We Picked the Wrong Election to Lose Dr. Gonzo

We picked the wrong election to lose Hunter S. Thomspon and his carnivorous style of journalism.

With the release of Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, a documentary by Alex Gibney, I am reminded of the fact that I miss that kind of “news of the weird” reporting.  What a field day he could have had with this political cycle.

I’m sure he would have pointed out the arrival of The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse and their sidekick Sara Palin.  War, oil, unemployment, global financial upheaval and Caribou Barbie have arrived on Battlefield Earth.  And most of our friends and neighbors – domestically and abroad – are more than a little pissed about it.

Watching the runup to this perfect storm, I’m reminded why I decided to take my journalism training and apply it elsewhere: if you’re going to write creative fiction, you may as well get paid well for it.

It beats sidling up to the revolving-door crapmeisters shilling for the “idiocracy over factuality” elite who like to edit what people who really know what they’re talking about, inserting political dogma in place of disciplined inquiry and discovery.

A benefit of the new political reality is that campaigning never ends, and the line of buffoons seems to get longer.  In the 70s, The Village Voice ran a front page headline that screeched BOZOMANIA: Millions Disappointed as Fools Vie for High Office.

Oh, to return to those quieter, gentler and more civil times.

May the Higher Power of your choice guide you down the garden path of life today.