SEND LAWYERS, GUNS & MONEY

Feckless(FP): Oddvark and I just finished watching the documentary film Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. The film was narrated by Johnny Depp and includes interviews with a host of Thompson family, friends, colleagues and contemporaries. I really enjoyed this film; it was very comprehensive and allows the viewer to really get to know Thompson, to the extent that is possible in a two hour film about such a complex man.

Oddvark(OC): I've got to say, except for the obsession with firearms, some of Thompson's exploits reminded me of our old friend Big Moe.

FP: Oh yeah! I don't know if Big Moe was emulating Thompson, but they were definitely kindred spirits. Speaking of spirits, like Big Moe, Thompson consumed large quantities of Wild Turkey bourbon whisky.

OC: Yeah, they were both tall, slim and very interested in politics. Thompson was far more of an activist and advocate than Moe ever was. Moe was more of an observer and raconteur.

FP: For instance, the film reveals that Thompson virtually adopted George McGovern's presidential campaign and did everything he could to promote McGovern and criticize his opponents in the 1972 Democratic primary; Edmund Musky and Herbert Hoover. He recorded his impressions from the campaign trail in the book Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. It is one of the funiest political books ever written. I didn't read it until I was almost 30 years old.

OC: I prefer Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The book is hilarious from the first page to the last. The Ralph Steadman artwork is also devastatingly humorous.

FP: Oh yeah, Dr. Gonzo could definitely write. His pieces for Rolling Stone magazine during the 60's and 70's are legendary. In fact, most of our readers would probably argue that a good deal of this show is derivative of Dr. Gonzo's work.

OC: What's derivative mean?

FP: It means that we have been heavily influenced by Hunter S. Thompson's body of work.

OC: Well, that's appropriate because we, like Dr. Gonzo, are usually heavily under the influence of adult beverages when we compose our work.

FP: According to the documentary, Dr. Gonzo was under the influence of more than just adult beverages.

OC: Well, times have changed.

FP: Have they? The U.S. is still involved in a long lasting foreign war on the other side of the world. We are still propping up corrupt politicians in countries that our military is occupying. We just experienced eight years of the most insular domestic regime since the Richard Nixon administration. We are still in the midst of a long recession that was, in part, brought upon us by rapacious Wall Street speculators and lax oversight by the aforementioned administration and the Congressional committees charged with oversight responsibilities (Dems included). In many ways, it seems like old times.

OC: Yeah, and just like 1968, I'm glad I'm not living in Detroit right now. There is a lot of flammable materials in my storage unit.

FP: And you accidently given most of those materials a liberal dousing with alcohol over the years.

OC: That's right, if I ever have to go on oxygen it will be like living inside a Molatov cocktail.

FP: I think you have to have health insurance to go on oxygen.

OC: No worries then; at least until I become eligible for Medicare.

FP: See the conservatives are right, government run health care programs can be a danger to our communities and way of life.