Hitch could always turn a phrase and was good for the odd comedy interlude. But when he abandoned the good ship Albion and doggy-paddled ashore in the US things began to slip. Over the years his Vanity Fair stuff became increasingly difficult to read (frenetic, fragmented with low signal to noise) and you did well if you found an article in which argument and conclusion knew of each other's existence.
I mean, I liked his book attacking Kissinger's limitless war profiteering but he was suspiciously blind to GWB and his cronies doing precisely the same thing. Why he chose to ascribe weird altruistic motives to Bush's "Grand Vision" when he spent much of his career arguing few politicians possess any such notion I'm not sure. Unfortunately, much of his later years and ego were occupied with beating up on intellectual weaklings (far right Christian fundamentalists, conspiracy theorists etc. - the kind of folk he wouldn't have bothered with twenty years ago) - but when taken to task on, say, his support for Bush's policies by guys like Michael Parenti he looked like a fool.
Upon learning of his illness he re-invented himself for a third time and his articles improved (I think he finally realised the rich American media magnates had played him for a fool) but he wasted too many good years staggering out of any boozer that would serve him a row of triple measures until 5am.
Love him or loathe him Galloway hit right home with his
"... drink-soaked former Trotskyist popinjay" remark. Although to give Hitchens his due he had enough of a sense of humour to appreciate it.
