I read David Horowitz’s two-part essay on Christopher Hitchens, and enjoyed it very much. What a writer and thinker — and spirit — David is. He quotes a sentence by Hitchens: “Leaden prose always tends to be a symptom of other problems.” “Always tends”? Really? In any case, it is very, very hard to fault Hitchens, where the English language is concerned. I was reading a story in the Washington Post and came upon “supercede” (instead of “supersede”). Such a common misspelling: because “super” and “cede” are English words. On NRO recently, I believe, we had “miniscule.” People want to write that, instead of “minuscule,” because they think “mini,” small — “mini-skirt” (which is now “miniskirt,” I guess). But the most misspelled word of all time? I know this, because I edited a million pieces in the run-up to the year 2000: “millennium.” Everyone, but everyone — famed and excellent writers — wrote “millenium” (or “milennium,” I forget which). These are probably the same people who stumble on “raccoon,” “harass,” “vacuum,” and “accommodate.” Loved a sentence by Paul Goydos, the golfer who has just shot 59 (very rare). Speaking of a putt that was dead-center, he said, “That putt would have gone in a thimble.” Finally, I want to quote Thomas Sowell, who often says things — true things — that others don’t, or won’t. He said, “In one of President Obama’s many prissy little sermonettes, complete with finger wagging, he has declared: ‘Next year when I start presenting some very difficult choices to the country, I hope some of these folks who are hollering about deficits step up. Because I’m calling their bluff.’” “Prissy little sermonettes.” Exactly.