Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A Few Words From Vidal

From a NYTimes interview with Gore Vidal:

And what about Mr. McCain?

Disaster. Who started this rumor that he was a war hero? Where does that come from, aside from himself? About his suffering in the prison war camp?

Everyone knows he was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

That’s what he tells us.

Why would you doubt him? He’s a graduate of Annapolis.

I know a lot of the Annapolis breed. Remember, I’m West Point, where I was born. My father went there.

So what does that have to do with the U.S. Naval Academy down in Annapolis?

The service universities keep track of each other, that’s all. They have views about each other. And they are very aware of social class and eventually money, since they usually marry it.

How, exactly, is your cousin Al Gore related to you?

They keep explaining it to me, and I keep forgetting.

What about your grandfather, Thomas Gore of Oklahoma ?

He invented the whole state. It was Indian territory. There was no state until Senator Gore.

How did you feel when you heard that Buckley died this year?

I thought hell is bound to be a livelier place, as he joins forever those whom he served in life, applauding their prejudices and fanning their hatred.

As irascible an old fart as ever at 82. There's hope for me yet.

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