Hitchens

I see no reason to say anything good about Christopher Hitchens on the occasion of his passing. Had you or I come to his notice, he probably would not have said anything good about us. Two observations:

1. The gloppiest eulogies have come from right-wingers like Michelle Malkin. Quite an accomplishment for a former Nation contributor.

2. I hated Hitchens before hating Hitchens was cool. Back in the 1980s, I let my subscription to The Nation lapse and swore never to purchase another copy as long as Hitchens and Cockburn remained on staff.

(Is Cockburn still there?)

If George Orwell (another writer who made an ethically dubious rightward shift) were alive -- and if he had returned to his older, better self -- he would advise you not to mourn Chris Hitchens. Mourn the 1,500,000 Iraqis who died in the evil war that Hitchens championed.

Update: Anna Wintour -- dropping enough names to overload even a king-sized push broom -- eulogizes her friend "Hitch" here. The problem with the left is that, for far too long, its intellectual leaders have been writers who feel comfortable hanging out with debauched, arrogant one-percenters like Anna Wintour. That is over.