I thought this was a rather interesting debate, as I never expected to see Christopher Hitchens of all people debating on the side of the Socialists. It’s truly a shame he became a neo-conservative later in life, as he would’ve been a great orator to have on our side, as this debate showcases.
Hitchens wasn’t really ever an actual Neo-Con; it’s just that his stance on the second Iraq war made him look like one from some angles.
He always did have a bee in his bonnet about despotism and dictatorships (which, incidentally, is why I personally think that he spent so much of his later years debating against organized religion), and this is what lead him to support the toppling of Saddam Hussein, who was by all accounts a brutal and sadistic dictator.
In that, his interests aligned with the Bush Jr. administration, but he was never fully on board with their American exceptionalism and disdain for international institutions, as far as I could see.
I will always owe a certain amount of thanks to Hitchens for being instrumental in questioning my faith, which resulted in my life becoming tremendously better. However I recently learned he had some pretty hot takes that made me lose a bit of respect for him.
