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Whose America Now? Not Gore Vidal's
I recently interviewed Gore Vidal, one of the last old-school aristocrats left in this country, and asked him how he felt about the state of the American republic -- the subject that has fired his political radicalism and a large portion of his literary output over the past half-century.
Vidal, now 83 and in indifferent health, bemoaned the lack of a transcendent figure to match the political skills of a Franklin Roosevelt or the oratory of a General MacArthur. When I asked him about Barack Obama, with his formidable rhetoric and cool temperament, he gave me a look of pure contempt and uttered perhaps the most reactionary single comment of this election season.
"Slaves have a hard time making poetry," he said, relishing the shock factor, "unless it's got a beat."
Vidal, like many of his generation and social standing, clearly cannot fathom how the son of a single mother from Kansas and a Kenyan father could presume to occupy the Oval Office. And while he expressed his distaste with an extraordinary degree of frankness, not to mention racial venom, he is far from the only one.
We've had Republicans on the campaign trail talk about the "pro-American" parts of the country -- as though Obama and his cause were somehow antithetical to what America stands for. In the presidential debates, John McCain seemed to marvel at his opponent's presumptuousness, when he could look at him at all. During the primaries, Hillary Clinton betrayed a similar sense of indignation at this improbable novice upending her carefully laid plans.
In truth, next Tuesday's presidential election is not just about Obama beating McCain, or the Democrats retaking the White House. In a deeper sense, it is about who gets to run this country.
For too long, both major parties have worked from an assumption of entitlement. Between them, they formed a tight-knit little club which alone decided who could be part of the establishment and who could not. Between them, they courted the 50-something per cent of the electorate they felt they could count on, and roundly ignored the rest. For the most part, of course, running the executive branch has been a rich white man's game.
Obama alone won't change everything, but he is transforming the rules quite spectacularly. In the South, black voters are no longer the political dead weight the Democrats have so often taken for granted, and that the Republicans have managed to trounce at the polls time after time. Now they are spearheading a new Democratic coalition in which the divisive politics of race have, at last, taken a back seat to the broader cause of progressive ideas. Across the country, young people are being energized into political activism in ways unseen since the Vietnam War and -- in contrast to the counter-cultural movement of 40 years ago -- given real reason to suppose the future belongs to them.
There is, of course, a backlash. Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann are far from the first political figures to suggest that "their" America -- the parts of the country that subscribe to their political ideology and conform to their idea of how society should function -- is the "real" America. And it is no accident that Republicans desperate to find solace in the electoral disaster that awaits them are crying foul about the non-existent scourge of individual voter fraud -- essentially, casting aspersions on the legitimacy of hundreds of thousands of newly registered voters whom the old guard barely recognizes as part of America's political process at all.
Vidal's reactionary bile is part of a clear historical pattern that has, at different times, condoned the slavery he alludes to; espoused open prejudice against immigrants, Catholics, Jews, and the industrial working class; and embraced the notion that democracy is somehow too precious to be entrusted to more than a small fraction of the people governed.
We can be glad, though, his brand of entitled snobbery no longer holds sway. A new America is being born.
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I've been reading Vidal for 30 years, this is entirely inconsistent with Vidal's progressive politics and Vidal is either having him on and deliberately pulling his leg just to shock (as he likes to do) or the quote is taken out of context or Vidal needs to change his meds. Something is fishy.
I completely agree.
I had the same reaction.
It is entirely w/in Mr. Vidal's ability to force this blogger to correct anything that is untrue. He has Counsel, book agents, publishers, etc. at his disposal. All it takes is one phone call to Arianna, who will certainly take a call from a celebrity such as Mr. Vidal.
The man is 83 and "in indifferent health." I doubt he's working 24/7 to protect his reputation. Let us not hold him to the standards of a thirty year old.
That's a load of bull. Libel law in the U.S. is a joke.
Excellent. Glad to hear it.
