Pitch The Hitch

We still want to be Christopher Hitchens when we grow up, despite the mounting evidence of the last couple of years that he is the Anakin Skywalker of contrarians (topical analogy there, we think you'll agree). We certainly think that his isolation from the other clever people (most of whom are, naturally, left-leaning) has made him more fun, if not quite as influential

Moreover, it is pretty much a given that the hard left has all the best invective, which is why we don't love Hitch as much as we used to. In fact, it seems that George Galloway might have a gift for colourful insults that is the envy of the North Koreans. Here's what he had to say about Hitch at a confrontation recorded by the Guardian:

""You're a drink-soaked former Trotskyist popinjay," Mr Galloway informed him. "Your hands are shaking. You badly need another drink," he added later, ignoring Mr Hitchens's questions and staring intently ahead. "And you're a drink-soaked ..." Eventually Mr Hitchens gave up. "You're a real thug, aren't you?" he hissed, stalking away."