Ms. Smith Goes to Washington
February 2, 2006
Gore Vidal on Our Union's State (and Nazis)
MS. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
by Shirley Smith
I listened to Gore Vidal's speech in his own voice, and it was great. He says exactly what I would want to hear from every Democratic representative in Congress. Of course Mr. Vidal's truth be told, holding back no punches, is not new, and I salute him for it.
I have a book, An Incomplete Education, by Judy Jones and William Wilson, an updated version from their earlier book that came out in 1987.
They have quotes of Gore Vidal ... "When Gore Vidal made media history by calling William Buckley a "crypto-Nazi" in front of millions of television viewers during the 1968 Democratic convention, he presumably meant that beneath Buckley's conservative facade lurked a fascist trying to keep the public --- or himself --- from seeing his true colors."
And, it reads on about the different types of Nazis that Gore Vidal points out, such as the "crypto-Nazi is really fascist-minded," (snip). "... a quasi-Nazi probably isn't sure just what his real feelings are," (snip) ... "but, the "neo-Nazi is, or likes to think he is, the real thing, updated. Last and certainly least, don't worry at all about those fifteen-year-old pseudo-Nazi rockers who like to affect combat boots and Iron Crosses" (snip) "unlike neo-Nazi skinheads, who tend to have more frown lines and fewer teeth, these kids are just out to scare you in the hopes of being taken seriously for a change."
There ... people don't want to hear the word Nazi today ... did they want to hear it during the first half of the last century, I wonder?
Thanks BuzzFlash,
Shirley Smith
Shirley Smith is a regular BuzzFlash Reader and Contributor. Many of her earlier posts can be found in the Mailbag.