Christopher Hitchens is still Christopher Hitchens, and that's a wonderful thing.

I love reading what Christopher Hitchens writes, sometimes because of what he says, always because of how he writes. Today's Guardian has a long interview with Hitchens covering his political evolution, multicultural tolerance vs. jihadist Islam, his views on religon and the existence of God, and last and least, the cancer diagnosis he received five months ago.

Discussing his move towards the Right he points out the hypocrisy ~ he is exactly right and it is maddening.

Along the way, [Hitchens] says, "I learned that very often the most intolerant and narrow-minded people are the ones who congratulate themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness. Amazing. My conservative friends look at me and say, 'Welcome to the club. What took you so long?' Well that's what it took and I think it's worth recording."

More and more people are finding the courage to publicly question the idea that the religion of Islam is a religion of peace, but Hitchens was one of the first.

Hitchens genuinely believes radical or jihadist Islam to be an existential threat to civilisation. First because it is a pronounced enemy of free speech and social liberty and has succeeded in intimidating and silencing civilians across "an extraordinary number of countries in Europe" and the rest of the world. And second, he says, "because it has potential access to weapons of mass destruction." In the end, he argues, there are no pain-free options. You have to choose which future regret you're going to have.

It's worth reading the whole interview...

his autobiography as well.

Three cheers for Christopher Hitchens.