Something about using Hitchens as an example of the left’s support of Rushdie reminded me of something I’d read. So I looked it up:

“His [Hitchens] departure from the established political left began in 1989 after what he called the “tepid reaction” of the European left following Ayatollah Khomeini’s issue of a fatwā calling for the murder of Salman Rushdie.” (source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens)

In other words, Hitchens broke from the left PRECISELY because of this very issue: The left’s lack of support for Rushdie.

Taylor definitely needs to choose his “examples” with more care. But I won’t hold my breath waiting.

(I can’t hold my breath anyway – too busy laughing.)