Gore Vidal Knocks Obama, Says "Anti-Semitism" Got "Poor Polanski"

To mark the recent publication of Gore Vidal's memoir, Snapshots in History's Glare, The Atlantic's John Meroney interviewed the American literary and cultural icon at his house in Hollywood. In the interview, Vidal continues his provocations of recent years, discussing President Obama's lack of experience and Roman Polanski's "hooker" victim.

On President Obama:

"...remember that I was brought up in Washington. It was an all-black city when I was a kid. And I've always been very pro-African-American--or whatever phrase we now use. I was curious to see what would happen when their time came. I was delighted when Obama appeared on the scene. But now it seems as though our original objection to him - that experience mattered - was well-founded."

On the persecution of Roman Polanski:

"I really don't give a fuck. Look, am I going to sit and weep every time a young hooker feels as though she's been taken advantage of?

"First, I was in the middle of all that. Back then, we all were. Everybody knew everybody else. There was a totally different story at the time that doesn't resemble anything that we're now being told....The media can't get anything straight. Plus, there's usually an anti-Semitic and anti-fag thing going on with the press - lots of crazy things. The idea that this girl was in her communion dress, a little angel all in white, being raped by this awful Jew, Polacko - that's what people were calling him - well, the story is totally different now from what it was then.
...
"Anti-Semitism got poor Polanski. He was also a foreigner. He did not subscribe to American values in the least. To [his persecutors], that seemed vicious and unnatural."

In response to the interview, a Huffington Post blogger asks, "Why does this guy still get interviewed? Can't someone stop him from embarrassing himself? Doesn't someone have power of attorney? Isn't there anyone concerned with this guy's vanishing legacy?"

And even The Atlantic's own writers find Vidal's comments vile.

To read the whole interview, click here.

Comments

[Mafdet]

I don't think the court records have changed much. I wonder how many brain cells one has to lose to syphillis and alcoholism in order to call a 13-year-old a prostitute. At least, I hope he has some kind of excuse.

[Caru]

This is why no one takes real anti-semitism seriously anymore.

[Bertie Marshall]

the fabulous gore vidal can say anything he damn well pleases, he's earned the right... he says what 1,000s won't....

he gets liberals right in their jumpy scared gizzerds!

vive la vidal

[brady61995]

anti semitism got poor polanski? really, thought anti child rapist got polanski

[RODERICK098]

fyi Vidal is a liberal

[TommyMcCarthy]

The one saving grace to this piece is the link "read the WHOLE article here"...wh­ich Huffpo is usually (not always) pretty good about including.

If one reads the article I see nothing particularly "vile" in any of his comments. In context they are....fir­st (and always) intelligent and interestin­g.........­..and also as always....­.. acerbic, cutting, daring, witty, sarcastic.­.....Clear­ly I could go on.

Clue:....I­T'S GORE VIDAL!!!!.­.......You were expecting something else????

Couldn't get the link to work where a "Huffpo Blogger" wonders about Vidal's "vanishing legacy"

YUH..... THAT could happen...h­eh
regards
tm

[DreamerWeaver]

Yes, I agree with you. It's Gore Vidal! Except I don't like what he said about the girl. That's wrong.

[tkondaks]

Roman Polanski is NOT Jewish, Mr. Vidal:

1) His mother's mother would have to have been Jewish or Roman would have to have converted, neither of which happened.

2) He was brought up Roman Catholic.

3) If people are claiming Polanski is Jewish by virtue of his father being Jewish (despite Roman not practising the Jewish religion) then we would have to say that Barack Obama is Muslim because his father was Muslim (despite Barack not practising the Muslim faith).

[jackbutler5555]

I don't know if the distinction was understood by potential antisemites. He may or may not be a victim of Jew haters, but his is a story involving Nazis chasing him because they thought he was a Jew. I think the distinction you made may be accurate, but I don't think antisemites would mind screwing the director of "The Pianist."

[Jeff Norman - Huffpost Blogger]

The point is that he was perceived as Jewish. That's why he had to escape the Nazis.

[tkondaks]

No, the point is that YOU, Jeff, automatically assumed that a child rapist was Jewish.

