalgia and the political atmosphere having sunken to new lows in our era. Next to Trump and even W., Reagan seems swell.
A wonderful trip back in time. You can't help but wonder what Hitchens would have made of Presidents Trump and Biden. Especially Trump. Thanks for the upload.
Agreed, he was a little down or suppressed in this round table, probably because he was busy treating his fellow man and thinkers with respect instead of being the grandstanding blowhard or whatever else the enemies of his formidable intellect labeled him as.
@CarefulObserver1 nah. He is a polemicist and always, always, exaggerates and spews hearsay. He does this usually very eloquently but when exposed to equally eloqueny minds who actually know the facts and are more objective, he often flounders. Take his Mother Teresa hit piece: he had to admit he utterly exaggerated for drama. A disgusting thing to do, frankly. But biy, is his brother a pound shop version. Make no mistake, I like Hitch but he was a huge shit stirrer and very, very often just a bitchy gossip who always took the controversial posture for effect. Indeed the single thing he hated said about him (because it was so clearly true) was thar he often didn't believe the argument he was making
He tells jokes, he makes people feel good and relaxed, he’s the host of a game show … The mujahideen felt great, they got billion$ (and didn’t that all turn out well). The Indonesian military felt relaxed as they had US arms sales massively boosted making sure East Timor remained crushed. Ferdinand Marcos felt very relaxed too; he knew he could keep on killing his political opponents and good old funny Ronny would have his back. Sure, Ronny made a bit of a boo-boo selling missiles to Iran, but he just wanted everyone to get along and have a laugh, showing the true character of the man. Nicaragua? The El Salvadorean bloodbath? Guatemala’s death squads too, let’s not forget. Everyone having a laugh. All so they could feel relaxed and have a lovely time. And all of this hilarity for the low low price of a complete explosion of the nation’s debt. What a guy!
@@roughhabit9085 I’m not sure I ever said he was my dear boy! Nothing wrong with expressing thanks to someone who’s gone to the trouble of posting things one jolly well likes Have a great day sir
Having Christopher Hitchens in any debate must have been terrifying for all involved. Sadly things have not progressed as much as we would have hoped since then
@Don´tbehasty as well as US ineptitude (which Hitchens never neglected to point out) would allow. But that had nothing to do with the necessity and rightness of removing Saddam Hussein.
Maybe. I'd like to hear Bill Barr, for example. But he's too rational to get air time, and we have no forum for reasonable discussion these days, at least not that I'm aware of.
The civilized, engaging chat between these intellectual giants of fiercely opposing views is a marvel to behold ... fast forward to today and we have The Kardashians as arbiters of thought. Ye gods!
I think you mean Hitchens's powers of articulation vs. Meese's barefaced lies. I find it oddly comforting, I had come to think that the right telling easily disprovable lies without remotely caring that we can prove they are lying was a fairly recent phenomena. I forgot about the pioneering work in that field by Reagan and his accolytes (thinking about it, might have go back a little further than to Nixon, although it's no coincidence that even at the very end of the Nixon presidency Reagan would shamelessly deny that any wrongdoing had taken place).
@@chrispalmer7893 Ah. I see. Meese is a liar. Give me just a couple of his lies and if you can reference your source, so much the better, but not required. Incidentally, I did not care for Meese.
@@shinybeast8946 Against my better nature I am defending Meese. I asked Chris Palmer to give me some examples of when Meese lied. I presume he did. But I want him to provide me with some specific lies.
Amazing video. Great debate. Love the combination of O'Rourke, Hitchens and James. I like Hitchens and this is the first debate I've seen where he didn't always have the upper hand.
@@roughhabit9085 More like 2 v 1.5. The purpose of the show was to discuss how much, if any, truth there was in a particular commonly-held negative view of Reagan. As host, it fell to Clive James to present that view at the beginning. Thereafter, it was 2 v 1. James interjected now and then with some negativity about Reagan, but that was just him steering the discussion in the direction it was supposed to go.
Well said. Obvious in this exchange in the face of peers. You can see his anxiety go up when he loses control of the conversation. His legs flutter and he starts to stutter.
@@egverlander He never had control of the conversation and had to struggle just to get a point made. O’Rourke and Meese came off as pathetic partisan apologists.
@@joeanthony7759 Not to me. Meese is obviously the Reagan partisan, but I've seen enough in my 75 years to think that he's largely truthful. PJ is terrific.
thanks for uploading this Liam. something weirdly riveting about these 4 dueling and duking it out like this. PJ is probably the only one who could've kept apace with CH. Hitchens the superior debater and probably the superior mind. PJ as a writer leaves him in the dust. call it deuce, captured forever in time. great post.
