Seriously, I'm not sure. We've been fooled collectively before by a writer's sarcasm (Minneapolis writer calling Clemens daughter a liar), so I didn't want to express outrage without a consensus. Hunter S. Thompson Last night I was offered a pound of blood sausage to predict that the Lakers will certainly win the NBA championship, but I refused. "That is too much like Washington politics," I said to the woman who offered the bribe. "Don't be coming around here with your vulgar crap about the Lakers. They are lame and weak and pitiful. Minnesota will beat them in five games." It was a risky thing to say, but so what? I used to be a Lakers fan, but no more -- not since they went out and shot their wad on Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Indeed. There is something vaguely obscene about the sight of the Lakers in action, win or lose, and it ain't Kobe Bryant. That is old-fashioned police reporter's gibberish. They all want desperately to believe that the Criminal Justice system in the mile-high state of Colorado has anything to do with justice. "Oh, no," they tell each other, during lunch breaks from whatever trial they happen to be covering that day. "Oh, no. You can take it from me, bro. The criminal justice machinery in Colorado is not corrupt. It is not a diseased petri dish for the experiments of the Denver Police Department." Ah, but I am getting a little tired of arguing with brutish forces like the DPD, or any police department. I have done that pretty well in the pages of the current June issue of Vanity Fair magazine, which I strongly recommend to all readers, young or old, because it is the terrifying truth about what can happen to a city that turns its law enforcement system over to steroid-crazed brutes with badges. Read it and weep. * * * * * The long-dreaded 2004 Olympics in Greece will be the ultimate crossroads for sports and politics in this new and vicious century. The recent photos of cruelty at the Abu Grahaib all-american prison in Baghdad have taken care of that. Yes, sir. We have taken the bull by the horns on this one, sports fans. These horrifying digital snapshots of the American dream in action on foreign soil are worse than anything even I could have expected. I have been in this business a long time and I have seen many staggering things, but this one is over the line. Now I am really ashamed to carry an American passport. Not even the foulest atrocities of Adolf Hitler ever shocked me so badly as these photographs did. And why would I want to go to Athens in the summer, anyway? Only a fool or a paid sportswriter would do a thing like that. ... Or a suicidal terrorist, eh? You bet. There will be plenty of those in Greece when July rolls around. It will be like strolling up to a wasp's nest that some jackass just swatted with a sharp stick. Welcome to the birthplace of the world-wide Olympics, bubba. You'll like it here. Just get naked and prowl around the streets tonight. You will find friends everywhere. Well, I don't know. That is a long way to go for a beating. Or to get your head chopped off on worldwide TV. Who needs it? Not me, old sport. I think I will hunker down out here in the high, bright mountains this summer, and watch the Olympics on TV. It may be slightly duller, but so what? It is the only game in town. Most of us agree that the abuse conducted by our some of our soldiers is a horrible thing for a myriad of reasons, but to say their worse than the systematic extermination of nearly 10 million people is ludicrous at best.
I'm not sure how much of his stuff you've read, but I can never really understand anything that Hunter S. Thompson writes or where he's coming from; he's a strange guy and you should just leave it at that.
Actually I love Hunter S. Thompson. He's a Gonzo journalist, or some call it neo-journalism. He's a very strange man who has done some crazy but story worthy things. He lives in colorado and used to be neighbors with John Denver. He would routinely fire weapons at inanimate objects on Denver's property and the police were involvd numerous times. A reporter from the show 48 Hours came to inverview him, and he refused to inteview with the guy until the reporter mowed his lawn. Sure enough the reportrer did mow his lawn, while Hunter sat outside and watched, holding a .44 revolver the whole time. He and Ralph Steadman(artist) once tried to row a boat to the Australian Yacht in the America's cup and spraypaint F*** the Pope on the side of their boat so that when it left the starting line people would think the Australians had done it. He's written extensively about his drug trips, etc. In this case he didn't say what was done at AG prison was worse than what Hitler did, just that he was more shocked by the photographs. I once worked at Random House Publishing as an assistant to his Editor's assistant, and the communication he wrote in to that editor was some of the funniest stuff I've ever read.
Disaffected Youth 1: Hey, look at that cannonball guy. He's cool. Disaffected Youth 2: Are you being sarcastic, dude? Disaffected Youth 1: I don't even know anymore.
In this specific case, FB answered it for you when he pointed out HST said he'd never been more shocked rather than that he thought it was a worse offense. But it's an interesting question for maybe not the reasons you raised it. On thinking it over I'm pretty well convinced Hunter Thompson's never used sarcasm in his writing. I don't think I'd have realized that if you hadn't brought it up. He certainly uses hyperbole and fantasy, but he does it to get at what he considers to be deeper truths than the facts alone provide. Further he is one of very few truly original writers and one of America's most original characters as well. "Gonzo journalism" was coined specifically to describe the things HST did that had never been done by anyone else. He's not among the most compelling, most correct or most important political writers -- he's not even in those fields -- but he is one of the best. And he's certainly one of my favorites. I'd also say of any famous person I can think of, I probably covet his life the most.
This is total sarcasm. I can't tell you how many times I've watched Fear and Loathing. I love his writing style. I felt like a nazi, but it had to be done.
