The Statue of Gliberty

Hitchens Agonistes has long believed that vociferousness is a sign of certainty, so caveat lector. Let us nonetheless grant his thesis. The Assad dictatorship assassinates its critics in Syria and Lebanon, and some elements within the Pakistani state were involved in the Mumbai attacks. So . . . what? What's the takeaway? Hitchens wants major media outlets to validate his inferences . . . and his high dudgeon. For what it's worth, cool, brother, good talk. Do what ya gotta do. But he seems to imply some practical outcome beyond further proof that he, Christopher Hitchens, is in the right. Is the United Nations supposed to invade Syria? Is India supposed to go to war with Pakistan, again? What are you blathering about? I get emails with some regularity asking why I sit around snidely dishing America instead of raising hell about how the Somalis are stoning 13-year-olds to death for chewing bubblegum. Yes. An outrage! Are there not, however, practical limits to a philosophy of outrage? That is to say, can we not feel badly for the poor and suffering of the world without ever-bruiting the necessity of war, more war?

Hey, rather than bombing more countries and opening more fruitless investigations, why don't we just reopen the borders and allow foreigners to immigrate to America? Isn't there a statue with a poem about that shit somewhere? I seem to recall.