My insignificant observations, feel free to lambast me. 1. O'Rourke thinks he's smarter than Hitchens and believes it. 2. Meese knows he's not smarter than Hitchens and accepts it. 3. Hitchens is smarter than all of them and tolerates the situation. 4. James could be smarter than any of them and doesn't care.
Don’t know too much about O’Rourke or Meese . James of course had about five more careers than Hitchens. He was a pioneer of television and comedy. He was considered one of the world’s best literary critics. He knew about ten more languages than Hitchens. Read them both and it doesn’t take long to glean who is the finer writer, and James never got labeled a sewer pipe sucker.
Christopher Hitchens was a smart man. He was a debater par excellence & a polemical pugilist. But for all his brilliance he lacked true wisdom & his legacy will not last. Christopher got the flashy wit, his brother Peter got the wisdom.
@@ericprinzing1600 Why do you want me to do that, but think it is dreadful for Hitchens to? He doesn't need to be original on Atheism and in fact no-one can be-- the arguments of atheism are pretty fixed and have been for a few thousand years. Hitchens' value was to introduce a new generation of people to that critical tradition -- see his Portable Atheist. But I think he had a very powerful way of formulating all those arguments anew
@@ericprinzing1600 Thanks. On points 1 and 2 -- you were certainly recommending a course of action to me and insinuating -- as you do again here -- that Hitchens is redundant; and there were quite a number of ad hominem remarks in which Hitchens was reduced by you to a sort of trivial entertainer. But no matter. On 'religion poisons everything' -- I think Hitchens made that case very well: it poisons life by making the individual a plaything of non-existent totalitarian deities or very existent theocratic authorities, so crushing our individuality, committing us to a life of subjection and a perverted sense of guilt, and its foundational texts express either primitive tribal codes that we are well rid of or common sense things that are instinctive and don't require supernatural enforcement. That's all quite poisonous, I'd say. On atheism, the fact that its public expression across different ancient civilisations up until fairly recently even in the West was usually met with death or exile or other penalties for' blaspheme' does not mean that people did not have very strong and clear atheistic thoughts from the beginning. They just had to be suppressed. I have nothing against Russell et all. Russell's books are on my shelves, including 'why I am not a Christian'. But to suggest that Russell or Mackie are the last words on the subject of atheism and that no further comment is needed seems a bit cramped. Finally, on Muslims, what you say is a huge slur. Hitchens was certainly for the extirpation of militant Islamists of the ISIS and Al Qaeda persuasion --- the beheaders and suicide bombers -- but in no conceivable sense of Muslims as a whole. For years he advocated for the Sunni Muslim Kurds of northern Iraq. On Stalin and the Orthodox Church, I think Hitchens was actually pointing out that Stalin appropriated all the worst bits of the Church --- the imposition of doctrinaire views, the pursuit of heretics, the tribalism, the inquisitions and fake miracles of industrial and agricultural production. He also made points about the cynical alliance between Putin and the Russian orthodox Church, which have proved all too true in the current Russian onslaught on Ukraine. best wishes.
That's a bizarre interpretation. O'Rourke basically said, "No, but you are!" A really lame retort. I'm not surprised he regards flippancy as a virtue, though.
@@britpackdog4545 isn’t it (not) amazing. Just an innocent comment that all three literary heroes are in one discussion. Nothing special at all for others, but interesting for me. Sarcasm is healthy - keep going if you wish.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. A debate conducted in the last week of Reagan’s presidency. Hear how Reagan was seen as a safe pair of hands after batshit crazy Nixon. Sound familiar ? Reagan himself sounds like a cross between Biden and Trump, an insensitive senile liar. Hitchens and James are the stars of the show. Hitchens is accused of being humourless by his two opponents when his sardonic wit is several levels above their attempts at humour. RIP the hitch taken too early
This was a great discussion... I could have watched them speak for hours. All of these guys are so obviously incredibly intelligent, it's personally humbling. Although Hitchens is smart, articulate, well-read and witty, this discussion made me realize that he may be prone to jumping to conclusions, and that perhaps his sources are not entirely reliable. A true investigative journalist needs to gather facts/information from all sides... not just the side that aligns with his own political perspective.
Clive James is great, had forgotten about him... RIP PJ and Hitch.... PJ was not nearly as intelligent as i thought. Hitch was smart as hell... Meese is a yes man, a good one but a yes man none the less
Most remarkable thing about this debate, is that people with clearly opposing views, could do it in such a civilised and respectful way. Something that very sadly missing today!
@UFO what?
I feel we've lost a lot of common sense and decency. People are so easily offended that they feel entitled to walk out of a room if someone holds a different opinion to theirs.
It was rare then too.
