Dear Electr-peter:
--Welcome to the blog. In the 1970s I used to go with a friend to the Lithuanian Club in St. Pete Fl. They all told me then, that someday their country would be free. I am glad to see that they were right, and I hope that you can keep Putler at bay.
--I quite take your point about Hitch being a state religionist. Any left wing atheist that steps off the reservation even for a moment, will be condemned as a religious nut job for not towing the line, much like antisemites accusing one another of acting just like a goddamned Jew.
"Europeans think Americans are fat, vulgar, greedy, stupid, ambitious and ignorant and so on. And they've taken as their own, as their representative American, someone (Michael Moore) who actually embodies all of those qualities."
Christopher Hitchens 1949 - 2011
Best Regards
Clear Ether