The right will play up how Gore Vidal switched from Hillary to Obama last year but now thinks Obama is terrible. But don't let that fool you. The aging writer has much to say about many things and whether you like his lifestyle, his politics, his philosophy or not, you gotta like the way he uses language.
When asked how Obama was doing, Vidal said this:
“Dreadfully. I was hopeful. He was the most intelligent person we’ve had in that position for a long time. But he’s inexperienced. He has a total inability to understand military matters. He’s acting as if Afghanistan is the magic talisman: solve that and you solve terrorism.”
“Hillary knows more about the world and what to do with the generals. History has proven when the girls get involved, they’re good at it.
We’ll have a military dictatorship fairly soon, on the basis that nobody else can hold everything together. Obama would have been better off focusing on educating the American people. His problem is being over-educated. He doesn’t realise how dim-witted and ignorant his audience is. Benjamin Franklin said that the system would fail because of the corruption of the people and that happened under Bush.”
In a very strange exchange Vidal admits to being a fan of Timothy McVeigh calling him a "constitution man" and in the same interview subtly hints that Obama's efforts to identify with Lincoln could have a macabre outcome.
Vidal raises his fingers to signify a gun and mutters: “Bang bang.” He is referring to the possibility of Obama being assassinated. “Just a mysterious lone gunman lurking in the shadows of the capital,” he says in a wry, dreamy way.
“Don’t ever make the mistake with people like me thinking we are looking for heroes. There aren’t any and if there were, they would be killed immediately. I’m never surprised by bad behaviour. I expect it.”
Vidal is now 83 and uses a wheelchair, though he can still walk. When asked about his future Vidal gave this series of responses:
“My usual answer to ‘What am I proudest of?’ is my novels, but really I am most proud that, despite enormous temptation, I have never killed anybody and you don’t know how tempted I have been.”
“Well, given that I’m proudest that I haven’t killed anybody, I might be saving something up for someone.”
FULL INTERVIEW HERE: TIMESONLINE
"In a very strange exchange Vidal admits to being a fan of Timothy McVeigh"
Well, yes, it's strange (IMO, reprehensible would be a better word), but it's certainly nothing new. Vidal corresponded with McVeigh and wrote a defense of him that was published in Vanity Fair in 2001. He's been calling him a "freedom fighter" and spouting similar nonsense for years.
Posted by: Matt | October 08, 2009 at 11:28 PM