Izak:

Oh and by the way... based on the responses I've read to Hitchens's article, I have to say, the crowd who hangs out in the "Fighting Words" forum has to be, without a doubt, the most incredibly brainless in of all the Slate forums.

I mean, seeing as how Hitchens himself is a bloated alcoholic ex-Trotskyite with pretty much no genuine principles or morality whatsoever (whatever stacks that paper!), this shouldn't come off as a surprise... but come on... calling Pres. Bush a "country bumpkin"? Talking about McCain being a "real American"? Do you guys even WANT to live in reality?

.....and because I do have them, I can empathize with your position. Me, I've never forgiven him for endorsing the Second Gulf War. Still, I liked his obit of Helms.