The civility is better than we see today, but the constant bullshit spewed from the right is the same as we see today. Anyone who is prepared to argue that Reagan was an honest guy or even remotely competent at governance has nothing worthwhile to add to the discourse.
Mease accidentally got one thing right. He said Reagan’s legacy is nothing if not SDI. Thirty plus years on SDI remains a childish fantasy and Reagan deserves no legacy.
Such an original comment.
Hitchens and PJ on the same interview, absolute gold, thanks
You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it. :)
PJ is a GOP suck up. Easily forgotten
Hah! How good is this. What an intellectual, smart, witty and above all, civilised debate. Where are the likes of these men now? What a noisy vacuum we live in these days. Tragic.
Thanks for uploading.
Extremely depressing.
Perhaps it was so civilised because they're all good friends? They may have some disagreement but they are all centrist liberals who all fundamentally believe in the dominance of the western capitalist system.
Both Hitchens and James are now dead. Does anybody know about the other two?
@@kiwitrainguy: Christopher Hitchens passed away in 2011, Clive James in 2019, and P.J. O'Rourke in 2022. As of October 7th, 2023, Edwin Meese carries on at 91 years of age.
There were a lot of late night discussion shows, I expect because they were cheap to produce.
Clive James- the Kogarah Kid! One of Australia's best exports. ❤
The mighty James with the mighty Hitchens - what a combination
We do not have people like them now
Clive James was a superb journalist, Polymath and intellectual.
I was born in 1977 in the U.K. and remember current affairs broadcasts like this. I was somewhat of a nerd and enjoyed programmes from around the age of 6 or 7 such as this. I recognised in my teenage years (1992 onwards) that open debates changed. Mostly in the "open" aspect, mildy at first. However, I still have faith that we will have no option other than to return to a balanced society.
I said this on Liam's other video, and I'll say it again here:
I cannot thank you enough for sourcing and uploading this. To anyone reading: please do not post this link in public fora anywhere. That will only risk attracting content copyright strikes. If you want to share it, please only do so in private messages with discreet people you personally know and trust.
Thank you for that comment. I will pin it here. I had a different video which I uploaded on CH taken down recently!
@@legalmonkey Every Hitch video taken down is a loss to thinking people everywhere.
@@legalmonkey As you doubtless know, there's a serious cult for all things Hitch here on UA-cam, so if you can find a way of circumventing any copyright and try reuploading that video -- maybe by not mentioning his full name or undescoring some letters -- it would go down as well as this upload has.
@@AnkurBorwankar ... and thinking women.
@@mangasky7 - Ok. Thank you for that tip.
Time well spent: watching this. Time not well spent: reading the comments.
One thing you have to give Credit to Hitch for is that he is amusingly well recorded. The archive of his appearances seems to be a well without a bottom. Really an astonishment in hindsight, considering film was not a cheap technology and that the films must physically survive. Even as a historian it’s an uncanny achievement.
This is the late 1980’s not the late 1880’s
@@HkFinn83 Yeah, I don't know what that comment was pratingly on about.
A lot of his appearances have been lost though as well as debates he had and tv documentary specials that he hosted
What does "amusingly well recorded" mean?
"He is well recorded" makes sense; "he is amusing when recorded" makes sense; but yours doesn't make any sense at all.
Thoroughly enjoyed, what professional respectable gentlemen!
What I wouldn’t give to hear Hitchens let loose on the fools of today.
I miss that man, every day, Ben.
Imagine him talking of Trump!
@@Longtack55 - That would have been pointless like shooting fish in a barrel- what he would have done is dismantle all the mad premises behind identity politics- particularly the idea that a biological man can become a woman
@@Longtack55 or better yet Hillary
I agree 100%, he would crucify them all
The fact that the first 3 intro minutes of this video exist prove that humanity was once in fact, for a brief moment in the 20th century, civilized. Spot on good sirs.
What an age we live in, where we can summon up wonderful voices from the past at leisure. I came he for James, and Hitchens with O'Rourke as an attractive addition. I must say, Hitchens doesn't cover himself in glory here.
By being analytical and honest. Hitchens is fabulous.
Thank you for sharing this terrific footage; it's depressing to think that Meese is the only man still standing.
I was about to say that.
You're welcome. Thank you.
Well, a sociopath with no conscience is not affected by age
Great upload - thanks a lot! Something I'd not seen of Christopher Hitchens...very rare commodity
You're welcome. Thanks for the nice comment. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks so much for posting; oddly enough, this remains contemporary :: also, Hitchens, as per: Dazzles ✨
You're welcome. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I have a few more to work on.
@@legalmonkey this is glorious news 🌟 😄 !! Thanks, thanks and ever thanks.
@@johnjosmith42 Meh. Hitchens' vacuous smugness comes off as just swarmy. He is witty, tho.
