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Spare a thought for the conservative writer and commentator Peter Hitchens – columnist for the Mail on Sunday, among many other things – who just got owned into next year.
Hitchens, you might have seen earlier this week, went viral (and not in a good way) with his contention that Nazis were actually left wing, don’t you know.
End this crude smear against conservatives – Hitler’s Nazis were in fact Left-wing racists https://t.co/mvP2e8MP5H via @mailplus
— Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) March 11, 2023
He later doubled down with this …
Leftists obviously do not welcome the suggestion that the Nazis were a left-wing movement. It makes their brains hurt, as we have seen over the last 36 hours. Even so, there is a strong case for this proposition. See https://t.co/Zf97tfQR7h
— Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) March 13, 2023
… prompting this reply from someone called Dr Waitman Beorn (@waitmanb on Twitter).
Do you know who ELSE doesn't welcome the suggestion that the Nazis were a left wing movement?
People with functioning brains.
And, history.
And the Nazis (probably.) https://t.co/uRmJb10av8
— Dr. Waitman Beorn (now "slippery" apparently)
(@waitmanb) March 13, 2023
Hitchin responded by asking Dr Beorn to share his credentials.
Of what are you a doctor , @waitmanb? Have you not heard of controversy, of argument between people of differing opinions in which one side *examines* the claims of the other and offers reasoned and factual rebuttals of them? Yet, despite your doctorate, you turn to abuse. https://t.co/UJV5OUqJ8J
— Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) March 13, 2023
And we’re very glad he did because the response might be our favourite tweet of the week.
Hi Peter, I'm a Holocaust historian and author of two (soon to be four) peer-reviewed books on the Holocaust.
The Nazis were not a left-wing movement.
— Dr. Waitman Beorn (now "slippery" apparently)
Boom. Well, he did ask.
Pseudo-intellectual Peter Hitchens gets spectacularly owned by Dr. Waitman Beorn – Senior Lecturer in History at Northumbria University over Peters's risible scribblings about Nazism in the Spectator pic.twitter.com/y8gxC12Kpv
— Louis
〓〓
Defend the right to vote (@LouisHenwood) March 14, 2023
Dr Beorn later took on some of Hitchens’ points one by one, in a thread beginning here (click through for the whole thing).
So, @ClarkeMicah wanted me to address his points here.
Ok..I'll take on a few.
I'll do this just in the order they come in your piece.https://t.co/lhiHVncEz0
— Dr. Waitman Beorn (now "slippery" apparently)
And it didn’t end there.
Dear Peter,
I marked your essay. If you'd like to meet with me in office hours, we can go over it.https://t.co/LJ8robkTpF
— Dr. Waitman Beorn (now "slippery" apparently)
.@waitmanb
Dear Dr Waitman,I applaud your arrogance and self-satisfaction. It is at least a step forward from your original dismissive attitude. I have sent you a few replies.
— Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) March 14, 2023
Hi Peter!
Waitman is my first name but who's standing on ceremony.
If you can't handle some good-natured ribbing after receiving a valuable free education on the Nazi state, might I suggest taking a walk? https://t.co/11k3p1CXfe
— Dr. Waitman Beorn (now "slippery" apparently)
And just in the interests of balance and all that, the Mail on Sunday man later shared his own qualifications.
.@slimslimwino My qualifications? A pre-revolutionary education, a lengthy training in Marxism-Leninism, more than 45 years observing politics etc at close quarters in Fleet Street, extensive travel (I have reported from 57 countries). There a few bits of paper somewhere, too. https://t.co/CWVOt7jfqd
— Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) March 14, 2023
Make your own mind up …
Source Twitter @waitmanb H/T Twitter @LouisHenwood
The post Peter Hitchens questioned a critic’s credentials and the comeback was one for the history books appeared first on The Poke.
