Christopher Hitchins - RIP

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Charles

CH wasn't that bad, was he?

He pretty much thought everybody was full of shit...unless I'm confusing him with someone else.

Chas

No, you've got the right guy.

Dave

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by djv8ga

The guy always complained about his father, his taste for scotch, his childhood, in other words, he's a whiny, Boo Hoo, feel sorry for me punk.
The dude should have just shot heroin.

He's much happier now...and so am I for that matter.

He is one the top intellectuals of our time. In fact, he was named one of the world's "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" by Foreign Policy and Britain's Prospect.

He's way too deep for you, DJ. Stick with Glenn Beck. You're not worthy to scrape the shit off his shoes. Really.

[djv8ga]

Originally Posted by finnbow

He is one the top intellectuals of our time. In fact, he was named one of the world's "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" by Foreign Policy and Britain's Prospect.

He's way too deep for you, DJ. Stick with Glenn Beck. You're not worthy to scrape the shit off his shoes. Really.

I don't listen to Beck.
I hope you're right behind the P.O.S.
You're even a bigger Pussy. Really.

[neophyte]

Originally Posted by djv8ga

I don't listen to Beck.
I hope you're right behind the P.O.S.
You're even a bigger Pussy. Really.

eh, perhaps even Glenn Beck is over your head too?

[djv8ga]

Originally Posted by neophyte

eh, perhaps even Glenn Beck is over your head too?

Or perhaps you give head?

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by djv8ga

I don't listen to Beck.
I hope you're right behind the P.O.S.
You're even a bigger Pussy. Really.

It's pretty apparent that you're intimidated by smart people. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

Here's a classic line of Mr. Hitchens in support of Salman Rushdie during the whole Ayatollah fatwah thing:

“It was, if I can phrase it like this, a matter of everything I hated versus everything I loved. In the hate column: dictatorship, religion, stupidity, demagogy, censorship, bullying and intimidation. In the love column: literature, irony, humor, the individual and the defense of free expression.”

Sometimes, DJ, I think you're in favor of the former and not the latter.

[neophyte]

Originally Posted by djv8ga

Or perhaps you give head?

look tough guy, don't trot out your shopworn little homoerotic fantasies for my benefit, keep them to yourself, if you please LOL. your posts on this thread sure reinforce the argument for breathalyzer interlock devices on computers.

[BlueStreak]

Alright, ladies! Am I going to have to sic D-Ray on you?

Dave

[bhunter]

Originally Posted by finnbow

He described his life's work at fighting against the "man-forged manacles of superstition and religious totalitarianism."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...o.html?hpid=z3

A very bright and provocative fellow he was.

I know you probably don't read Michelle Malkin, but nevertheless CH interacted with her. She had the following on her site:

His second-ever Tweet in 2009 glibly (he was a perfect match for the medium) took on the Muslim murderous sanctions for apostasy:

“The Hadith says…if someone becomes an apostate…they must be killed. The sentence is death: don’t anyone be telling me that’s a metaphor.”

Of course, Hitchens’ hard-drinking, chain-smoking ways and days are legendary (and remember the waterboarding thing?). But what I’ll remember is how unimaginably gracious he was when a complete stranger asked him a Christmas favor three years ago this month.

From my e-mail archives:


Michelle Malkin writemalkin@gmail.com
to chitch8003@aol.com
date Sat, Dec 20, 2008 at 9:44 PM
subject a strange request
mailed-by gmail.com

Mr. Hitchens -

It’s odd and last-minute, but what the hell: I have a fabulous atheist blogger at HotAir.com who goes by the nom de plume “Allahpundit.” Last Christmas, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was kind enough to send an autographed copy of Infidel for me to pass along as a secular, end-of-the-year token of appreciation:


Might it be possible for me to FedEx you a copy of “God Is Not Great” for a signature in time for the holidays? It’s the only way I can top last year.

Thanks for your consideration.

Best,
Michelle Malkin

Hitchens wrote back in a few hours:

writemalkin@gmail.com
date Sat, Dec 20, 2008 at 11:52 PM
subject Re: a strange request
mailed-by aol.com

Surely you may. I shall be in California over the “holidays”, so ship it to me at [address and phone number redacted].

Meanwhile, “compliments of the season”, as Mr Jefferson used to say.

Thanks for asking.
CH

As busy as he must have been during the holiday season with family and work, he still took the time to check by both e-mail and phone to ensure that I received the signed book, which Allahpundit in turn received in time… “with compliments of the season:”


It was an unexpected and extraordinary holiday gesture from an extraordinary literary and journalistic giant.

Allahpundit writes tonight: “Hitchens being Hitchens, I wonder which he anticipated more eagerly — the end of the pain or finally knowing if he was right about you know what. I suspect he was right. I hope we’re both wrong.”

I pray so, too.

R.I.P., Christopher Hitchens. Gone too soon.

[d-ray657]

Considering the number of publications in which Hitchens has been published, I must have read some of his work, but I'm sorry to say that I am not that familiar with it. Fortunately for all of us, ignorance can be cured, and the internet might prove to be a remedy.

It appears that he was transcendent in his humanity. The respect and admiration for him are flowing flowing from all corners: left, right, religious, not. That is enough to make one pause to consider what it was about him that we would do well to imitate.

Anyone want to suggest a starting point in approaching his work?

Regards,

D-Ray