I really miss Clive james he was brilliant.
Literally anyone: _"Ronald Reagan once had chocolate ice cream."_
Edwin Meese: _"No he didn't. I was there when he ordered it, and it was definitely vanilla."_
nonsense.
@@johnwatts8346 Demonstrable true.
Thanks for the upload. I remember seeing the original broadcast and O’Rourke’s comment on humour has always stayed with me. The Late Show was great.
Wow, I'm delighted to find this clip. It's too late tonight to watch it, but I shall do so tomorrow.
This is so Fabulous! Many thanks for posting 🖤
Great discussion. Clive was always a great interviewer/moderator.
He was horrible. Obviously biased.
Meh
@@arriuscalpurniuspisowhat to the middle?
His bias merely evened the numbers which seems fair ,and he was way more tolerant than Hitchens.
a top bloke - he knew all the great and respected ppl with talent. one of the few Aussies I like.
Feeling sad for you. Love from Sydney 😭
Why don't you like Australians?
@@JosetteA Woody Allen "I'd never join a club that would allow a person like me to be a member"... okay im toying with you. but in all seriousness can you honestly not think of any reason people would not like Australians? (keep in mind all groups have something cringe-worthy and
if you say no it will sound disingenuous)
What a brilliant upload, thanks a lot.
Edwin Meese's explanation of the 'Iran initiative' is absolutely astonishing. Somewhere, probably at the end of a bar, Hitchens is still laughing at that.
Hitchens sits on the sidelines and pontificates but could never be in the arena. That makes him an intellectual coward.
@@egverlander An intellectual coward? The world would be a much better place if we had more of them.
I liked how Clive would ask Meese , an eyewitness insider , what actually happened, and meanwhile Hitchens stuck to his fabricated conspiracy theories.
It’s what you would expect from someone who never even had the civility to respect religious freedom, and I say that as an atheist.
@@roughhabit9085 You're aware that Hitchens cites the accounts of others, all made in public, when questioning the narrative of Meese?
As for the comment on religious freedom, I'm astonished you think that Hitchens didn't respect religious freedom.
@@rstevens7711 All bullies are cowards. He is an intellectual bully. Watch his atheism book tour, moralistic diatribes.
This is indeed a real, rare gem from a bygone era when widely divergent philosophies and beliefs could be treated with such cordiality and respect.
Great upload - discourse of a quality you have no chance of seeing today.
Hitchens’s exactitude and ability to pull up facts in the face of conjecture is admirable.
Seemed the opposite was happening here
….and the ability of his opponents to infer the opposite is undeniable….
You assume that he is accurate and truthful. He disarms rebuttal by taking control of the argument, speaking loudly, cutting off others, and insisting on have the last word. Check your assumptions.
@@egverlander well said
Watched it twice to check my assumptions. No interruptions, only corrections which were needed. He let them speak with good manners. The opposing view had the most speaking time. Watch it again and keep that in mind. Hitchens would not apologise for his dulcet tones which is of course correct.
What a quorum! Won't see this again in our lifetimes.
This is civil discourse at its best. Unlike the shouty pissing contests which characterise the current media landscape. I miss Clive James😢
When I watch this and other similar videos u quickly see that Hitchens wasn’t any kind of genius. Just another guy who can speak with confidence based on a privileged upbringing.
Civil, yet treacherous. These awful people deserve to be called out on their horrendous ideologies and outright lies.
@@ajahnpadawan8812ad hominem. don't pout because of your inefficiencies.
@@ajahnpadawan8812 He was on the wrong side of many issues, but his public school accent played well in the US. And I find him both entertaining and essentially likeable. Would be good to spend an evening arguing with him over a few pints…
@@ajahnpadawan8812 Not sure Hitchens ever claimed to be a genius.
Oh FAB! A Hitchens interview I haven't seen -- with the bonus of PJ O'Rourke!
Thank you for this!
If you get a chance, read Clive James autobiography "Unreliable Memoirs" .. the funniest book I've ever read.
Yup read it 42 years ago.
Fantastic. Thank you so much
What a rare treat this is! I'm a huge fan of both Hitch and O'Rourke, and to see them debating is wonderful. Especially in our contentious times, to see these gentlemen debating so civilly and eloquently about a President of whom I am also a fan is great!
Awe struck at the level of nuance and political discourse...very enlightening.
Thanks for this. Fascinating.
Wonderful to see this again, it just shows how gormlesss our current crop are.
What a fantastic discussion. Thank you for sharing this.
Horrible forum. They all cut off Hitchens, who very patiently suffered their Nazi crap talk
This was a fascinating archival interview that I am so glad has been posted, thank you! The one thing I hadn't picked up on back in the 80's is how much of a party line-spouting wiener P.J. O'Rourke was. Meese and Hitchens were as clear-eyed and well-spoken as always, even though I've always seen Meese as someone whose job it was to serve Reagan well. This video did NOT feel like 43 minutes to me!
