1 Hitch is great on Islamofascism but did u read the scathing article on him at A&LD? He still fulminates against those who slander socialism by morally equating Nazism & Communism. Is there a moral difference? And his beef with Galloway is entertaining, but seems motivated more by personal animus than ideology

2 Hm. Interesting question on Communism/Socialism, which remains Hitchens' blind spot. If we judge by results, Communism is just as bad as Naziism, because the body counts are proportionally the same. I'm tempted to give Naziism the "evilness" nod, because it has racism at its core, whereas Socialism very often has a certain idealism. However, that fact only makes Socialism and Communism more appealing to large numbers of people. Because it is less ridiculous on its face, it spread much farther than Naziism/Fascism ever did, and end up killing and enslaving much larger numbers of people. Part of the trick with Hitchens is to remember that he isn't really one of us; he's a courageous lefty with the courage of his convictions and a soft spot in his heart for Comrade Karl.

3 I'm not sure WHERE he belongs, lol. But Communism is inherently totalitarian, because 'redistributing the wealth' (never mind that is was never 'distributed' in the first place) supposes some very powerful entity to giveth & taketh away.

4 Of course. But to the youthful/idealistic, the temptation is always very strong to imagine that Communism might function like a "benevolent dictatorship" (e.g., England under Elizabeth R--never mind that there was plenty wrong there). And it never does, because bureaucracies invariably go wrong, whereas individuals only usually go wrong.