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In the early 1970s you couldn’t have a better opponent than Richard Nixon.

Indeed, when the embattled president’s Enemies List became public, there was no complaining from those who made the cut.

Newsman Daniel Schorr and actor/activist Paul Newman treated their inclusion like a badge of honor. To have Nixon against you was to have the world for you.

These days, the best possible seal of disapproval might come from Christopher Hitchens, the erudite, outrageous, provocative, witty and indefatigable contrarian.

When Hitchen’s your enemy, you don’t need friends.

Regularly venting his spleen, Hitchens has pieced together an Enemies List that might even make Nixon envious, were he alive.

For starters, Hitchens, who is 58, has never liked Mother Teresa, the founder of the Missionaries of Charity who received worldwide approval for her work with the poor, the ill and the needy in Calcutta.

In essays and in his book, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, Hitchens has argued that Mother Teresa wasn’t modest, wasn’t humble, and wasn’t really opposed to poverty and that she buddied up to dictators.

Hitchens also doesn’t like the late Pope John Paul II, in part because he fast-tracked Mother Teresa on the road to sainthood.

Absolutely no Hitchens love is lost on the Dalai Lama. And he doesn’t like The Rev. Mr. Jerry Falwell either.

None of these dislikes is that surprising given the fact that God himself (or herself) is a frequent Hitchens target.

Hitchens takes on the diety in God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. To the surprise of many, the book became a bestseller this spring and its sales may net Hitchens $1 million.

Beyond that it has helped increase the visibility of atheism in this country and it has given Hitchens a regular chair on talk shows and in debates against true believers.

Hitchens, a former member of the British left who is now difficult to classify, doesn’t confine his scorn to religion or the religious.

A short list of his favorite non-religious targets includes Henry Kissinger and Bill Clinton – both war criminals in Hitchens’ opinion.

Also among the disliked are Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, Mel Gibson and Princess Diana.

The next best thing to having Hitchens hate you may be to have Hitchens like you.

The writer, who is now an American citizen, has been strong in his support of Scooter Libby, Ahmed Chalabi, Tony Blair and George W. Bush (sometimes).

He also remains a strong voice for the Iraq war.

And he has a wide and varied list of literary and journalistic saints, beginning with George Orwell.

But, in general, Hitchens, who knows the value of enemies, hasn’t spent his time making nice. His list is long and getting longer.