Editor's Commentary: Our publication of this interview with Chris Hedges does not necessarily mean that we are on board with everything he has to say. Actually, that's never the case with anything we publish on Axis of Logic. This video contains complexities within US liberalism and Chris Hedges is a US liberal despite his claims to the contrary. In some respects it gives us insight into the conflicts of conscience among some liberals who struggle with their compromised position within the state.

Some of our objections:

At about 46 minutes into the interview he states that he is not a Marxist and goes on to say that he supports some forms of capitalism - a clear divergence from our credo. Chris Hedges decries "unbridled capitalism." We decry capitalism in all of its forms and expressions.

Another example of some of Hedges' doublespeak: In this video Hedges answers a call from "Lois" in Westport, Connecticut who asked an enlightened question:

"Media and government are corrupt ... Wouldn't it be good to expose this alliance?"

Chris Hedges answers:

"Well, you've put me in the awkward position of defending the New York Times. I don't think it's quite that ahh black and white. I don't think the NYT is corrupt. I think that the NYT is certainly an institution whose unofficial credo is do to significantly alienate those who depend upon us for money and access. That doesn't mean that they won't alienate them at times. I think the sin of the traditional media like the NYT is more the liable mission. Now certainly they served as reliable propagandists rather naive and unwitting propagandists ah for the Bush Whitehouse in the leadup to the Iraq war, repeating all sorts of claims and putting things on the front page that we now know were untrue. There was very little vetting or journalistic integrity and yet I think there are many people within the newspaper who care about news, who care about journalism, care about truth and the best reporters finally care about truth and we talked earlier about objectivity and impartiality. When one feels for the suffering of those in Sarajevo ... that doesn't give them an out in terms of speaking the truth and writing the truth even about systems or people they may empathasize with ... The NYT is rooted in verifiable fact."

We reply that "an institution whose unofficial credo is not to significantly allienate those who depend upon us for money and access: is by definition, corruption. His defends the NYT:

"they served as reliable propagandists rather naive and unwitting propagandists for the Bush Whitehouse in the leadup to the Iraq war, repeating all sorts of claims and putting things on the front page that we now know were untrue."

Hedges also defends the State of Israel and states that he is "a great admirer of Israel", claiming that it's only the current regime and elements within Israel who are responsible for the crimes against the Palestinian people. Essentially, he doesn't lay a glove on Israel but trashes the Iranian government. These are among the reasons he's been given a voice in this video on US government's C-Span. 

He would have us believe that the editors of the NYT are essentially stupid - an insult to our intelligence. Tell this to millions of Iraqis who have been killed, maimed and had their country destroyed. Lois is right. The NYT is in alliance with the US government and its primary mission is to advance the agenda of the Global Corporate Empire. More than ever before this is self-evident. In this regard, Chris Hedges is either himself a "naive and unwitting propagandist" or committed to obscure the real nature of the corporate media.

He defends the US government's official report on the 9/11/2001 attacks. To ignore the many facts that have come to light about the attacks is simply unconscionable for anyone claiming journalistic integrity.

"For those of us who care about justice and democracy it's not our job to take power." ... huh?

He admits that he supported the "intervention" in Bosnia but states, "I was more skeptical about the 'intervention' in Libya ..." ??? We predicted and denounced both of these fascist wars against both countries. Rather than condemning the immorality of these wars he complains that they do not achieve their objective.

Hedges' persistent effort to promote himself throughout the video is difficult to bear.

On the other hand, Hedges' view of the corporate media's deceptions of  "media impartiality" (at 2:20 in the video) and what we call the illusion of "value-free journalism" lies at the center of the Axis of Logic's mission statement. Every human being and all media enterprise talks, writes and publishes from their own set of values and world view.

So with our emphatic disagreements with Hedges, why publish this video at all on Axis of Logic? We think it would be a pity to trash his other insights in this video based only upon these critical differences. His memory of facts and his ability to articulate his views are unsurpassed. The depth of his weltanschauung is too complex and too wise to be ignored. It's also interesting that the many anti-establishment statements made by Hedges are produced on C-Span.  

Finally, the people who called and wrote in to C-Span during the Hedges interview with their questions offer the most intelligence and insight of all in this video.

Listen to Chris Hedges and make up your own mind and share your thoughts in our Reader Comment section below. It's long (3 hours) but we think it will be well worth your time.

- Les Blough, Editor

Source: Mox News