The drunken heroin addict added some real beauty and value, and his death is a genuine loss to the world, while Kissinger made the world worse to enrich himself and American politics.
I'd like to say something: Good. Fucking. Riddance. He should have died a long time ago, and I can only wish it was a miserable, long, painful death. It still won't equal the pain he caused South America and Asia.
I spent some time in Vietnam and Cambodia and weirdly, I never got the impression that they held US foreign policy against Americans. Especially the Cambodians, who I think are still deeply traumatized by their (partly US-shaped) history and I'm not sure have reached a point of collective reflection. For their part, the Vietnamese seemed to dislike the French more. That was just my experience, obviously not definitive.
I do know first-hand that Chinese statesmen remember him fondly.
Tbh, I'm not sure that Kissinger was categorically worse than any other high-profile American statesmen. That's not to come to his defence but to throw all of American policymaking into question. And American culture, too. I find it all culpable (I will never ever forget reading about the Kent State massacre and learning that a majority of Americans supported the actions of the National Guard. I'll never forget Robert McNamara in the Fog of War acknowledging that the United States committed war crimes, but declining to really come to grips with why or apologize for them). This is a culture birthed of violence that has no qualms about enacting it everywhere it goes. I don't limit my dislike to Kissinger as though he were an exception when, imo, he was the rule.
I think it’s that McNamara has been vilified more widely, while Kissinger continues to be feted by the powers that be. He also, and this is just my non-expert reading of history, seems to have had more of a “coaching tree” than McNamara through his satanic longevity.
"Kissinger did not press a button, did not pull a trigger, (probably) did not compile and sign lists of political targets, but he paved the road for those who did. "
And Kissinger offered up his nefarious services to anyone who was in a position of power. He worked both sides of every fence and was absolutley hungry to go to work for Hubert Humphery rather than Nixon if the 1968 election had somehow swung the other way. In light of what we now know about his totally underhanded, unqueenchable thirst for power, preferrably secret and anonymous power, Kissinger's pretensions to humility were always sickening.
I'm going to pour myself a whiskey, put on The Pogues at high volume and commemorate a flawed but massively talented person that gave the world something of value.
I hope Kissinger is on the express elevator to Hell.
Any recommendations of deep-dive podcasts about him? I really wanted to learn more about Kissinger so that my hate could be fully-informed. I started listening to Behind the Bastards' 6-parter last month, but I had to nope out halfway through episode 2 because the Dollop guys were the guests, and ... well, I just couldn't take it anymore. (Robert Evans can also be a bit too bro for me, but he usually stays on the right side of the line.)
Here's a good article on Kissinger's sellout of the RoC to the ChiComs, which is routinely portrayed as a diplomatic mastetstroke; but in reality was a failure even on its own terms, and greatly empowered what would become the Free World's most dangerous foe:
Kissinger was an awful man, and the world would've been better off had he the decency to step on a landmine in WWII, but the notion that he was responsible for the coup against Allende -- as well as the notion that Allende was anything other than the Chilean Hugo Chávez, who, if alive today, would've openly supported both Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the October 7th Pogrom without hesitation -- is absolute fiction. Our coup attempt was with Vieux in '70. Pinochet was '73, a domestic Chilean affair, motivated by the fact that Allende had destroyed the Chilean economy and civil society:
Fuck, even our attempt with Vieux was paused by our end before it could be carried out. It's just Vieux ignored the instructions to stand down and tried a coup anyway:
Say to the Cambodians’ face that he’s more moral because only 150,000 were killed by the US bombings while the Khmer Rouge killed two million.
* * *
Comrade Ho was so utterly devoted to the Soviets that he contracted frostbite waiting in line to see Lenin's mummy. The Indochinese Communists were no better than the Nazis, and could only be dealt with via violence.
If anything, Kissinger should be criticized for selling out the Indochinese people TO the Commies as a precondition for recognizing Mao Zedong's lawless conquest of the Mainland. This is what actually led to the millions of deaths in the region in the '70s. Not "instability" due to US bombings. The Commies were, and remain, the source of the region's instability:
I think it is satisfying to note that more people will be mourning the death of a drunken heroin addict today than are mourning Kissinger.
The drunken heroin addict added some real beauty and value, and his death is a genuine loss to the world, while Kissinger made the world worse to enrich himself and American politics.
I'd like to say something: Good. Fucking. Riddance. He should have died a long time ago, and I can only wish it was a miserable, long, painful death. It still won't equal the pain he caused South America and Asia.
I spent some time in Vietnam and Cambodia and weirdly, I never got the impression that they held US foreign policy against Americans. Especially the Cambodians, who I think are still deeply traumatized by their (partly US-shaped) history and I'm not sure have reached a point of collective reflection. For their part, the Vietnamese seemed to dislike the French more. That was just my experience, obviously not definitive.