I disagree, and with time, PJ looks a much more clear thinking on the issue. Hitchens would sound more like PJ late in his life.
@@dansullivan7693 That was my impression of him too, Dan. I remembered PJ as well-spoken and well-thought out, but that was from 40 years ago. I guess he was either not on top of his game this day, or he didn't know what was being talked about for a lot of it. His comments here seem really generic, and not geared toward answering the questions posed to him. It felt to me like he was struggling to cover the subject for much of this interview. Thanks for responding.
@@ofrabjousday1 If this is mediocre PJ, I look forward to when he's on his game! Hitchens comes across to me as a dope, Meese is articulate and lawyerly, James is as usual worth hearing, but PJ strikes me as being the most reasonable & intelligent person in the discussion.
@@harmon1103 Yipe.
P.J was fairly BAD in his early attempts at gonzo writing too,........ However, he got better,... and then better,... and then a brilliiant reporter most of all,...... Who lets his eyes, ears and questions guide him, beyond his adopted ideologies too. Really missed. Read All the trouble in the word,.... for instance.....
I miss Clive James. A lot
Oh my goodness. Clive James + Christopher Hitchens.
This is great. Where do you find this gold ?
*Hitchens and James were friends- Hitchens spoke highly of James and James of Hitchens.*
@@MattSingh1 I know they'd known each other in the 1970s, and Hitchens liked James , but I always thought James was a little more ambivalent abt Hitchens.
@@gamingwithslacker *No not at all, James was a out-right friend of Hitchens along the lines of Rushdie, Amis, Fenton et al.*
@@MattSingh1 all used to lunch together every Friday I believe, Along with Martin Amis and a few others.
I'd been aware their friendship but, never been able to find an example of them sharing screen time together, until stumbling across this little gem...
Three of the funniest men who ever lived in one room. That'll do me.....
Clive James, Hitchens and Meese
@@roryoconnor6574 Three of the funniest men who ever lived, in one room.
@UFO: ok.....it's 'in one room'....😬
I'd say three of the funniest men who lived together in one room would have been the Marx Brothers. (Gummo and Zeppo had another room.)
I'd say that O'Rourke's book "Holidays in Hell" was one of the funniest books I've ever read. Highly recommended.
Thanks for this.
Thank you for uploading this. Superb.
You're welcome. :)
Gold… reasonably respectful discourse by 4 intelligent people on serious subjects.
I love this era of Hitchens.
I love all of them. My favorite era of his is his fight for Iraqi and Kurdish liberation
It’s kinda weird seeing Hitchens as a young lefty in light of how much his views changed as he got older and more mature. He was brilliant either way. I dearly miss the man.
Debate between highly intelligent people who have differnt views...i miss this today. Its so sad today to see what has happened to the left and right. Many thanks.
I wish people could still talk about global topics in this way. Just great stuff
More, more!
9:36 - "can you?" - very sharp.
Such class.
Compare this to the empty dullards on BBC Newsnight these days!
We are so much poorer now.
What a gem from the past,Thank you..Anything Hitchens is involved with I watch, he didn’t get all his own way but that’s what’s necessary regarding serious intellectual debate. Messe will always defend his master, obedient till the end. O’Rourke acted like a articulate bodyguard for Meese, cutting Hitchens down once he scented any liberal left opinion. But Hitchens is scared of no one (Chomsky should of been invited to this debate to even the sides up). The real diamond amongst the gems was Clive James, dry wit mixed with knowledge and intellectual articulation is what’s required today in serious debates. Reagan was a enigma, his I’m just an ordinary man doing my job attitude worked, but behind the scenes in the White House as in any power organisation there is always sculduggery a plenty.
God what drivel
Wow .. this was recorded before the Lockerbie Bombing... Gadafi was hardly dissauded from terrorism by F1-11 bombing on Tripoli
Why am I only learning of this amazing video just now
The breakup of the Soviet Union has very little to do with Reagan and everything to do with Gorbachev. Had Reagan been negotiating with Stalin or Khrushchev or Brezhnev - or Putin for that matter - Reagan wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.
Reagan believed that the world was created in six days. I could never get past that.
He also screwed Carter with his guns for hostages deals as well as his genocide in Guatemala as charged by The Hague.
@@dthomas9230 it kills me the kind or revisionism that goes on regarding Reagan. As though history has proven him a great president. I guess it’s all relative. I would have taken Reagan over George W Bush. And compared to Trump, Reagan was a saint.
