Christopher Hitchens' critiques of specific individuals

Christopher Hitchens (born April 13, 1949, in Portsmouth, England) is an British-American author, journalist and literary critic. Over the last thirty years, he has become famous for his scathing criticism of public figures on both the left and right. Three figures, William Jefferson Clinton, Henry Kissinger, and Mother Teresa were the targets of three separate full length texts, No One Left to Lie To: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton, The Trial of Henry Kissinger, and The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice. Hitchens has also written biographical essays AbOUT Thomas Jefferson (Thomas Jefferson: Author of America), George Orwell (Why Orwell Matters) and Thomas Paine (Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man": A Biography), all three of whom the author greatly admires. However, the vast majority of Hitchens' critiques take the form of short opinion pieces, some of the more notable including the following individuals:

Jerry Falwell

When the controversial evangelical Southern Baptist televangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell died on May 15 2007 Hitchens was interviewed on Anderson Cooper 360°. He argued that "the empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing: that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you just get yourself called reverend." To bring his point home, Hitchens asked:

On the following day, May 16 2007, Hitchens appeared on Hannity and Colmes with Ralph Reed in which Hitchens called Falwell "a vulgar fraud and crook," and argued that "we have been rid of an extremely dangerous demagogue who lived by hatred and prejudice, and who committed treason by saying that the United States deserved the attack upon it and its civil society on September 11, 2001 by other religious nut cases like himself." At the very end of the interview, Hitchens concluded that "if you give Falwell an enema, you could bury him in a matchbox."

George Galloway

In May 2005, George Galloway MP entered into an argument with Hitchens before giving evidence to the US Senate. Galloway called Hitchens a "drink-soaked former Trotskyist popinjay," "[s]ome of which," Hitchens contended in a column, "was unfair." A few days later, Hitchens wrote an article that attacked Galloway's political record, criticized his Senate testimony and made a case for Galloway's complicity in the Oil-for-Food scandal. In this essay, Hitchens states that,

On September 14, 2005 Hitchens engaged in a formal debate with Galloway in New York at Baruch College. This debate was continued on Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, USA) on September 23, 2005.

Mel Gibson

During an arrest for driving under the influence, Mel Gibson asked the arresting officer if he was Jewish and said that "[...] Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Hitchens criticised Gibson, stating,

In his book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Hitchens describes Gibson as an "..Australian fascist and ham actor.."

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

In 1998, Hitchens lambasted Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama for a number of reasons, including: the Dalai Lama's acceptance of "45 million rupees, or about 170 million yen" from Shoko Asahara the leader of the Supreme Truth cult which released sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo Subway system; the Dalai Lama's proclamation that Steven Seagal is "a reincarnated lama and a sacred vessel or 'tulku' of Tibetan Buddhism"; the persecution of "supporters of the Dorge Shugden deity -- a 'Dharma protector' and an ancient object of worship and propitiation in Tibet -- [who] have been threatened with violence and ostracism and even death following the Dalai Lama's abrupt prohibition of this once-venerated godhead"; the Dalai Lama's specified [...] norms, which ban oral and anal [...], masturbation and explain the proper way to pay for prostitution; and, most importantly, the Dalai Lama's "support of the thermonuclear tests recently conducted by the Indian state." Although, in contrast, the World Tibet Network News service later claimed that the Dalai Lama was "saddened to hear about the series of nuclear tests conducted by India," and was "fundamentally against the existence and stockpiling of any wapons [sic] of mass destruction."

Michael Moore

In June 2004, Hitchens severely criticized Michael Moore in a review of Moore's film Fahrenheit 911, concluding that

This drew several counter-criticisms, including an eFilmCritic article and a Columbus Free Press editorial.

Daniel Pipes

Hitchens severely criticized Daniel Pipes, upon Pipes' nomination to the U.S. government-sponsored U.S. Institute of Peace. Hitchens expressed "bafflement" at this appointment in a Slate essay entitled "Daniel Pipes is not a man of peace". Hitchens claimed that Pipes "employs the fears and insecurities created by Islamic extremism to slander or misrepresent those who disagree with him," and that this contradicts the USIP's position as "a somewhat mild organization [...] devoted to the peaceful resolution of conflict." Hitchens concluded his opposition to Pipes' nomination by claiming that Pipes "confuses scholarship with propaganda" and pursues "petty vendettas with scant regard for objectivity."

Ronald Reagan

Two days after Ronald Reagan's death, Hitchens stated that "this was a man never short of a cheap jibe or the sort of falsehood that would, however laughable, buy him some time." However, Hitchens argued that

Mother Teresa

In 1992, Hitchens wrote an article for The Nation in which he called Mother Teresa "The Ghoul of Calcutta". He later narrated and co-wrote Hell's Angel, a documentary broadcast November 8, 1994 on Channel 4 in Britain, and expanded his criticism in a 1995 book, The Missionary Position. He accused her of failing to treat people, particularly children, placed in her care; her strong religious views on contraception and abortion, the latter of which she described as "the greatest destroyer of peace today"; and her "acceptance" of poverty, which took the form of encouraging the poor to embrace their poverty.

Hitchens asserts that Mother Teresa behaved like a political opportunist who adopted the guise of a saint in order to raise money to spread an extreme and aggressive version of Catholicism. He also condemns her for using contributions to open convents in 150 countries rather than establishing a teaching hospital, the latter being what he implies donors expected her to do with their gifts.

He also criticized her pursuit and acceptance of donations from third world dictators; large donations accepted from Charles Keating, who was later convicted of fraud, racketeering and conspiracy; and the allocation of these donations away from treatment and towards furthering what Hitchens called "fundamentalist" views. Hitchens's writings have earned him the ire of Roman Catholics; Brent Bozell, board member of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, for example, called Hitchens and Aroup Chatterjee "notoriously vicious anti-Catholics".

During Mother Teresa's beatification process, Hitchens was called by the Vatican to argue the case against her. He testified in Washington, the role previously known as the "Devil's Advocate", although Pope John Paul II had previously abolished that position. Hitchens has satirically referred to his work in the case as the person chosen "to represent the devil pro bono".

Cindy Sheehan

In a column, Hitchens argued that Cindy Sheehan "has obviously taken a short course in the Michael Moore/Ramsey Clark school of Iraq analysis and has not succeeded in making it one atom more elegant or persuasive." Hitchens commented upon a Sheehan email featured on Nightline that said her son "was killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel." Sheehan said that the email had been altered and that it did not represent her views regarding Israel. However, Hitchens used the statement to denounce Sheehan for what he called positing a "Jewish cabal" and for attracting the support of David Duke.