A radical atheist endorsing Buddhism? It's more likely than you think. Distilling the faith to its four essentials allows the jettisoning of the quirkier bits of received Buddhist tradition (reincarnation, bodhisattvas, etc.), which in my opinion are the main impediments to widespread adoption in the West. The biggest worry I have with atheism is its horrible moral track record when applied to a large society (c.f. USSR, PRC, Khmer Rouge, etc.) Grounding atheism with a true, practical, and absolute morality could be just what the doctor ordered.