An Excerpt from an Interview with Gore Vidal
with the BBC
Forwarded from a reliable academic organization.
Vidal is right, as usual. Meanwhile, my question is how many more eye-for-an-eye
rounds will it take to earn a nuclear detonation? One, two at the most...
There is zero discussion here of finally imposing the U.N. settlement on the Israelis.
Worse is yet to come.
Take care,
md
BBC Radio have been running an interview with Gore Vidal. The first time it aired,
Vidal was asked his views on the long-term consquences of September 11. He replied
that it might underscore the benefits of having a parliamentary form of government,
which had we had it now, would ensure that Bush was back on his ranch, the crew now
running the US military were similarly out of power, and someone else would now be
in charge. In subsequent airings, BBC have cut out the initial part of the interview,
but are still running what follows here:
Vidal: "We have no government now. We have a group who got into power simply
to reduce taxes for the rich, for Corporate America (they don't "do" taxes
anymore) and to threaten other countries. We've isolated ourselves in the last three
months, broken every treaty in sight -- by this ignoramus for president, and if anything
demonstrates that our 18th century constitution -- which we once regarded as one
of the wonders of the earth -- has worn out and broken. Here we spend all the money
on military and there's no information from CIA, no information from FBI.... How
something of this size could have been put together, masterminded, wherever it begins,
and we not find out -- makes us more than ever the Wizard of Oz. "
BBC: "Can I bring you, Gore Vidal, to the effect this is likely to have on your
nation, the American people, on the Television Age, on the Television Nation -- the
nightmare, the horror film... suddenly came into reality."
Vidal: "Well it certainly looked like one of those bad movies. Yes, it was horrifying.
I think what's going to come to the fore immediately -- and I hope your journalists
will pick up on it -- after the Oklahoma City bombing, Clinton was persuaded to sign
an anti-terrorist bill. This is one of the most extraordinary pieces of legislation
ever signed... sailed through Congress. It means that after an act like this, he
can suspend the entire Bill of Rights, which is all of our freedoms. Amongst them
for the first time will be suspended (other than in wartime) Habeus Corpus. Now,
no one has touched Habeus Corpus in the history of the United States, nor have they
touched it since the Magna Carta, when it first was evolved in your country. Now
this is very dangerous, but for anybody who is thinking about establishing a police
state, with control over all media, and over all communications, and over everybody's
life in the interests of terrorism... ('You see what they can do, they blew up our
cities' and 'Why didn't you protect your cities?') That's not the point. We're going
to make sure that anybody considered dangerous to the State will be taken care of."
BBC: "Well, those draconian measures haven't yet been taken..."
Vidal: "I am saying they're going to be, and hope that when they do you will
notice it!"
BBC: "And that was the famous American author -- some now call him a 'veteran
author' -- and pungent social commentator, Gore Vidal."
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