2 ms·

Just like the guy that discovered Bush Jr's coke bust "committed suicide": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hatfield http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hatfi

by ferdo 13y ago

Just like the guy that discovered Bush Jr's coke bust "committed suicide": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hatfield http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hatfield This wasn't just a hit, it was personal. Someone really disliked Hastings.

krapp 13y ago
You can go into a bookstore right now and find books calling Obama a muslim traitor and probably the antichrist. If the government actually killed authors who wrote negative things about presidents during their terms, it would be the second leading cause of death for American authors after alcoholism. Hating on presidents in the long form is practically an entire genre. Sometimes, you know, people take too many pills and then they never wake up. Sometimes people get into car crashes. Sometimes things just happen, and death like life doesn't have to follow a neat and obvious narrative.
- lobster_johnson 13y ago
  > You can go into a bookstore right now and find books calling Obama a muslim traitor and probably the antichrist. But those things are untrue. There is no point in trying to silence — or to avenge the publication of — something that is (1) untrue and (2) does no measurable harm.
  - krapp 13y ago
    Sure, but the administration already dealt with the book in the 'proper' way, which was to deny all allegations and discredit the author. I remember there being some jokes about it on late night television, but nothing major in terms of public relations fallout. I just don't see it as having been worth killing over, it was a minor though momentarily noteworthy event. I definitely don't see it as corroborating evidence that presidents so routinely have their opponents and critics killed that Michael Hastings' car crash must most likely have been a bomb (or whatever), when the more reasonable explanation seems to serve perfectly well.
snowwrestler 13y ago
Ok, now the anecdotal data score is 2 to 5.

by ferdo 13y ago

krapp 13y ago

You can go into a bookstore right now and find books calling Obama a muslim traitor and probably the antichrist. If the government actually killed authors who wrote negative things about presidents during their terms, it would be the second leading cause of death for American authors after alcoholism. Hating on presidents in the long form is practically an entire genre. Sometimes, you know, people take too many pills and then they never wake up. Sometimes people get into car crashes. Sometimes things just happen, and death like life doesn't have to follow a neat and obvious narrative.

lobster_johnson 13y ago
> You can go into a bookstore right now and find books calling Obama a muslim traitor and probably the antichrist. But those things are untrue. There is no point in trying to silence — or to avenge the publication of — something that is (1) untrue and (2) does no measurable harm.
- krapp 13y ago
  Sure, but the administration already dealt with the book in the 'proper' way, which was to deny all allegations and discredit the author. I remember there being some jokes about it on late night television, but nothing major in terms of public relations fallout. I just don't see it as having been worth killing over, it was a minor though momentarily noteworthy event. I definitely don't see it as corroborating evidence that presidents so routinely have their opponents and critics killed that Michael Hastings' car crash must most likely have been a bomb (or whatever), when the more reasonable explanation seems to serve perfectly well.

snowwrestler 13y ago

Ok, now the anecdotal data score is 2 to 5.