We're Finished
Alternet has an excellent piece by a Gore of a different sort on the failed Bush presidency. He writes, among other things:
Meanwhile, millions of adult Americans, presumably undrugged, have no idea who our enemies were in World War II. Many college graduates don't know the difference between an argument and an assertion (did their teachers also fail to solve this knotty question?). A travel agent in Arizona is often asked whether or not it is cheaper to take the train rather than fly to Hawaii. Only 12% of Americans own a passport. At the time of the 2004 presidential election 42% of voters believed that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11. One high school boy, when asked who won the Civil War, replied wearily, "I don't know and I don't care," echoing a busy neocon who confessed proudly: "The American Civil War is as remote to me as the War of the Roses."
You owe it to yourself to read the whole thing.
tags: iraq war on terror impeach bush george bush gore vidal morris berman
I was just about to read that - thanks for posting. I love Gore Vidal. I blogged awhile back about another essay he wrote. I'm too lazy to get the link, though.
Posted by: HelenWheels | January 28, 2006 at 11:55 AM
You know, he IS related to Al Gore... sort of distantly though, I believe.
Posted by: HelenWheels | January 28, 2006 at 11:56 AM
Distant (second?) cousins, I believe ...
Posted by: blogenfreude | January 28, 2006 at 12:05 PM
Ignorance is Strength.
Posted by: Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker | January 28, 2006 at 12:29 PM
No. I can't. Too depressing. Gakk.
Posted by: No Blood for Hubris | January 28, 2006 at 01:39 PM
Vidal is not a true defeatist. At the end of his piece he advocates "World Can't Wait". That is a group which is run by the Revolutionary Communist Party, a Maoist organization. Defeatists aren't revolutionaries.
Posted by: comandante agi | January 28, 2006 at 02:50 PM
I think Vidal is as disgusted and frustrated as most of us lib/progressive bloggers are, but I don't think he is a defeatist.
We see this inexplicable apathy and complete disregard for the hijacking of our nation by a band of thugs and criminals, too. They are drving us over the freakin cliff and most of America is up in arms over a guy lying to Oprah and how mean Simon was on American Idol.
I care about Bush lying to all of us to get us into Iraq. I care about how mean Bush is to our children, our elderly, our 45 million who have no healthcare benefits.
Vidal has probably swallowed enough of the BushCo's crap to last a lifetime, too... except he tries to wake America up with his writings... writings that speak the truth yet certain lying asshats at the NYT, the WaPo, Fox News, Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, Matthews, Scarborough, and O'Reilly get every single day to spew BushCo's agenda.
I feel defeated too. But we will keep fighting them b/c we have to. Even the falling Romans transformed their crumbling society to live another day. Besides, who would have ever thought some of America would be catching on to Bush's failures and crimes? His ratings are proof of that.
We just have to force our Party to do something about it or else form a 3rd party that will scare them into getting something done. We all know there is no compromising with the Repubs, so that option is closed. As our Dems refuse to back up a filibuster and really fight, I'm all for a 3rd party at this point.
Posted by: tina | January 28, 2006 at 04:20 PM
No. I can't. Too depressing.
Yes, you can No Blood. Come on we will read it together - Blogenfreude has lovely leather chairs to sit in while we read.
Posted by: Night Bird | January 28, 2006 at 06:22 PM
Vidals essay was wonderful. I have been a fan of his since High School. I saw him debate Norman Mailer on The Dick Cavett show way back then - and I was hooked. The man used language the way Mailer used his fists (I understand Mailer head-butted Vidal backstage before the show).
Maybe that essay won't change diddly-squat; but sometimes you just need to see it written down. And Gore Vidal knows how to do that better than most.
Posted by: The Fat Lady Sings | January 28, 2006 at 10:25 PM
Oh, boy, can that man write. Thanks for the link, blogenfreude.
Posted by: Doug Hoffman | January 29, 2006 at 11:18 AM
Just read the whole thing. Amazing. Yep, he's no defeatist, in my opinion. He's a realist.
FLS, I would pay good money to see him debate Mailer. Good lord, that had to be entertaining!!
Posted by: HelenWheels | January 29, 2006 at 11:31 AM
Mailer? I'd also like to see him debate Capote again ... Vidal and Truman used to verbally bitch-slap each other ... bring Truman back from the dead!
Posted by: blogenfreude | January 29, 2006 at 11:37 AM
Ugh. I, too, am thoroughly disgusted and frustrated. Luckily, we have one another.
Posted by: catherine | January 29, 2006 at 04:01 PM
> You owe it to yourself to read the whole thing.
Nah. Looks too long.
Posted by: Marie Antoinette | January 30, 2006 at 11:09 AM
Thanks for sharing the link. The essay was terrific. As The Fat Lady Sings says it was good just to see it written down.
Posted by: cruelanimal | January 30, 2006 at 12:54 PM
Oh that is nothing. Wait till you see what Pat Robertson has to say about Bush just now...oh wait. That wasn't Pat Robertson, it was Al Qaeda's number two. It's hard to tell the Republicans apart these days.
Posted by: KathyF | January 30, 2006 at 01:36 PM