Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

[whometense]

This country is a much poorer place today with the departure of Hunter Thompson. In remembrance I bring you his own words from the campaign piece Thompson wrote for the October 20, 2004 issue of Rolling Stone, Fear and Loathing, Campaign 2004.

BULLETIN
KERRY WINS GONZO ENDORSMENT; DR. THOMPSON JOINS DEMOCRAT IN CALLING BUSH "THE SYPHILLIS PRESIDENT"

"Four more years of George Bush will be like four more years of syphilis," the famed author said yesterday at a hastily called press conference near his home in Woody Creek, Colorado. "Only a fool or a sucker would vote for a dangerous loser like Bush," Dr. Thompson warned. "He hates everything we stand for, and he knows we will vote against him in November."

Thompson, long known for the eerie accuracy of his political instincts, went on to denounce Ralph Nader as "a worthless Judas Goat with no moral compass."

"I endorsed John Kerry a long time ago," he said, "and I will do everything in my power, short of roaming the streets with a meat hammer, to help him be the next President of the United States."

*****

Which is true. I said all those things, and I will say them again. Of course I will vote for John Kerry. I have known him for thirty years as a good man with a brave heart -- which is more than even the president's friends will tell you about George W. Bush, who is also an old acquaintance from the white-knuckle days of yesteryear. He is hated all over the world, including large parts of Texas, and he is taking us all down with him.

Bush is a natural-born loser with a filthy-rich daddy who pimped his son out to rich oil-mongers. He hates music, football and sex, in no particular order, and he is no fun at all.

Whatever else you thought of the man or his lifestyle, he was an American original and a truthteller. RIP indeed. It feels weird to use the word in relation to this man, but it's a sad day for this country because the irrepressible Hunter Thompson lost his hope.

[Old and In the Way]

1. "Bush is a natural-born loser with a filthy-rich daddy who pimped his son

out to rich oil-mongers."

Kinda says it all, no? You never wanted to be on the wrong side of Hunter's carriage return......

[whometense]

4. I haven't heard it

said better by anyone, anywhere. I love this bit too:

Back in June, when John Kerry was beginning to feel like a winner, I had a quick little rendezvous with him on a rain-soaked runway in Aspen, Colorado, where he was scheduled to meet with a harem of wealthy campaign contributors. As we rode to the event, I told him that Bush's vicious goons in the White House are perfectly capable of assassinating Nader and blaming it on him. His staff laughed, but the Secret Service men didn't. Kerry quickly suggested that I might make a good running mate, and we reminisced about trying to end the Vietnam War in 1972.

That was the year I first met him, at a riot on that elegant little street in front of the White House. He was yelling into a bullhorn and I was trying to throw a dead, bleeding rat over a black-spike fence and onto the president's lawn.

We were angry and righteous in those days, and there were millions of us. We kicked two chief executives out of the White House because they were stupid warmongers. We conquered Lyndon Johnson and we stomped on Richard Nixon -- which wise people said was impossible, but so what? It was fun. We were warriors then, and our tribe was strong like a river.

[robbedvoter]

2. Gonzo endorsement - is this Dr Gonzo who posted here, wrote

for American Politics Journal etc?

[man4allcats]

3. Rest In Peace, Hunter.

I wish you hadn't left, but I will always remember you as a gifted writer who never hesitated to tell it like it is. You will be missed.

[blm]

5. I hope Kerry skeptics read this. Those who never studied the last 30 yrs.

of battles in this country. Yet, they put themselves forth as experts while posting their absurd conclusions that Kerry is the enemy.

[whometense]

6. The Rude Pundit:

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2005/02/hunter-s.html

and Will Pitt:

My hero died tonight. He was a flawed man, a maniac, in so many ways the antithesis of what a journalist is supposed to be. Worst of all, he told the truth. There is now one less warrior on this planet filled with Guckert clones, drones who get fed shit and regurgitate it wholesale for the masses because that is what we are trained to eat.

Rest in peace, Hunter. Thank you for everything. We're going to deal with this Gannon/Guckert/Whoever person, and then move down the line and deal with the rest of the whores. You died on the eve of the birth of a new journalism, populist in nature, beholden to the truth and thanking the Google gods every step of the way. I wish you had stuck around to see it, but I'll tell you all about it when we meet at that clearing at the end of the path.