As we watch the Republican process for choosing the next candidate for President of the United States unfold in a series of tortured, Kabukoesque debates. That are more like a Sumo wrestling match where large people try to shove one another out of the ring and that seem to have no end, a thought occurred to me. Well, not really occurred to me, for it came to me while I was reading Hunter S. Thompson's memoir, "The Proud Highway," his record of his life from 1955-1967, as caricatured in letters he wrote over that time. In the beginning of the book, in the editor's note, the origination of the phrase that became Hunter S. Thompson's trademark, "Fear and Loathing," is discussed. Thompson first used it in a letter written to his friend, William Kennedy, after the assassination of JFK, in which he wrote about his anger over this murder. Thompson wrote, "There is no human being within 500 miles to whom I can communicate anything--much less the fear and loathing that is on me after today's murder," continuing, "From now on it is dirty pool and judo in the clinches. The savage nuts have shattered the great myth of American decency." When you look at the primary process on the GOP side in 2012, Thompson's words come full into play, as the savagery of it amazes and depresses at the same time those who try to make sense of it.
Thompson's catch phrase that became embedded in the titles of two of his books, underlines the state of America at this intersection in her history. Because fear has become the hallmark theme in our society, we are fearful of someone and something, everyone and everything in the third century of our existence. Loathing has become the other part of our existence, because in the post 9/11 world that is our nation, loathing someone, or something has become standard in the emotions displayed in everyday life. That which we loath the most, is of course ourselves, for we in our subconscious minds, loath what we have become. That is why we long for days gone by, when fear and loathing were abstract words and thought to have no part in the emotions of our society.
Thompson's imagery in his words, "dirty pool and judo in the clinches," describe perfectly the depths to which American politics has descended, and with Citizens United, this process is now layered over top with obscene amounts of money used to drown out what used to be a marketplace of ideas and create a whorehouse of excess. The voter turnout in the primaries show that even GOP voters who have been the most disciplined base, are staying away. In the Democratic primaries, with only the President on the ticket for the most part, members have now began to engage in a fratricidal frenzy of loathing of each other. This is brought about by not being able to accept criticism of their candidate by other Democrats. Criticism that has been leveled against the President since the days of the fight over healthcare reform; the reneging of the promise to close the prison at Gitmo, our 21st century version of Devil's Island; embracing war and not peace and the list goes on and on. Criticism, that the President said was important to effect change, citing pressure that was placed on FDR to make him go against the political grain of his day, and that if we wanted change, we would have to make it happen by making him do it.
Pressure or criticism, that has paid off in his decisions on Keystone XL, on access to birth control for poor people and even going after those who committed criminal acts in the financial meltdown in 2008 and its aftermath. In fact the only thing that has kept the robber barons and plunderers at bay has been the rapid response of social media, tens of thousands of citizens can, with a few clicks, register their concern over things like Keystone XL, censorship of the internet by the corporations and the increase of poverty amongst women and children in the richest nation in the world. Thoughts that were included in the SOTU, the words, "rich" and "poor," and the announcement of an investigation into Wall Street wrongdoing, were placed there by pressure from the people of the United States upon his office. Americans are crying out for an end to what Thompson called, "dirty pool and judo in the clinches," that has been part and parcel of the electoral process, and a revival of the idea of what Thompson called, "the great myth of American decency." We want this great American hate fest to come to an end, and bring back that the idea of caring and loving for our neighbors that was the real hallmark of our nation.
Thompson's catch phrase that became embedded in the titles of two of his books, underlines the state of America at this intersection in her history. Because fear has become the hallmark theme in our society, we are fearful of someone and something, everyone and everything in the third century of our existence. Loathing has become the other part of our existence, because in the post 9/11 world that is our nation, loathing someone, or something has become standard in the emotions displayed in everyday life. That which we loath the most, is of course ourselves, for we in our subconscious minds, loath what we have become. That is why we long for days gone by, when fear and loathing were abstract words and thought to have no part in the emotions of our society.
Thompson's imagery in his words, "dirty pool and judo in the clinches," describe perfectly the depths to which American politics has descended, and with Citizens United, this process is now layered over top with obscene amounts of money used to drown out what used to be a marketplace of ideas and create a whorehouse of excess. The voter turnout in the primaries show that even GOP voters who have been the most disciplined base, are staying away. In the Democratic primaries, with only the President on the ticket for the most part, members have now began to engage in a fratricidal frenzy of loathing of each other. This is brought about by not being able to accept criticism of their candidate by other Democrats. Criticism that has been leveled against the President since the days of the fight over healthcare reform; the reneging of the promise to close the prison at Gitmo, our 21st century version of Devil's Island; embracing war and not peace and the list goes on and on. Criticism, that the President said was important to effect change, citing pressure that was placed on FDR to make him go against the political grain of his day, and that if we wanted change, we would have to make it happen by making him do it.
Pressure or criticism, that has paid off in his decisions on Keystone XL, on access to birth control for poor people and even going after those who committed criminal acts in the financial meltdown in 2008 and its aftermath. In fact the only thing that has kept the robber barons and plunderers at bay has been the rapid response of social media, tens of thousands of citizens can, with a few clicks, register their concern over things like Keystone XL, censorship of the internet by the corporations and the increase of poverty amongst women and children in the richest nation in the world. Thoughts that were included in the SOTU, the words, "rich" and "poor," and the announcement of an investigation into Wall Street wrongdoing, were placed there by pressure from the people of the United States upon his office. Americans are crying out for an end to what Thompson called, "dirty pool and judo in the clinches," that has been part and parcel of the electoral process, and a revival of the idea of what Thompson called, "the great myth of American decency." We want this great American hate fest to come to an end, and bring back that the idea of caring and loving for our neighbors that was the real hallmark of our nation.
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