In a piece on Slate about "Tony Judt's persecution complex" (quick backfill: Judt, a professor at NYU, was recently prevented from giving a speech at the Polish Consulate, allegedly because of complaints from the Anti-Defamation League about his views on Israel), Christopher Hitchens accuses Judt of self-aggrandizement and compares the situation to another recent controversy:

The astonishing extent of this brouhaha recalls the reception accorded to the John Mearsheimer-Stephen Walt critique of Jewish-American influence on U.S. foreign policy. And the two episodes are, in fact, somewhat related. Once again, absolutely conventional attacks on Israeli and U.S. policy are presented as heroically original. Once again, it is insinuated that the bravery of those making the point is such as to draw down the Iron Heel. Once again, no distinction is made between private organizations and the public sphere. Mearsheimer and Walt ended up complaining of persecution because they got a rude notice from Alan Dershowitz! Such self-pity.

The unmitigated gall! It actually reminds us of a recent profile we read in The New Yorker about a different figure who receives a great deal of criticism for his strongly-held opinions:

"[My critics] want me to immolate myself, and I sincerely believe that, for some of them, when they see bad news from Iraq, the reaction is simply 'This will make Christopher Hitchens look bad!' I've been trying to avoid such solipsism, but I've come to believe there are such people.

That quote, of course, comes from Christopher Hitchens. But remember: Just because you have a complex doesn't mean that people aren't persecuting you.

How Uninviting [Slate]
Christopher Hitchens Has Gone Mad [EzraKlein]

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