How sweet, Mr. Vidal; your true feelings complement the other Americans who possess not a speck of your accomplishments and artisocratic pretensions. What provides me the most solace about these folks? They're dying out. The south will rise again, but this time with honor and vision!!
Obama/Biden 08/12...It'll take that long!
You are buying the fact that there is no misquote / misunderstanding / wires crossed. And the above poster who suggest that in thirty years of reading Gore's views this is the opposite of his views? This possibly correct quote? Without waiting for any rebuttal? Just asking.
On Gore Vidal
You know we all need to expand ourselves into realizing truth when spoken..this man or any man's words do not need defending..or explaining by anyone when they flow up honestly from their innate hate..you can hide your racism attitude an demeanor behind many walls that conceal your true feelings..but the heart within will always refuse to let someone that has become a prisoner of hate or hatred no matter that it finally appears late..is still the most welcomed affirmation and verifiable form of truth..No matter how many books one writes if the pen is filled with poison eventually you will get some ink on your shirt..why does everyone always want to shoot the messenger when they only deliver the message..
One thing the American political system did was allow the ethnic groups that founded the country to continue to Rule this country despite the fact that it was inundated by tens of millions of people from nearly every ethnic group and every country on earth.
Sure there were Roosevelts (Dutch) and Eisenhowers (German) and even the Kennedys (Irish): in this case New York Dutch were one of the founding ethnic groups; so were Pennsylvanian Germans; Kennedys are true outliers being Irish and Catholic - but Kennedy didn't live to finish his first term, and after that, we went back to the same old pattern. More than likely, if Obama is elected, he'll be followed by the old pattern.
More than likely, Gore Vidal feels the United States still belongs to the original founding ethnic group. My take is he feels that his ethnic group has been the ruling class and everyone else gets a say so at election time, but the rest of the time they call the shots. I'm sure he feels that this country is his ethnicity's country, they are the ruling class for a reason, everyone else is here on loan. So for those reasons, I'm not too surprised by his statement. It might be perceived as racist. But I see it more as ethno-elitist. That might be the same thing. But I don't seem him attacking the idea of an Obama presidency because he is black but because he is not of the founding polyglots.
Sorry, but until I see or hear this statement in context, I cannot believe this.
I too am shocked. Gore Vidal was here in San Diego campaigning (I thought) for Obama.
Sometimes a lyric, such as Vidal's, overwhelms a writer's good sense. To hang an evaluation of him on a single sentence is as great an exaggeration as that single sentence might be.
Yes, it was coarse. I heard the same among my Chicago white relatives when Harold Washington was elected mayor. That proved simply to be a prelude to the next two black senators from Illinois.
Yes, there is a whole class of southerners like Vidal who retain some nostalgia for their plantation-style ancestry. And, yes, we shall hear more of the same after the election. Let us hope it will soon be superfluous and negligible.
The most important part of this essay:
In truth, next Tuesday's presidential election is not just about Obama beating McCain, or the Democrats retaking the White House. In a deeper sense, it is about who gets to run this country.
How true.
Wow! No wonder Norman Mailer (RIP) wanted to punch this ante-bellum southern racist in the nose. And also no wonder he and cousin Al Gore did not care much for each other.
Thought: If Gore Vidal married Al Gore, his name would be Gore Gore.
Very good.
It was actually William F. Buckley, in a pretty famous debate, that threatened to punch Vidal in the nose when Vidal called him a fascist. And that was...what...44 years ago? wow.
1968 at the Democratic Convention. Vidal called him a crypto-fascist in passing, and Buckley interrupted to call him a queer and say "I will punch you and you shall not get up." LOL. Just watched the video yesterday.
Vidal's remarks remind me of that scene in Citizen Kane when Joseph Cotton confronts Orson Welles' Kane, who fancies himself as a dedicated reformer, with the accusation, "You talk about 'the people' as if you own them. As if their rights were a gift you were going to give them -- something they should be grateful to you for. Well, if your 'people' ever get the idea that those rights are something that already belongs to them and decide to take matters into their own hands, you're not going to like that one bit!"
