GORE VIDAL - Nails It in a Nutshell...

[Peter Frank]

For the uninitiated, Gore Vidal is a preeminent and senior statesman of the Democratic cause. He used to be on TV allot, before it became unfashionable to have critics of big business appear on networks owned by big business. Now his insights are relegated to the internet.

<snip>Gore Vidal is the author of twenty-two novels and has written films including the classics Ben-Hur and Suddenly, Last Summer. He is recently the author of The Last Empire and Inventing a Nation.<snip>

Vidal's Remarks (video) -- http://www.iwtnews.com/videoplayer/gore_vidal
_______________________(dial-up link beneath "click here to play")

(Those not familiar with this man, please google "gore vidal" ...and post what you think is essential to discuss.)

[leftstreet]

1. I don't know which book I read it in...

...and I'm too tired to Google it. But he predicted that the US would de-centralize and divide by regions. I was struck by it at the time because I'm a westcoaster, and his prediction was WA CA (some others?) and British Columbia.

I remember thinking, "wow."

[Devlzown]

2. Tennessee Williams wrote Suddenly, Last Summer.

I'm not sure who wrote Ben Hur, but I believe that was before Vidal's time. On edit: I have an old copy of Ben Hur here at the house and it has the name Wallace on the spine. I can't find the year it was published -- that page must have fallen out.

[neweurope]

3. The OP is speaking of the movies...

You are right about Ben Hur: Book - Lewis Wallace, screenplay: Karl Tunberg.

"Suddenly, last summer": Tennessee Williams (play),
Gore Vidal (screenplay).


-----------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Devlzown]

5. Oh, I see.

I love Suddenly, Last Summer. Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn -- that's one hell of a cast!

[neweurope]

6. I haven't seen it, but I would want to.

I like the cast, too:)

------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. The novel Ben Hur was actually written in the 19th century

by Lew Wallace, who was a general in the Civil War.

I don't know why I know this, but I do, and i just checked it out on Google.

[SpiralHawk]

10. Lew Wallace, former governor of NM, wrote Ben Hur

eom

[Harald Ragnarsson]

22. Lew Wallace, Gov of New Mexico in the late 19th Century

He was a general on the union side during the civil war and wrote the book Ben Hur after the war, not sure if it was before or after he became governor.

Edit: Oops! Knew there would be some Duer that knew that!

[laststeamtrain]

4. MESSIAH. From the early '50s. A great dystopia...

...I think I read somewhere that David Bowie had an option on it at one point but I don't think the movie was ever made. If it was I never heard about it.
I don't know how Mr. Vidal stands being so prescient...
Anyway, a book worth reading: MESSIAH.
Many good books. I've read JULIAN a few times. He does a few different modes, some I like better than others. I like the essays and the 'historical' novels better than the Waughesque satires but that's just me.
A really good thing about Mr. Vidal is that he writes books that are readable. I like complexity. I don't like complicated. Vidal just writes books that are page-turners but also have depth...a neat trick I'd say.

[Greeby]

7. Woot, speaking up for the electoral fraud and the Conyers report!

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[Peter Frank]

17. Vidal knows the deal... n't

[patricia92243]

8. I can't get videos to play very well on my dial-up. Can you give me a

hint of what the video says?

[WePurrsevere]

14. It took a while to load on our pokey 21.6k dial-up ::sigh:: HOWEVER

it was well worth it and probably would have gone faster if I hadn't been multi-tasking on a couple of other sites at the same time. ;)

Anyway... basically it's Gore Vidal talking about a few different topics: the voting irregularities in OH, 9-11 (how the fighter planes weren't scrambled as they should have been), Saddam/Bin Laden, the media, conspiracy theories, etc.

A lot of the problems we're currently facing are caused by, "too few owners own too few outlets" and the reason the media isn't covering things properly is because they're owned by companies who want to make big money and since the big money is in gov contracts that is who they must make happy to make money.

The last bit I thought was particularly good so I replayed it a few times to transcribe it. It's probably not perfect but it's the best I could do quickly since I don't do short hand just "slow" speed writing: ;)

"Like everyone else I get pretty bored by some of the fantastic conspiracy theories inflicted upon us, sometimes I think deliberately,by in large one thing most people sense but have been shamed into not admitting that they sensed it, everything in the United States is a conspiracy.

When our media does not want to make money out of news, corruption is complete. You would think that that was something totally against nature, you don't want to sell papers, you don't want to sell washing machines or whatever you're selling on television. You don't want to go against what the owners of the country want and they don't want bad news of this sort and the don't want people to really know about these things."

If you have a bit of time, it really is worth it, use this link for dial-up: http://www.iwtnews.com/videoplayer/gore_vidal/dialup It's not streaming, thank goodness since I'd never be able to stand listening to it. Once it's loaded it's loaded and can be replayed repeatedly. :)

[Peter Frank]

23. .

[H2O Man]

9. Two of his more recent

books that I've enjoyed are "Imperial America" and "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace." I particularly enjoyed "PWfPP," subtitled "How We Got to be so Hated"; on page six, he writes, "He is a superb fund-raiser for Allah but only within the Arab world; contrary to legend, he has taken no CIA money." I would think that line should be important food for thought for those progressive democrats who have, for no good reason, subscribed to the myth that Usama bin Laden is a CIA creation.

[Peter Frank]

11. Ahem - Read closer Folks...

As I quoted, "Gore Vidal is the author of twenty-two novels and has written films including the classics Ben-Hur and Suddenly, Last Summer."

He wrote screenplays for "Ben-Hur" & "Suddenly, Last Summer."

[H2O Man]

12. Yes, but ....

I think Truman Capote wrote "In Cold Blood," while Vince Bugliosi wrote "Helter Skelter." Gore Vidal didn't.

[Peter Frank]

13. Did you write that???...

;)

[H2O Man]

18. I've never heard before

that Gore Vidal wrote the classic rock songs for the Archies. Are you sure? Link?

[seemslikeadream]

20. Very insightful Vidal article in this July issue

:hi:

[Peter Frank]

24. Seriously now...

...did you watch the video -- http://www.iwtnews.com/videoplayer/gore_vidal

[Zinfandel]

15. Gore Vidal has always been the man! Voted for him for US Senator...

wish he had won.

[Peter Frank]

16. Me too...

Please watch the video in the OP. Tell me what you think...

[Skidmore]

19. Man, he was a handsome rascal.

[Swamp Rat]

25. KICK KICK KICK KICK KICK KICK KICK KICK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and recommended!

[WePurrsevere]

26. He makes some excellent points in the video... kick for the night crowd.

:)

:kick: