Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Gore Vidal R.I.P.

Gore Vidal has died. The leftist author sure understood the growing totalitarian state in America.

From Bloomberg's obituary:
In recent years, his criticism of the U.S. approached rage. In a 2009 interview with Johann Hari of the U.K.’s Independent newspaper, he declared the American experiment “a failure,” the country “a madhouse” and the war in Afghanistan “terminal for the American empire.”...
Vidal argued that the U.S., starting in 1947, had moved inexorably toward a “national security state.” He urged a repeal of drug laws, deep cuts in defense spending, brief and publicly funded presidential campaigns, and an end to military aid to Israel and other Middle East nations.
He called the U.S. “the land of the dull and the home of the literal”... 
In a televised faceoff at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Vidal called William F. Buckley Jr. a “crypto- Nazi,” prompting the conservative writer to shoot back, “Now, listen you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in your goddamn face.”
A year later, Buckley and Vidal assailed each other in essays for Esquire, and each sued...
 Buckley died in February 2008. Asked how he felt when he heard the news, Vidal told the New York Times, “I thought hell is bound to be a livelier place, as he joins forever those whom he served in life, applauding their prejudices and fanning their hatred.”...
Describing himself, Vidal wrote, “I am at heart a propagandist, a tremendous hater, a tiresome nag complacently positive that there is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.”


 Vidal and his companion of more than 50 years, Howard Austen, lived in Italy on the Amalfi Coast for four decades, and maintained a home in Los Angeles since 1978. Austen died in 2003.


5 comments:

  1. "...there is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise."

    Indeed. Yet Buckley is the 'crypto-nazi', isn't he? Mr. Wenzel, I would think you might be more reluctant to extoll the fascist values of someone like Vidal who spent his entire life telling others what they should think.

    Snoop-Diggity-DANG-Dawg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Umm, wasn't he being facetious?

      Delete
  2. Dear Anonymous 12:15,

    I advise that people, including myself, live with each other peacefully. Does this mean I'm a fascist.

    Bebop-Da-Oodalee-Op

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It means you're as full of empty-headed, meaningless drivel as everyone else in your generation.

      Delete
    2. You pulled a Buckley: Whenever your opponent demonstrates that you're in error, just call the opponent a bad name. Or perhaps you're just mad because my scat singing tag was cooler than your...well, whatever that was.

      Delete