RIP Christopher Hitchens

I'm among the people who admired him more at the beginning than at the end -- his full-throated support of the Iraq war betrayed a lack of critical thinking that was surprising from someone who prided himself on being a much more rigorous and tough-minded thinker than most political writers -- but there's no doubt that he brought something rare to the American political scene. He never pandered to his readers: for example, although mostly conservative, he was a staunch, even fierce, atheist until the end. The Guardian appreciation is here.