I do know first-hand that Chinese statesmen remember him fondly.
Tbh, I'm not sure that Kissinger was categorically worse than any other high-profile American statesmen. That's not to come to his defence but to throw all of American policymaking into question. And American culture, too. I find it all culpable (I will never ever forget reading about the Kent State massacre and learning that a majority of Americans supported the actions of the National Guard. I'll never forget Robert McNamara in the Fog of War acknowledging that the United States committed war crimes, but declining to really come to grips with why or apologize for them). This is a culture birthed of violence that has no qualms about enacting it everywhere it goes. I don't limit my dislike to Kissinger as though he were an exception when, imo, he was the rule.
I think it’s that McNamara has been vilified more widely, while Kissinger continues to be feted by the powers that be. He also, and this is just my non-expert reading of history, seems to have had more of a “coaching tree” than McNamara through his satanic longevity.
The Rolling Stone “obit” is tremendous.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/henry-kissinger-war-criminal-dead-1234804748/amp/
The same writer also wrote Reign of Terror, which is a fantastic critical piece of the 9/11 & War on Terror culture.
“Satanic longevity” lol, I enjoyed that, thanks.
"Kissinger did not press a button, did not pull a trigger, (probably) did not compile and sign lists of political targets, but he paved the road for those who did. "
And Kissinger offered up his nefarious services to anyone who was in a position of power. He worked both sides of every fence and was absolutley hungry to go to work for Hubert Humphery rather than Nixon if the 1968 election had somehow swung the other way. In light of what we now know about his totally underhanded, unqueenchable thirst for power, preferrably secret and anonymous power, Kissinger's pretensions to humility were always sickening.
Shane MacGowan passed away today.
I'm going to pour myself a whiskey, put on The Pogues at high volume and commemorate a flawed but massively talented person that gave the world something of value.
I hope Kissinger is on the express elevator to Hell.
Same
I think Rolling Stones had the the best headline.
Well Said. Unfortunately, it will fall on deaf ears. The very same deaf ears that are busy doing the same things to different peoples today.
Any recommendations of deep-dive podcasts about him? I really wanted to learn more about Kissinger so that my hate could be fully-informed. I started listening to Behind the Bastards' 6-parter last month, but I had to nope out halfway through episode 2 because the Dollop guys were the guests, and ... well, I just couldn't take it anymore. (Robert Evans can also be a bit too bro for me, but he usually stays on the right side of the line.)
Here's a good article on Kissinger's sellout of the RoC to the ChiComs, which is routinely portrayed as a diplomatic mastetstroke; but in reality was a failure even on its own terms, and greatly empowered what would become the Free World's most dangerous foe:
https://kyleorton.substack.com/p/nixon-kissinger-sellout-taiwan-embrace-red-china?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
When someone who has caused the suffering of millions dies, it's not exactly a time for celebration, but it is a time of relief.
Reagan, Limbaugh, Kissinger...Let's keep adding to the list. There are many more, sadly. And I'm only talking about the US here.
This is very well said.
Kissinger was an awful man, and the world would've been better off had he the decency to step on a landmine in WWII, but the notion that he was responsible for the coup against Allende -- as well as the notion that Allende was anything other than the Chilean Hugo Chávez, who, if alive today, would've openly supported both Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the October 7th Pogrom without hesitation -- is absolute fiction. Our coup attempt was with Vieux in '70. Pinochet was '73, a domestic Chilean affair, motivated by the fact that Allende had destroyed the Chilean economy and civil society:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61865345-la-dictadura-comunista-de-salvador-allende
Fuck, even our attempt with Vieux was paused by our end before it could be carried out. It's just Vieux ignored the instructions to stand down and tried a coup anyway:
https://kyleorton.substack.com/p/myth-1973-american-coup-in-chile
It’s times like this that I wish I believed in hell.
This entire piece is the Steph Curry argument tweet with 1500 more words.
"There's always someone on here arguing with no one. Like 'but I was told Steph Curry isn't a good shooter.'"
Say to the Cambodians’ face that he’s more moral because only 150,000 were killed by the US bombings while the Khmer Rouge killed two million.
* * *
Comrade Ho was so utterly devoted to the Soviets that he contracted frostbite waiting in line to see Lenin's mummy. The Indochinese Communists were no better than the Nazis, and could only be dealt with via violence.
If anything, Kissinger should be criticized for selling out the Indochinese people TO the Commies as a precondition for recognizing Mao Zedong's lawless conquest of the Mainland. This is what actually led to the millions of deaths in the region in the '70s. Not "instability" due to US bombings. The Commies were, and remain, the source of the region's instability:
https://kyleorton.substack.com/p/nixon-kissinger-sellout-taiwan-embrace-red-china?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2