Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Fear and Loathing in the Bathroom
Lots of remembrances of Hunter S. Thompson floating around today: a couple of good ones are at Fly Trap and Best of the Blogs (actually posted yesterday). There's apparently been some speculation that Thompson's suicide had to do with his hatred for George W. Bush, but Thompson's attorney (his actual attorney, not the one from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) says now that there were signs Thompson was thinking of doing himself in, and that Bush had nothing to do with it.
Yesterday, Salon retold the story of Thompson's 1974 Super Bowl party in Houston, at which he first met Bush--and at which Bush passed out in Thompson's bathtub. When I find distasteful creatures in my bathtub, I whack them with a slipper or something. The Doc never said whether he did the same to Bush, although he probably didn't feel the need at the time. I'm sure he regretted missing the chance.
Recommended Reading: If you've been reading Seeing the Forest, as I suggested recently, you've probably already seen this. If not, go read: Dave Johnson observes that the historical trends that have governed American politics and society seem inoperative now, as do the checks and balances intended to guard against tyranny. So what's to stop our leaders from becoming tyrants? Little apart from their own inclination not to--and how long can we depend on that?
Also writing today is Joe Bageant, who's fast becoming a favorite of mine. In "Poor, white and pissed: A liberal guide to the white trash planet," Bageant explains why the American underclass hates liberals--in part because we've deserted them, and because many of us know and care more about liberating Tibet than we do about taking care of our fellow citizens who may be in front of us in line at Walmart. I've placed a link to Bageant's work in my links list--this guy is seriously good at what he does.
Speaking of links, I am pleased to find that the Daily Aneurysm now appears on the links list over at Liberal Oasis, which is one of the first blogs I ever read regularly. I'm also on the list at States Writes: the Progressives' Peer Directory from the American Street, which is a list of news sources and blogs maintained by the American Street, an extremely good blog I don't read nearly often enough. Shout-outs are also due to mjh, who frequently links to my posts at his twin blogs, mjh's blog and the Dump Bush weblog, to Coturnix at Science and Politics, who links now and then, and to Aussie Ankle Biter, who found this blog from way-the-hell-and-gone in Melbourne, Australia. It's a small blog world, after all.
Lots of remembrances of Hunter S. Thompson floating around today: a couple of good ones are at Fly Trap and Best of the Blogs (actually posted yesterday). There's apparently been some speculation that Thompson's suicide had to do with his hatred for George W. Bush, but Thompson's attorney (his actual attorney, not the one from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) says now that there were signs Thompson was thinking of doing himself in, and that Bush had nothing to do with it.
Yesterday, Salon retold the story of Thompson's 1974 Super Bowl party in Houston, at which he first met Bush--and at which Bush passed out in Thompson's bathtub. When I find distasteful creatures in my bathtub, I whack them with a slipper or something. The Doc never said whether he did the same to Bush, although he probably didn't feel the need at the time. I'm sure he regretted missing the chance.
Recommended Reading: If you've been reading Seeing the Forest, as I suggested recently, you've probably already seen this. If not, go read: Dave Johnson observes that the historical trends that have governed American politics and society seem inoperative now, as do the checks and balances intended to guard against tyranny. So what's to stop our leaders from becoming tyrants? Little apart from their own inclination not to--and how long can we depend on that?
Also writing today is Joe Bageant, who's fast becoming a favorite of mine. In "Poor, white and pissed: A liberal guide to the white trash planet," Bageant explains why the American underclass hates liberals--in part because we've deserted them, and because many of us know and care more about liberating Tibet than we do about taking care of our fellow citizens who may be in front of us in line at Walmart. I've placed a link to Bageant's work in my links list--this guy is seriously good at what he does.
Speaking of links, I am pleased to find that the Daily Aneurysm now appears on the links list over at Liberal Oasis, which is one of the first blogs I ever read regularly. I'm also on the list at States Writes: the Progressives' Peer Directory from the American Street, which is a list of news sources and blogs maintained by the American Street, an extremely good blog I don't read nearly often enough. Shout-outs are also due to mjh, who frequently links to my posts at his twin blogs, mjh's blog and the Dump Bush weblog, to Coturnix at Science and Politics, who links now and then, and to Aussie Ankle Biter, who found this blog from way-the-hell-and-gone in Melbourne, Australia. It's a small blog world, after all.
