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Author Christopher Hitchens dies at 62

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36 Comments
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I'll bet he was praying at the end

-13 ( +4 / -17 )

Great guy. He will be missed. RIP

3 ( +9 / -6 )

I would like to read more about this guy. RIP

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

I'll bet he was praying at the end

I'll bet he wasn't. He even had a bet with some Christian that he wouldn't. The Christian and two other people were to observe his death and see if he prayed or not. I wonder if everyone showed up.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

he lost me after he started defending the iraq war, convinced that there was an imminent danger of islamofascism.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

No human being is perfect. Besides as for whether he was praying or not, its not for us to care about right? People can pray to whatever they believe in their own head. He sounds like a very interesting person though... although dying by way of cancer sticks sucks. Hard way to go.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Love him or hate him, clearly a man of great stature. Farewell.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

"The terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001, completed his exit from the left."

Thereafter the Left and militant Mohammedans, united it seems on more and more fronts, were united also in savaging the man and his reputation at every chance they got.

Never once though did they get the best of him.

I refrain from offering condolences on the net since it seems cheap in the vast anonymity of cyberspace (all the more so when I see it done here for complete strangers or the young victims in the many sensational stories about domestic violence in Japan), and in Hitchens' case the religiosity in the sentiment would make it an insult to the man's memory to come here with 'Rest In Peace.'

I do feel deep regret and sorrow about his passing, but it is tempered with profound gratitude for fight he fought.

Modern England is incapable of producing his like again. That seems to me the significance of his choice to leave the place and make his home in America. We were a better country for it.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Hoserfella:

" I'll bet he was praying at the end "

I bet he was not. No way.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

A man whose world clearly revolved around himself. I have always believed that the level of egotism, arrogance and self importance shown by the likes of Hitchens and others of the same ilk, whether in the field of politics, religion, pop-psychology or whatever, makes the world a darker place.

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

R.I.P. good man.

There are still great Brits amongst us like Neil Gaiman.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Right or wrong, he was terrific to watch in face to face debates demolishing his opponents with wit, grasp of facts and last but not least passion for his cause. He will be sorely missed.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Go to The Daily Show video archives for several interviews by host Jon Stewart with author Christopher Hitchens over the years. http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/11/Christopher-Hitchens-on-iThe-Daily-Showi-Sparring-with-Jon-Stewart-Over-the-Years

2 ( +4 / -2 )

 i wonder if he believes in GOD now?... too bad this fool didn't realize that every man will see death.. and we will all see who is right in the end.

-10 ( +1 / -11 )

The only man I've ever respected! All heads must bow and all tongues must confess: Christopher Hitchens was the unquestionable BEST! I look forward to reading your essays over Christmas while wearing my RELIGION is POISON T-Shirt! !!!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@unreconstructed

Thereafter the Left and militant Mohammedans, united it seems on more and more fronts, were united also in savaging the man and his reputation at every chance they got.

As one who you might call a liberal, I share your sense of the loss of Christopher Hitchens. It is testament to the power of Hitchens' clarity and honesty in writing that serious people on both sides of the political spectrum have found common inspiration in him.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

sctaber56, thanks for the link, watching right now.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hitchens was a talented, erudite writer, to give his talent their well deserved respect.

That said, no one should be surprised Hitchens made the transition from communist to neo-con. That is the same path most of the original neo-cons took, having started as Trotskyites.

Fortunately, his brother, Peter Hitchens (author of The Abolition of Britain), is still with us and still writing.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Being a supporter of the war in Iraq did not make him a neocon, and Hitchens was himself quite adamant on this point.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Beber61:

Hitchens was a free thinker, not a neo-con. That is a cheap accusation, which does not stand a fact check. Read up on articles by and debates with him and eat your words.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I liked this guy until he supported the Bush rape of Iraq. How could a man who saw through a royal twit like Prince Charles and a fraud like Mother T. not see through the obvious lies of George W. Bush? Whatever his problem was, he became just another mental puppet of the Bush fraud and war machine. I really don't care if he prayed or not before he died.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@James Tanaka:

i wonder if he believes in GOD now?... too bad this fool didn't realize that every man will see death.. and we will all see who is right in the end.

