“Some lurid things have been said about me—that I am a racist, a hopeless alcoholic, a closet homosexual and so forth—that I leave to others to decide the truth of. I'd only point out, though, that if true these accusations must also have been true when I was still on the correct side, and that such shocking deformities didn't seem to count for so much then. Arguing with the Stalinist mentality for more than three decades now, and doing a bit of soapboxing and street-corner speaking on and off, has meant that it takes quite a lot to hurt my tender feelings, or bruise my milk-white skin.” RacismHomosexualityAlcoholismIraq WarWar On TerrorInsultsStalinismEdward SaidAd HominemClosetedAlexander Cockburn Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left Source: Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left