Hitchens is a master of the studiously absurd.
Peckian and puckish, he charms even those he torments.
Still, what you say has merit.
I believe others have stated that he suffers from pretentious diction. ;)
"... And of course, since the fish rots from the head (and also the guts, the heart, the leaping piscine genitalia and the most extreme and flapping fins, in a positive orgy of moral and linguistic deliquescence)" ... Christopher Hitchens
May I have another, please?