Being stoically 'Liberal' (I hate that term, because it doesn't mean to me what it means to the average American) doesn't always mean being vehemently and brutishly against those you disagree with, and a difference on viewpoint doesn't always justify the hurling of insults back and forth.
I'm with Kara here, even though my opinions of far-right religious figures is not all that high, neither side were ever going to be willing to listen to the other. I've never heard of Hitchins before today, but if this is the way he normally talks about things he doesn't agree with, it's no surprise Fox chose to interview him, after all that, really is a station you watch either for a laugh, or because you're already part of the choir, I doubt Fox has 'converted' anyone away from the Left Wing for a great deal of time.