In those days, Vidal was labeled “a man of letters” who wrote novels,
plays and essays and, in the emerging new medium, argued raucously on the tube
with others of his ilk such as Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley and Truman
Capote.
In a 1960 play and later movie, “The Best Man,” Vidal signaled the new
JFK era by having a former President recall the old days when politicians “had
to pour God over everything like ketchup.” Knowing audiences laughed.
In 1968, Vidal was a network commentator paired with his conservative
doppelganger, the elegant editor and novelist William F. Buckley. They
escalated a dispute on some minor point into calling one another "a pro
crypto Nazi" and "a queer." Buckley won the argument by warning
Vidal, "Stop calling me a crypto Nazi or I'll sock you in your goddam
face..."
The two descendants of patrician families (Vidal was distantly related to
Jacqueline Kennedy) pursued their feud on magazine pages, in lawsuits and by
running for public office to spread their ideas (unsuccessfully, of course).
Today, ideas have been replaced by partisan sound bites and SuperPAC
attacks funded anonymously by bilious billionaires. Politics is a mindless demolition
derby.
Gore Vidal’s departure recalls a time when talented, full-blooded people
with names, faces and deeply held convictions had their say and tried to
persuade thinking voters to agree with them.
It may have been messy, but it was human.
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