Over the Weekend\Gore Vidal

Hope everyone had a good weekend. The Huskers sure sucked. I did have a fun day however, and the Decemberists show was very good. For those who haven't heard, Jenn Bernard and Scott Zimmerman got engaged while in NYC on Saturday!

Does anyone enjoy reading Gore Vidal? I only recently (about a year ago) have begun reading his stuff, and he is amazing. He is without a doubt one of the smartest historians\political minds. He has been around forever, fought in WWII, and his viewpoints are very insightful. Many times he goes right over my head, but that's OK because his writings that I do understand I love. It is definitely beyond the mainstream, and sometimes goes a little far, but always explains his viewpoints. He recently finished a trilogy of books - first was Perpetual War For Perpetual Peace, second was Dreaming War, and the third just came out recently called Imerial America. I had been meaning to put a post on him the last few weeks but kept forgetting. But there is an interview in The Nation with him this week - definitely check it out. You may need to create an account to read it, but you should have an account on the site anyway, they have great writers. The reason I wanted to bring up Vidal is because I am currently reading Imperial America right now, and one thing stuck out to me. Here is a brilliant excerpt from the book, which is a perfect example of Vidal...

Between the first and second States of the Union, Bush confessed, on January 29, 2002, "As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession, and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers. Yet the state of our union has never been stronger." Perhaps the greatest coup of the unelected president and his handlers was, as usual, a dubious metaphor. All on his own he has declared a war on terrorism, a nonsensical notion like a war on dandruff. To resist terrorism is the norm for any government, a response best accomplished by international police and intelligence services. So why was the inappropriate word "war" used? Because only in wartime can the executive gain maximum power over the American people by replacing the checks and balances of the Constitution with an emergency apparatus currently called "Homeland Security". Relying upon ad hoc bits of incoherent legislation, much of the Bill of Rights can be suspended because This Is War, which it is not: at this point, the victims of 9-11 are invariably exploited, but 9-11 was the work of religious zealots and not of a country, and there can be no actual war without a country, particularly when we are faced with criminal gangs given to suicide. To assume wartime powers without a war is something new under the American sun, requiring a blizzard of lies.

Keep in mind he did not write this recently, 3 years after the speech. He wrote this very soon after the speech. In fact, he breaks down the State of the Union every year, and has done so for over 30 years. If you like that little paragraph, you will love his books.