The Henry Kissinger Obits are Ridiculous and Rage-Inducing

Telling the truth about his evils appears impossible for these people.

Bettmann via Getty Images

As you are doubtless aware by now, Henry Kissinger is dead.

(Waits for applause to end.) Kissinger, who served for years as—(applause still going). Who, as I was saying, served—(applause getting even louder. Deafening cheers going up across the world). I’d better just be quiet until you’ve all got this out of your system.

[SIXTEEN HOURS LATER]

Let’s start over.

For decades, Henry Kissinger was the ultimate personification of American imperialist evil. That he committed crimes against humanity is not some college debating point. It’s about as established a fact as we have, one spelled out in countless publicly available documents.

In a better world, these pretty unassailable truths would be treated as, well, unassailable truths. And some people—like friend of the blog Spencer Ackerman, or Kissinger biographer Greg Grandin, who wrote the obituary over at my other house—did just that, and did it brilliantly. But this is the United States of America, so there is a limit to how much truth can be told about the people in charge of the country. Thus, most of our leading purveyors of news have done what they almost always do: contort themselves into ridiculous verbal knots to try and avoid an accurate description of their pal’s horrific misdeeds.

Seriously, I challenge you to get through some of the Kissinger obituaries with your breakfast intact. These writers were seemingly tasked with finding every noxious euphemism possible for “this man is responsible for the deaths of millions of people,” and boy did they deliver. Even more than that, they are one of the best chances you will have to see how the elite U.S. media helps whitewash the extent of our government’s crimes.

So join me, won’t you, in a trip through the most nauseating parts of the leading Henry Kissinger obituaries.

Let’s start where you always knew we would—with the New York Times.