You really should do some self-examination as to why that was.

[gulopartisan]

I'm alost Polanski's age, and I have followed his career since seeing Knife in the Water as a college "art film" devotee. Until I saw VIdal's comment, I had never even thought of him as Jewish. Polish of course (a whole different prejudice), but not Jewish. America is not after him because he's Jewish. This country is after him because he is a privileged jet setter who assumes that he is so far above the law that he can get away with sodomizing an unwilling 13-year-old.

[freshnotbitter]

Gore's best writing is non fiction. Try "Palimpsest". His relationship with his mother, as described in the book, was astounding.

He's right about Polanski in one sense: Justice delayed is justice denied.

[LotusDoll]

To suggest that a 13 year old child had a choice to be a "hooker" and that he wondered what would happen if "they" had their chance in high office is stupid and hateful but even that is obliterated by the fact that he's blighted, old and not newsworthy, and the last book I read of his I put down after about 15 pages.

[jackbutler5555]

Gore Vidal has been making sht up for years. Back in the 60s, it used to drive William F. Buckley nuts when he made up facts and statistics and WFB was scrupulous (at the time) in doing research.

Harmless enough back then, even amusing.

But when he attacks a 13-year-old girl by pulling the "facts" out of his uh hat, then he crossed the line. You don't call someone a hooker and back it up with scuttlebutt supposedly circulating at the time. There is no evidence of antisemitism and yet he tossed it out, as if he really knew.

[Jeff Norman - Huffpost Blogger]

Jack, how do you know there's no evidence? Vidal offered none, but he wasn't pressed on it. Isn't it possible anti-semitism was a factor in 1978 when the public reacted to Polanski the outsider's contention that sex with a minor is no big deal? It doesn't strike me as a farfetched notion.

[jackbutler5555]

How do you know, as you know, is one of my favorite questions. I should never rule out antisemitism. But I must tell you I don't remember a time when Vidal was in command of the facts. That's probably what I was reacting to. What made me suspicious this time was his referring to the girl as a hooker. We both know HP doesn't hold their bloggers to strict journalistic standards, as is evidence the many blogs who took the girl's accusations and printed them as facts. Now, if the girl is a hooker, HP should have demanded some kind of proof. Samantha might now be considered a public figure, but it would have been actionable libel, if she were not. HP was careless and reckless, to quote what I remember from Times v. Sullivan.

[tkondaks]

Mr. Norman:

If there was anti-Semitism, it was directed at a Catholic Pole, which Mr. Polanski is/was. He is not and has never been Jewish.

[jackbutler5555]

Here's a case for your side almost:

Edwards v. National Audubon Society, 1977 -- The New York Times reported both sides of a heated dispute over pesticide science, and noted that the Audubon society said scientists consulting for industry were "paid to lie." The scientists sued the New York Times, which successfully defended itself with the"neutral reportage" defense.

However. this story probably doesn't qualify for the neutral reportage defense. HP is not reporting both sides.

If Vidal named the girl as a hooker, she -- although a public figure -- may have a pretty good shot as a reluctant public figure. The problem is that she has apparently done the red carpet and wrote o-ed pieces.

[Jeff Norman - Huffpost Blogger]

Many media professionals are Jewish, but they frown on what they perceive as excessive "Jewiness.­" That's why NBC hesitated to commit to Seinfeld. Polanski unapologetically embraced a view of sexuality that sharply conflicted with American standards. I would have thought that his outsider status, and the resentment it engendered, was more about being European than being Jewish, but Vidal's assertion doesn't strike me as a huge leap.

[jackbutler5555]

I did think of Polanski's view of sexuality as more European than Jewish. But that's just me. Folks in Southern California may have thought differently back then.

[tkondaks]

Mr. Norman:

Please do your homework before you state something as fact. Mr. Polanski is NOT Jewish and your suggestion that he is, I posit, is perhaps a subtle form of anti-Semitism in itself. Are you assuming he is Jewish because of his accent? His name? Why do you make such an assumption­...what way do you view your fellow human beings that "being Jewish" is perceived in a particular way that leads you to inaccurately label someone as this or that?