@@tombombadyl4535 That’s what is….nostalgia and the political atmosphere having sunken to new lows in our era. Next to Trump and even W., Reagan seems swell.
@@tombombadyl4535 Not great, but pretty good.
Yes, a major logical fallacy, and what the religionists / Biblists fail to understand is that the world is still being created.
How discussion, disagreement, debate is done with mutual respect. The good old days ✌🏻🥹
Thank you, 👏💯🇮🇪
You are very welcome.
The liberals were persistently wrong about SDI. So glad Reagan wasn't. So glad this has been preserved!
Wow. Reasoned discussion and articulate disagreement in words of more than two syllables... And nobody called anyone a Nazi once.
Those days are long gone my friend.
A wonderful trip back in time. You can't help but wonder what Hitchens would have made of Presidents Trump and Biden. Especially Trump.
Thanks for the upload.
Astounding. No wonder our species is in peril.
Big Hitchens fan but he was unforgivably dull during these exchanges.
That's what happens when one is outclassed.
Agreed, he was a little down or suppressed in this round table, probably because he was busy treating his fellow man and thinkers with respect instead of being the grandstanding blowhard or whatever else the enemies of his formidable intellect labeled him as.
@CarefulObserver1 nah. He is a polemicist and always, always, exaggerates and spews hearsay. He does this usually very eloquently but when exposed to equally eloqueny minds who actually know the facts and are more objective, he often flounders. Take his Mother Teresa hit piece: he had to admit he utterly exaggerated for drama. A disgusting thing to do, frankly. But biy, is his brother a pound shop version.
Make no mistake, I like Hitch but he was a huge shit stirrer and very, very often just a bitchy gossip who always took the controversial posture for effect. Indeed the single thing he hated said about him (because it was so clearly true) was thar he often didn't believe the argument he was making
@@fabioq6916 And let's not even start on the showy sophistry and faux intellectualism of everybody's favourite bad boy Russell Brand.
What a gem
I did not know this existed. There just is not enough footage of P.J. O’Rourke, and here he is with Clive James, and Clive James. Thank you so much.
?! Clive James, P.J. O’Rourke, and Christopher Hitchens.
He tells jokes, he makes people feel good and relaxed, he’s the host of a game show … The mujahideen felt great, they got billion$ (and didn’t that all turn out well). The Indonesian military felt relaxed as they had US arms sales massively boosted making sure East Timor remained crushed. Ferdinand Marcos felt very relaxed too; he knew he could keep on killing his political opponents and good old funny Ronny would have his back. Sure, Ronny made a bit of a boo-boo selling missiles to Iran, but he just wanted everyone to get along and have a laugh, showing the true character of the man. Nicaragua? The El Salvadorean bloodbath? Guatemala’s death squads too, let’s not forget. Everyone having a laugh. All so they could feel relaxed and have a lovely time. And all of this hilarity for the low low price of a complete explosion of the nation’s debt. What a guy!
I used to love O'Rourke, but after seeing this, I am disappomnted to find he is...who he is.
O'Rourke is left twisting in his chair around 24:55 after Hitchens skewers his "joke".
I hope you win the lottery my dear chap thank you once again 😎👍
I’m not sure he’s a CH sycophant. Some of his other clips feature Milton Friedman , who is the polar opposite of the idealist Hitchens.
@@roughhabit9085
I’m not sure I ever said he was my dear boy!
Nothing wrong with expressing thanks to someone who’s gone to the trouble of posting things one jolly well likes
Have a great day sir
@ Eddy K 🍻
Hip hip, hooray :)
:)
Nice trio of commentary ... Not seen clive for a good while.
Having Christopher Hitchens in any debate must have been terrifying for all involved.
Sadly things have not progressed as much as we would have hoped since then
Where did you hood to progress too ?
Utopia?
O'Rourke wasnt in the least terrified and very effectively slapped Hitch into place with his return on "flippancy".
Three of them wanted a discussion and Hitchens wanted to be righteous and belligerent.
@Don´tbehasty unlike ideologues he did let facts influence his positions.
@Don´tbehasty as well as US ineptitude (which Hitchens never neglected to point out) would allow.
But that had nothing to do with the necessity and rightness of removing Saddam Hussein.
God, life was good before identity politics and the politics of grievance made us miserable.
Yep, back in the day, U.S. presidents didn't have to profess their love of (the Christian) God, not like now ;-)
So true - I fight it when ever I encounter it - but as an old school free speech leftie I feel the battle is being lost
@@chrisbaxter3597 what can't you say now that you could say 30 years ago?
@@mattygroves21478 Biological men cannot become women - just because they say so - that’s one - do you really need me to carry on
@@chrisbaxter3597 You said the unsayable it seems.
Out of curiousity, can you define a biological man?
