Around 18 mins starts his second speech, and it is not to be missed. It is an American history lesson you never heard at school (how could you?) and as vital now as it was then. His usual brilliance, indeed. Thank God for youtube, where Gore Vidal's wisdom might never die.
My high school counselor highly suggested I read Gore's book '1876' back around 1970. So I plodded through it Sophmore to Junior year. It really gave me answers to what happened to Lincoln's so called Republican party, and a good backgroud to the gilded age and how the 20th Century 'Full Catastrophe' happened. I've enjoyed his other books since. Without cost he received, without cost he has given.
+Janet Mc Williams I found Gore via Christopher Hitchens, and a brilliant documentary on Gore I came across on tv. RU-vid is a lot of things, but one of the good things is if you look for one person you'll also find other great people like Gore.
He was an absolute gem. Hitchens was a great essayist (almost on par with Vidal) and Chomsky continues to be an incontestable fact master. Vidal, who had both of those qualities in spades, was the hands-down funniest.
I’m jealous! You have a lot of wonderful novels and essays in front of you. It’s been 2 years since you commented, but in case you haven’t gotten to ‘em and want the advice of some random internet lunatic, I’d read the following: Novels-Burr, Lincoln, Creation, and Myra Breckenridge. They’re almost all great-at least since Julian in 1964-but those four are the tops, I think. Essays-just get his United States and leave it by the bed. You’ll thank me. Agree or not, he writes like a dream, doesn’t give a damn to follow any party line, and above all he has wit. Real wit.
The Constitution says "all rights not enumerated herein shall reside with THE PEOPLE." (It also dictates that foreign citizens "under the power of the government" shall have the same rights for that time as American citizens. Oops, that's gone too.)
My two favorite scholars, and patriots---Gore Vidal, and Christopher Hitchen's. I commend you tube for having them on their website. Even though I have read some of their books like God is not Great, it always is better to actually watch, and listen to the Artist. I wish Gore, and Hitchen's were alive today to take on the idiots that are attempting to subvert our country into Totalitarianism. It concerns me that only 18,532 views on Gore's 80's speeches. I found a you tube website that had 137,000,000 views on burning bunches of matches. What Gore, and Hitchen's has to say is so important to our nation. Trump wants dictatorship, and is using the fanatics to get it.
THANKS (though the audio gaps really hurt, and more info on sources is needed). Every citizen seeking education should hear every minute. And who else could cite the first American schoolbooks, the ol' McGuffey Reader? Find one---a horrifying imperial racist hoot that's still fueling nightmare.
I always thought those who saw the Constitution as a pristine, literal, hermetically sealed all-encompassing guide for life and governing; to be living in an opportunist science fiction reality.
