My kind of old queen!
"...If we use old-fashioned paper ballots and have them counted in the precinct where they are cast, [Bush] will be swept from office. He’s made every error you can. He’s wrecked the economy. Unemployment is up. People can’t find jobs. Poverty is up. It’s a total mess. How does he make such a mess? Well, he is plainly very stupid. But the people around him are not. They want to stay in power."


Just to piss off 90% of you, he draws Nazi parallels to both Bushies AND Clintonites.

This is funny:

This is frightening:

A lot of it is "greatest hits" material, but I'd say this is the gist:

To be fair, Gore Vidal (who is not an "old queen" - he insists no one is straight or gay, although he himself has no interest in women - whatever) is a loose cannon, and any decent critique he has that is buried in this piece will be overlooked because of his clear vitrol against Bush and company. MIB, Phillyfan, etc. if you want to see a true Bush-hater - here he is.

That being said, he has some interesting points about the founding fathers. I had no idea Jefferson believed the Constitution was such a living document, and am sure the "strict constructionists" like Scalia will find this a sacrilege.

Well, I'm glad that the "Rip it up and start all over if you want to" plan for the Constitution got nipped in the bud.

Nice to see he's back living in the Hollywood Hills; he used to be smeared with "What do you know? You live in Italy!" all the time. Too bad his partner died.

BushCo. have exceeded my worst nightmare, so I don't think Vidal is being all that alarmist; it's just his usual riffing, really.

Jefferson also is famous for having suggested that we have "revolutions" every so often to overhaul the situation in the country and secure democracy (except for Indians, African slaves, females of any color, and extremely impoverished white males).

He looked fondly--for a while, at least--upon the bloody uprisings in France, some of whose leaders took heart, not surprisingly, from his idealistic rhetoric in the "Declaration of Independence." (The subsequent successful uprising in Haiti--democracy!--was less appealing, for obvious reasons.)

John Adams, his nemesis and famous correspondent, was far more suspicious of the "common people." I think Jefferson would have liked the California recall; he just wouldn't have been to fond of all the colored rabble populating and voting in that state.

My fave quote:


[ November 14, 2003, 06:06 AM: Message edited by: bobby78751 ]

Also, I think Vidal once described himself as a "homosexualist," a strange term I rather like.

In the interview, I particularly love his use of the adjective "deranged," as in "deranged president." That about sums it up.

Gore Vidal should be required reading for all Americans - starting with Burr, and Lincoln to name only two.

Vidal uses fiction to teach fact better than anyone - what a magnificent gift he has, and is.