A Gonzo Presidency?

It was either Sun Tzu in The Art of War, or maybe it was Vito Corleone in The Godfather, but someone recommended the intense study of one's adversaries. With that in mind, the View found itself recently in the belly of the blue state beast, Cambridge, MA where the Kendall Square Cinema was showing: Gonzo, The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, seemingly the only showing in Eastern New England. I didn't check, but I am sure that our car was the only one in the parking garage sporting a McCain sticker.

Thompson, no relation to Fred, is regarded by many as being one of the prominent voices of the counterculture during the 1960’s and 1970’s. But like the non-conformist movement itself, most of his work, seems stuck on the overthrow of the status quo without providing strategies for the development of plausible alternatives. Btw, I wonder how many of those in attendance were aware that Thompson, a mere high school graduate, acquired his doctorate via a mail order purchase of a Doctor of Divinity degree? In a life characterized by chemically-induced confusion, I wonder at this attempt at putting a measure of academic credibility on a career constantly swerving between a Merry Prankster preference for fun and utter psychosis.


"The trunk of the car looked like a mobile police narcotics lab. We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers . . . and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls . . . Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon."
from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:A Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson

Based largely on his support of George McGovern in 1972 and his life-long hatred of Richard Nixon, Thompson has been widely adopted as a prophet of the Left. But when other factors, such as his strong dislike of Mr. Democrat, Hubert Humphrey, and McGovern running mate, Ed Muskie, as well as his long-time love affair with firearms are considered, it could be argued that the complex round peg of Thompson's psyche might be a uneasy fit to liberalisms square hole.

One of the things I learned from the movie, however, was Thompson's backing of Jimmy Carter, who, Thompson boasted, he discovered among clamoring horde of would be presidential candidates in 1976. It made me recall how the unknown Georgia Governor rode the Watergate backlash into the Whitehouse for what may well have been four of the worst years of the presidency. I am not trying to minimize the country's frustration with Nixon's inability to end the Viet Nam War, nor the agonizing and relentless un-pealing of the Watergate onion that lead ultimately to Nixon's resignation. The voters were demanding change, and boy did we get it. Who can forget: Stagflation, The energy Crisis (those dopey sweaters) The Malaise, double-digit inflation, and Carter’s high (or low) water mark of ineptitude, the humiliation of the Iran hostage crisis. People, especially those with short memories, and those who slept through their American History classes, should be careful what they wish for, very careful.

Returning from those heady days of yesteryear to the 2008 presidential election, we are once again faced with the hue and cry of those frustrated with understanding the challenges of government in a complex age. While the War on terror is difficult, that difficulty does not make it any less real. With the emergence of foreign countries, some with nuclear capabilities, and, in some cases, enmity towards the US, foreign relations have become significantly more complex, but no less dangerous, than the good old days of the Cold war. The parallels with 1976, twisted as they might be, are there for those seeking simple solutions. Moreover, exhibit one is young Mr. Obama and his relentless calls for nebulous change.

Having staked out the promise of change as his campaign mantra, Obama is now scrambling to tell the voters just what the end-product will look like. And depending upon the venue, or the day of the week, the answer itself undergoes change. Maybe the fresh-faced, silver-tongued freshman senator with precious little experience is just making it up as he goes along. Hopefully the campaign process will highlight the deficiency as we move towards November. But if the lessons of history are to be learned, we must dig for the truth. Gonzo journalism is one thing. Another Gonzo presidency could be disastrous