Hitchens' Greatest Hits Number II: Eat it, Mullahs

When this blog says Christopher Hitchens was a free speech warrior, it's because Christopher Hitchens was a free speech warrior. Oh, there's Boris to.

I hope the afterlife was a pleasant surprise for you, sir.

Ye to Mr. Hitches

On this date in 1949 Christopher Hitchens was born. 

The acerbic wit was a man letters, a man of principle. He did not suffer fools gladly. A man of the left, Hitchens split with his comrades over 9/11, Islam and free speech. Of the latter, he was for it. As the war dragged on Hitchens remained steadfast in his advocacy for victory in Iraq and his support of president Bush.

Hitchens was an atheist who loathed all religion, but reserved special scorn for Islam. Good for him. For this blog, this will be always  be Hitch's best moment:

Dull and Mechanical the Writer

An interesting speculative article about the great Christopher Hitchens with a chilling quote:

Somehow, you’re watching CNN or MSNBC, and some bloviating no-mark like Don Lemon or Chris Hayes or Ezra Klein is grimacing through air time. You are well aware than none of these people ever spun a lovely phrase, likely know not a stanza of poetry by heart, have used the word ‘wonk’ approvingly and write and speak in an English so dull and mechanical it reads and sounds like an IKEA instruction manual.

Dull and mechanical. 

We don't put a lot of effort into flowery prose. We've always been more interested in describing events, getting the reader from A to B to C. We're not sitting at the kitchen table wondering, 'But is this the right word?'

[Take heart, Will. People buy your books-Ed]

Why are you being nice to me?

[This is really sad-Ed]

That's a good point.

Anyway we don't have a lot of literary influences becuase we haven't read a lot of literature. That said the early 20th century American authors we read in high school...

[You actualy read an assigned book in high school?-Ed]

...Thank you...kind of stuck with us. They weren't all flowery and stuff and look at them.

[You ain't no Steinbeck-Ed]