Brawl in the Bowery: Hitchens v. Galloway

9:32 That's all, folks! Go buy contributors' books! Thanks to Stop the War Productions for the stream.
9:29 CH: Moveon schmucks worth giving up for his "new friends." He says he means secularist Kurds, but my guess is he's talking about GW and Dick Cheney. Alludes to GG's Oil for Food involvement. He's a better person than the members of the audience, and they will regret their shallow assholeness.
9:26 GG: Al-Sistani is an Islamic fundamentalist. People hate the west. The international legal system has been f'd. "This has been a disaster, this war in Iraq." Pulls out his favorite jibe, which is meaningless to Americans: "popinjay."
9:23 All hands concur. The debate is running out of steam. I repeat: everyone agrees on something. Also, they agree to beat each other up. Somber tone ensues.
9:19 CH: "What I say doesn't require your endorsement... I'm on CSPAN now."
9:18 CH reminds the audience for the third time that they are on television. Apparently he's quite pleased about that.
9:14 CH: "You say, 'They [Katrina victims] wouldn't be dead if they weren't black,' but they haven't been identified yet." Very classy, CH, very classy. GG has a field day.
9:12 CH defends Bush's response in NOLA to defend presence in Iraq. "Are you not proud of General Honore?" Thanks for mentioning that, Chris. I AM proud of General Honore.
9:09 CH: GG hates honest, hard-working Iraqis just trying to make it through the day.
9:06 CH: "I'm just reminding you, you're on telly." Oh, to be British...
9:05 GG accuses CH of "border[ing] on the racist." To which CH said, "Wanna go, n***a?"
9:01 GG: Insurgency is "Iraqi resistance." The foreign fighters are not the insurgency, but the American and British fighters.
8:58 CH repeats that he was wrong about opposing first Iraq war, wishes GG would stop bringing it up.
8:57 GG to CH: "How can anybody take you seriously?"
8:53 Galloway swallowed up by a "pit of exculpation." Oh no! Someone throw him a rope before he is swallowed by the dreaded Pit of Exculpation!
8:49 AG to GG: Saddam Hussein is in jail. Did he commit any crimes? GG says yes, in the 80s, when he was the best friend of the US. Snap!
8:44 AG to CH: Did Bush engage in a systematic campaign to deceive? CH says Bush wasn't deceitful, because he lied on purpose. And Saddam had WMDs, no matter what Colin Powell says.
8:43 GG: Condemns CH to hell. Zing!
8:42 GG: I'm not corrupt, CH is, for backing the Bush Admin.
8:39 GG: CH is an idiot and a liar. Trade jabs of dictatorships each of these fine fellows supports.
8:38 CH: "This is masochism, being offered to you by sadists." God, CH is making me hot.
8:34 CH: Mideast terrorism the fault of USSR. Repeat, NOT Christopher Hitchens. CH "still mourning" 9/11, unlike GG, that heartless bastard.
8:32 GG: Stop support for Israel. Not a popular idea. Speakers hiding behind podium! I kid.
8:29 GG: Terrorism, 9/11 CH's fault. Madness! Chair bashing, bottle breaking madness! CH has to rein his minions in.
8:27 GG: CH killed Native Americans. Bastard.
8:25 GG: breaks prosecutor golden rule of "Don't ask if you don't know the answer," saying, "Is there anybody who believes the most respected medical journal [the Lancet] of my country is a 'crazed fabricator'?" Apparently, yes.
8:23 CH: something about masturbating.
8:18 CH: makes fun of Michael Moore. Sure, make fun of the fat man, while haranguing the other side for taking the easy laugh.
8:15 CH: makes funny joke. But I will not tell you what it is.
8:14 GG: UK and USA "two biggest rogue states in the world today." Yaaaaayy!
8:11 GG: Dying for CH to fight, in a "tin hat," no less.
8:07 GG: Calls US leaders "crazed fundamentalists," invokes Cindy Sheehan, New Orleans, and American Revolution. What the hell? Is he a covert red stater?
8:05 GG: Hitchens is no chimneysweep; he's covered in shit, not soot. Therefore, not a chimneysweep.
8:04 GG: "What you have witnessed is something unique in natural history: the first ever metamorphosis from a butterfly back into a slug." References trail of slime.
8:02 GG: Calls CH a hypocrite by congratulating him for opposing first Iraq war and formerly liking Pakistan.
8:01 GG: "I didn't interrupt you so perhaps you'll not slobber over my remarks."
8:00 CH tells GG to "bring it on."
7:59 CH: GG's a whiner because the USSR, Albania, Iraq, and Syria have fallen. Wait, Syria?
7:56 CH: Calls Galloway a "disgrace," "vile and cheap" Now we're talking! The crowd goes wild!! CH refuses to lose his limited time to hooligans.
7:54 CH: Pakistan is bad. We are saving the world from the proliferation of WMD. Chirac is a prostitute. Schroeder is a loser.
7:51 CH: Positive results. Saddam in his undies. CH boldly "takes delight" in his jailing.
7:49 Switch to single spacing!
7:48 CH: Iraq is bad. Manages to incorporate the phrase, "fools around promiscuously."

7:46 Hitchens links current anti-war movement to anti-regime change movements of the last 15 years.

7:42 Audience informed that this debate will go on for the next bazillion hours.

7:39 And we're off!

7:37 War in Iraq blamed for delay in starting the debate.

7:36 The president of the Christopher Hitchens Fan Club is his mother.

7:23 Annoucement that the debate will start at 7:30, promptly. See you then.

7:21 Plug for UFPJ march on September 24.

7:16 Replay of BBC interview from the night of his election victory. They call him a carpet-bagger and say he exploited racial tensions in winning his seat in Parliament. Lefties laugh heartily. Hitchens insults TK.

7:10 Lefties offer paean to Amy Goodman.

7:04 Old lefties hosting the media stream attempt to hide their jubilation at the presence of the MSM, including CNN, NY1, the BBC, and the Wall Street Journal.