Polanski is no more Jewish than Barack Obama is Muslim...a­nd you're in the same boat as those who are STILL claiming that Obama is Muslim!

[Eris23]

"q: Barack Obama’s books seemed to persuade many people to support him. Have you read them?

GV:: No. Does one ever read a politician’s books?"

Best line from the interview. :)

[candlewax]

I read one of them. It's part of the reason why I voted for him.

[ThePeacemakers]

From the interview:
Q:What are “American values”?

A:Lying and cheating. There’s nothing better.
_________________
Yep, and now everybody from Atlantic on is screaming "vile" - the culture of denial persists and people wonder why things can't change here.
While I don't agree with his comments about at 13/14 year old girl - he's right about the media and a whole lot more.

[diverssant]

Excellent insight, as always, from Gore Vidal!
I concur that the forces at play are just as flawed now as they were then--just the zeitgeist is different.
Polanski is getting the full brunt of american society's vindictiveness, what else is new from this "christian" nation of hypocrites?
Oh, the children!!!! Right....

[hawkny]

Gore Vidal???
I can't believe that that old coot is still alive....
Good love him, for his willingness to speak out where others of noteriety would not..
As for Polanski, he ran, suggesting guilt. If innocent he should have stayed in the US and fought the charges against him. I don't really think that his Jewishness is a factor.
Experience to be president? You jest Gore, surely!! Inate intelligence and motivation weigh far more heavily in the qualifications needed to function successfully in that office. Take the Bushits for example...

[flossophy]

Our worst modern president was a PhD.

One of our best presidents didn't have a formal education or college degree.

[SecondBase]

I didn't know that Bush's dad bought him a phd.

[Jelperman]

I think the part about Errol Flynn in the interview is the giveaway about what Vidal is getting at. Flynn was busted on a trumped-up charge of statutory rape because of a vendetta by prosecutors against Warner Bros (where Flynn was under contract). The case was a set-up from the beginning, as described in Hollywood Babylon, as retaliation against Warners because they weren't forthcoming with bribe money. Fatty Arbuckle was also dragged through the mud on trumped-up charges. I'm not suggesting that Vidal is right and that the Polanski case was a set-up, too. But it does explain why so many people in Hollywood suspect the worst and think Polanksi was framed with an underage party girl just like Errol Flynn.

Not every black person arrested by a white cop is the victim of racist discrimination, but enough of them are that the police are viewed with suspicion and hostility.

[SecondBase]

Interesting.

Speaking of which, have you seen Trumbo?

It's fantastic. Highly educational, and highly recommended.

[Jelperman]

Haven't seen it, but I did see an interview with Orson Welles, who said the Hearst family and authorities in LA had arranged for an underage girl (along with detectives waiting to pounce) to be found in Welles' hotel room in retaliation for Citizen Kane. Welles was tipped off by a hotel clerk and never went upstairs, going to a different hotel.

[DungBeetle]

I love Gore Vidal but for him to suggest that the media is anti-semetic is absolutely absurd.

The media (newspaper, TV, publishing) is so incredibly over represented by J_ws it's insane.

3% of the population makes up 30 to 50% of the pundints, columnists and, more importantly, the editors and others who decide what "is" news.

[alexa07]

This interview quote is the ONLY mention I have seen of Polanski's religion other than an Al Jazeera reference to how he lost his mother in the holocaust. If anything, just the opposite has occurred from what Vidal is indicating. If the offender were an Arab celebrity, do you think the religion would have been so ignored or downplayed by the media? Of course not, & we would have numerous references to Islam by the usual pundits, who enjoy the correlating Islam to everything negative they can possibly think of. Actually, in terms of media coverage, the religion of the perpetrators should not be sensationalized or used in any way to lay blame. Polanski's religion, or lack of it, is completely beside the point & should NOT be part of any narrative. Gore Vidal should know better.

[jackstpaul]

French philosopher Bernard Levi is talking about it all the time in his posts here on HP.

[ydnas639]

It is past time for passé personality to realize his 15 minutes are long past.

Maybe it is time for him to get his own Myra Breckinridge treatment.