Bill, it's now my turn to take issue with what you have said.
>Vidal is about nihilism.
Simply because he dislikes the American Establishment and, in particular, the Bush government doesn't make him a nihilist. As result of his hereditary connection to the American Establishment he is/was certainly in a position to criticize it without being accused, by implication, of rejecting all values, belief in existence etc. It is clear from his extensive contribution to world literature that his work is widely acclaimed and he has a considerable following, even in the US. If he was a nihilist why does he write so much? Clearly, he is upset and very concerned, indeed, obsessively so.
>Patriots presumably are about preserving liberty
That may be your interpretation and it certainly was true when the Americans fought against Britain for their independence. However, and this is the whole point of the present debate, many people, myself included, do not believe the present US administration is about preserving liberty, not even of Americans, but is about conquest and the preservation of the American "empire" and globalism. In the circumstances, and this is the point I have tried to make before, an American who seeks to preserve his own liberty may, in fact, have to oppose the present US govnt and, by so doing, possibly commit treason. He will thus be anything but a patriot. This is the snare with which you caught me in my reference to Gore Vidal because I believe that Vidal is/was about preserving liberty --- certainly his own. In fact, it is more than likely that, by his going to live in Italy, he demonstrated that. |