They seem so much more articulate than current pundits and politicians.
Maybe. I'd like to hear Bill Barr, for example. But he's too rational to get air time, and we have no forum for reasonable discussion these days, at least not that I'm aware of.
Hitchens in his last years would hate this HItchens
Oh my dear boy
The civilized, engaging chat between these intellectual giants of fiercely opposing views is a marvel to behold ... fast forward to today and we have The Kardashians as arbiters of thought. Ye gods!
The American dream that many have not woken up from
Fascinating. Hitchens powers of articulation vs. Meese eye-witness accounts.
I think you mean Hitchens's powers of articulation vs. Meese's barefaced lies. I find it oddly comforting, I had come to think that the right telling easily disprovable lies without remotely caring that we can prove they are lying was a fairly recent phenomena. I forgot about the pioneering work in that field by Reagan and his accolytes (thinking about it, might have go back a little further than to Nixon, although it's no coincidence that even at the very end of the Nixon presidency Reagan would shamelessly deny that any wrongdoing had taken place).
@@chrispalmer7893 Ah. I see. Meese is a liar. Give me just a couple of his lies and if you can reference your source, so much the better, but not required. Incidentally, I did not care for Meese.
@@calql8er What did he lie about?
@@shinybeast8946 Against my better nature I am defending Meese. I asked Chris Palmer to give me some examples of when Meese lied. I presume he did. But I want him to provide me with some specific lies.
@@shinybeast8946 I see what happened. This mysterious chris Palmer must have deleted his post wherein he accused Meese of lying.
Amazing video. Great debate. Love the combination of O'Rourke, Hitchens and James. I like Hitchens and this is the first debate I've seen where he didn't always have the upper hand.
Except, about the facts.
@@ttacking_you and that it's two against one ...
@ Stephen Church. 2v2 or did you skip Jame’s introduction?
@@roughhabit9085 More like 2 v 1.5. The purpose of the show was to discuss how much, if any, truth there was in a particular commonly-held negative view of Reagan. As host, it fell to Clive James to present that view at the beginning. Thereafter, it was 2 v 1. James interjected now and then with some negativity about Reagan, but that was just him steering the discussion in the direction it was supposed to go.
... Hitchens (whose brilliancy is obvious), puts forth such an absolute confidence that, when proved wrong, he falls from very high...
Well said. Obvious in this exchange in the face of peers. You can see his anxiety go up when he loses control of the conversation. His legs flutter and he starts to stutter.
@@egverlander He never had control of the conversation and had to struggle just to get a point made. O’Rourke and Meese came off as pathetic partisan apologists.
@@joeanthony7759 Not to me. Meese is obviously the Reagan partisan, but I've seen enough in my 75 years to think that he's largely truthful. PJ is terrific.
Exceptional service to civil debate.
Delaying the release of hostages, what a great display of Reagan's CHARACTER.
Meese was such a worm.
Why no talk shows like this anymore? Amazing. And Clive is no liberal.
thanks for uploading this Liam. something weirdly riveting about these 4 dueling and duking it out like this. PJ is probably the only one who could've kept apace with CH. Hitchens the superior debater and probably the superior mind. PJ as a writer leaves him in the dust. call it deuce, captured forever in time. great post.
My insignificant observations, feel free to lambast me.
1. O'Rourke thinks he's smarter than Hitchens and believes it.
2. Meese knows he's not smarter than Hitchens and accepts it.
3. Hitchens is smarter than all of them and tolerates the situation.
4. James could be smarter than any of them and doesn't care.
Excellent - James was indeed a very smart bloke and down to earth with it
Nailed it!
Don’t know too much about O’Rourke or Meese . James of course had about five more careers than Hitchens. He was a pioneer of television and comedy. He was considered one of the world’s best literary critics. He knew about ten more languages than Hitchens. Read them both and it doesn’t take long to glean who is the finer writer, and James never got labeled a sewer pipe sucker.
If only being smart equated to effectiveness! As a huge Hitchens fan his eager dourness backfired against his positive company.
Christopher Hitchens was a smart man. He was a debater par excellence & a polemical pugilist. But for all his brilliance he lacked true wisdom & his legacy will not last. Christopher got the flashy wit, his brother Peter got the wisdom.
The older I get, the more I realise that, although Hitch was 'clever', he wasn't always 'right'.
Hitch would agree.
he rather got routed here , all very elegantly of course. A rare defeat for him
The simple fact is although Christopher Hitchens was an extraordinary debater & polemical pugilist, he lacked wisdom.
@@autodidact537 Or perspective.
WTF ! Hitchens quit rightly predicted Reagan would b e remembered as one of the worst presidents ever.
