Very sad if you ask me. I like most of what I know about the man. I like your term "muscular debater". He is indeed. Was that an alternative to "master debater"?... An easy joke target of a term and one that is too often and proudly used by the much inferior womanizing, athiest, drunk, Tom Leykis.

yah, I should have said more than just muscular debator and something of a boozer. That he is a terrific writer, for instance. I like the term Muscular debator too, refering to people who don't mince, and always argue big points. He is more than that though, he took big positions and I always wanted to hear what he had to say.

I just found it interesting that so many people mention his drinking...... that felt compelled to mention it to... talk about lazy writing.

Agreed. Much like the genius of early Eddie Van Halen or Ryan Adams, one could even argue that his creativity in writing and debating was only enhanced by his drinking. If the man likes a good cocktail, what business is it of ours? I am not aware of any atrocities he's committed as a result of drinking.

Perhaps a reason why people so often mention his drinking is that he himself quite enjoys defending it, to the extent that he once delivered this quote, "He says that I am an ex-Trotskyist (true), a "popinjay" (true enough, since the word's original Webster's definition is a target for arrows and shots), and that I cannot hold a drink (here I must protest)."

But what may be his best quote ever on the subject, "I drink because it makes other people less boring. I have a great terror of being bored. But I can work with or without it. It takes quite a lot to get me to slur."