I think Tismaneanu may be allowed these words as filler, since they don't refer to much of anything. He may have felt that the puff quotient of the article needed a boost given a particular expected audience, one that is reassured by such nods -- the people I imagine reading the Op-Ed page of the _New_York_Times_ with serious attention, for example.
At least the article was some fun to kick around; Hitchens's messy hash of clichés and platitudes would stick to your shoe. A sad decline.
-- Gordon