(I'm paraphrasing from memory, but I think that's pretty close.)
Very interesting. Vidal's comment was at best a double entendre. Unfortunately, the r@cist interpretation is the most obvious. This is not an effective way to communicate in 2008.
And...he knew it...enjoyed it...at the expense of fellow Americans.
My father said bizarre things before he died due to medication and illness. I would not let it tarnish his image because he led a good life. Eventually we all become OLD. We have to remember it's not what we say, it's what we DO.
Whether the young people have become a part of political activism is yet to be proved. Showing up at rallies for Obama as if it were the latest rock concert is not political activism. Going to the voting booth on November 4th is. If we see the same percentage of voters in the younger demographics as we have seen in past elections then we will know that the so called youth 'activism' was more about vomiting out opinions on blogs and less about real activism.
Read this article in which Vidal slams McCain
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081027_mccain_in_the_echo_chamber/
Gore Vidal loves to slam people.
Only those who deserve it.
Thank you for this link. I had it up briefly a few nights ago, lost it, couldn't find it again.
I've read several pieces by Vidal. Perhaps he was being sarcastic when he made the remarks to the author of this essay. It appears to me that Mr. Vidal supports Sen. Barack Obama.
Very interesting article. So does Vidal vote? And for whom? What a dilemma for the old has-been.
Actually, he's a throwback to Victorian politics and shouldn't be taken seriously. At this point, he's going to say anything to shock but I still believe that he understands and appreciates intelligence no matter the source.
There are many people in America who cannot and will not accept that change in America has already happened. Sadly it appears Mr. Vidal is one of them. Their is no difference in the level of fear, hate and racism in the eloquent comments of Gore Vidal and those of some other American not quite as educated. Hate is hate, fear is fear and racism is still a major part of America's identity. This election has shaken up the fabric holding this nation together and the dirt we as a nation prefer not to discuss and acknowledge has fallen out into the open for the entire world to see.
You're basing that opinion on this smear my Gumbel? Do yourself a favor and learn more about Vidal before you make such a rash dismissal.
Incredible comment really since you have no idea who I am or what my experience with Vidal is. Your negative response to my truthful comment has allowed me a good glimpse of who you are though. yuck.
The fact that Vidal's observations shock the "keen sensibilities" of those of a generation whose political understanding has been honed on the whetstone of corporate news media, comes as no surprise. The corporate progaganda macine we call news finds it very profitable to be "shocked and aghast" at things that upset our notions of respectability and find great value in pretending to be just that all the time while ignoring the reality and nuance that ultimately form our paths forward. Vidal's perspective is one that is yes, aristocratic, but not superficial of phoney. Like it or not, it is the real deal. If you suspect that what he's saying is politically incorrect, so be it, but to pretend that being politically correct is objectively correct is a grave error in the interpretation of reality, as a thorough reading of history, something almost totally lacking in today's education, will testify.
Europeans have fought for centuries because of perceiced slights. Those of African descent are to accept a permanent default identity as SLAVES -- for ourselves and our children -- as the norm and with equanimity -- as Barack Obama has demonstrated.
Nice setup.
America is not Europe. We have no nobility. That was/is the point.
The comment demeans BOTH those of African descent -- and a "majority" powerful group that would make/condone the comment at the expense of fellow humans. It is -- and I hesitate to go into Sarah Palin territory, but these kinds of comments/statements/assertions always take us there -- un-American.
This not the Gore Vidal we thought we knew. So be it.
"Slaves have a hard time making poetry," he said, relishing the shock factor, "unless it's got a beat."
Cute, except that Obama's ancestors were never American slaves.
Even if they had been...I think Phyllis Wheatley (slave) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Wheatley - , James Weldon Johnson (son of slaves) and others history ignores/hides while misinformation/disinformation is proffered to satisfy the vanity and egos of men like Mr. Vidal -- would disagree with this bogus statement from one of our (white) men of letters.
Turn the page, America!
If you didn't know before, now you know why Mailer punched the man every time he saw him.
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