Most Japanese don't believe in the christian version of "GOD" and they've done just fine overall for thousands of years.

I bet Hitchens is fine now too, whether or not death is the final moment of existence or if there is another one.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

May grace , mercy, and peace be with him.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It's rare anymore to find someone with intellect, a point of view, and the ability to debate. At least not in the public sphere -- all we see there anymore is people trying to shout one another down.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I enjoyed a lot of his writing over the years. But like most of his fans, went off him with his inexplicable support of Shrub and the unnecessary, immoral and strategically disastrous invasion of Iraq.

Knowing that this is made up also makes one wonder what else was embellished or fabricated over the years.

"I was met by immaculate specimens of young American womanhood, holding silver trays and flashing perfect dentition," he wrote. "What would I like? I thought a gin and tonic would meet the case. 'Sir, that would be inappropriate.' In what respect? 'At this altitude gin would be very much more toxic than at ground level.' In that case, I said, make it a double."

I defy anyone to show me a ski resort worth its salt in N. America or Europe where you can't get a drink at a summit lodge.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"Hitchens list of shame : Michael Moore, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, Sarah Palin, Gore Vidal, Prince Charles"

Bill Clinton isn't on this list?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I liked this guy until he supported the Bush rape of Iraq. How could a man who saw through a royal twit like Prince Charles and a fraud like Mother T. not see through the obvious lies of George W. Bush? Whatever his problem was, he became just another mental puppet of the Bush fraud and war machine.

I thoroughly enjoy reading posts like that and imagining the author, tied in knots: "Hitchens! He was a genius and a man of integrity.He was an iconoclast! - like me. But he was duped by Bush, who is a complete idiot.Bush made Hitch his puppet!"

1 ( +2 / -1 )

i wonder if he believes in GOD now?

I don't.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

unreconstructed@3:24PM - LOL!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I do not think HItchens was a genius. He higher up he went the more he sold out. His rationalizations for supporting the war in Iraq are sickening. For a man who supposedly loved Orwell he was no Orwell. He never dared be a minority of one. The fact that rationalizations for the war on Iraq were stupid were plainly obvious before the war began. A country that passively allowed itself to sanctioned to death and periodically bombed for 12 years was no threat to anyone. Like a lot of liberals Hitchens supported Bush's war. Hitchens might have been paid off. At any rate, he could not accept the obvious fact that he was wrong--and went to great length to vilify those who said he was. In the end he was a bombastic fake who mitigated whatever good he might have done in the past.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I'll miss you Mr. Hitchens. You were a inspiration on so many levels.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

That liberals criticize Hitchens for supporting the Iraq invasion while at the same time rooting for Obamas illegal bombing of Libya is a hypocrisy that is hard to beat.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"For a man who supposedly loved Orwell he [Hitchens] was no Orwell."

Because Hitchens supported the war against Islamist terror?

Orwell in 1942 , "Pacifism and the War": "If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one. In practice, 'he that is not with me is against me'. The idea that you can somehow remain aloof from and superior to the struggle, while living on food which British sailors have to risk their lives to bring you, is a bourgeois illusion bred of money and security."

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

That liberals criticize Hitchens for supporting the Iraq invasion while at the same time rooting for Obamas illegal bombing of Libya is a hypocrisy that is hard to beat.

Gee, but that's just plain ignorant. Liberals did not oppose the bombing of Libya the same way most did not oppose the containment of Saddam, which involved the same kind of air support and occasional bombing to enforce a no-fly zone. Comparing a limited show of air power with a full-scale invasion is just plain dumb.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Obamas illegal bombing of Libya

Where was illegal, WilliB? Very twisted comment, I am just so amazed.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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