Not often you saw Christopher Hitchens bettered and out argued .... but this is one of them. Great stuff from all involved in fairness
You wish
@@ericprinzing1600 Why do you want me to do that, but think it is dreadful for Hitchens to? He doesn't need to be original on Atheism and in fact no-one can be-- the arguments of atheism are pretty fixed and have been for a few thousand years. Hitchens' value was to introduce a new generation of people to that critical tradition -- see his Portable Atheist. But I think he had a very powerful way of formulating all those arguments anew
@@ericprinzing1600 Wrong.
@@ericprinzing1600 Thanks. On points 1 and 2 -- you were certainly recommending a course of action to me and insinuating -- as you do again here -- that Hitchens is redundant; and there were quite a number of ad hominem remarks in which Hitchens was reduced by you to a sort of trivial entertainer. But no matter. On 'religion poisons everything' -- I think Hitchens made that case very well: it poisons life by making the individual a plaything of non-existent totalitarian deities or very existent theocratic authorities, so crushing our individuality, committing us to a life of subjection and a perverted sense of guilt, and its foundational texts express either primitive tribal codes that we are well rid of or common sense things that are instinctive and don't require supernatural enforcement. That's all quite poisonous, I'd say.
On atheism, the fact that its public expression across different ancient civilisations up until fairly recently even in the West was usually met with death or exile or other penalties for' blaspheme' does not mean that people did not have very strong and clear atheistic thoughts from the beginning. They just had to be suppressed. I have nothing against Russell et all. Russell's books are on my shelves, including 'why I am not a Christian'. But to suggest that Russell or Mackie are the last words on the subject of atheism and that no further comment is needed seems a bit cramped.
Finally, on Muslims, what you say is a huge slur. Hitchens was certainly for the extirpation of militant Islamists of the ISIS and Al Qaeda persuasion --- the beheaders and suicide bombers -- but in no conceivable sense of Muslims as a whole. For years he advocated for the Sunni Muslim Kurds of northern Iraq. On Stalin and the Orthodox Church, I think Hitchens was actually pointing out that Stalin appropriated all the worst bits of the Church --- the imposition of doctrinaire views, the pursuit of heretics, the tribalism, the inquisitions and fake miracles of industrial and agricultural production. He also made points about the cynical alliance between Putin and the Russian orthodox Church, which have proved all too true in the current Russian onslaught on Ukraine. best wishes.
Delusional
9.34 Re. flippancy. The Hitch well and truly put in his place and brought to heel by P.J. O'Rourke. Witheringly so in fact.
That's a bizarre interpretation. O'Rourke basically said, "No, but you are!" A really lame retort. I'm not surprised he regards flippancy as a virtue, though.
My three teenage heroes. Still.
You old
@@britpackdog4545 not yet 50. I started early.
@@MorningtonCrescent wow
@@britpackdog4545 isn’t it (not) amazing. Just an innocent comment that all three literary heroes are in one discussion. Nothing special at all for others, but interesting for me. Sarcasm is healthy - keep going if you wish.
@@MorningtonCrescent not being sarcastic my guy I'm 50 and all my chickens came home to roost
The more things change, the more they stay the same. A debate conducted in the last week of Reagan’s presidency. Hear how Reagan was seen as a safe pair of hands after batshit crazy Nixon. Sound familiar ?
Reagan himself sounds like a cross between Biden and Trump, an insensitive senile liar.
Hitchens and James are the stars of the show. Hitchens is accused of being humourless by his two opponents when his sardonic wit is several levels above their attempts at humour.
RIP the hitch taken too early
Good well said
What a bunch of crap. LOVED CHRISROPHER HEDGES, LOVED ALL BRIAN LAMBS FILM ARCHIVES.Thanks for uploading this. AUGUST 1, 2022. ❤️
Hedges?
PJ and CH look so alike, well to my eyes they do...
This was a great discussion... I could have watched them speak for hours. All of these guys are so obviously incredibly intelligent, it's personally humbling. Although Hitchens is smart, articulate, well-read and witty, this discussion made me realize that he may be prone to jumping to conclusions, and that perhaps his sources are not entirely reliable. A true investigative journalist needs to gather facts/information from all sides... not just the side that aligns with his own political perspective.
Funny how this debate contrasts with the largely benign view of Reagan that seems to apply now. Clive's words at the end are quite prophetic.
Clive James is great, had forgotten about him... RIP PJ and Hitch.... PJ was not nearly as intelligent as i thought. Hitch was smart as hell... Meese is a yes man, a good one but a yes man none the less
RIP Clive James too.
I am continually impressed with Politician's ability to manipulate semantics.
05:40
It's a shame genuinely well considered and wide ranging debate like this is pretty much a thing of the past on television.
Such a refreshingly polite discussion between complete opposites of opinion.