The Crook Who Killed the American Dream

"He said-since 1964, when he worked as a deputy prosecutor in Oakland and Berkeley, during the time of Great Confusion." ~HST quoting Ed Meese, author of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography, 1986

Photo: guardian.co.uk

The face of Gonzo Journalism, the late Hunter S. Thompson, authored pieces that provided intuitive and brilliant insight into the world of politics, the motorcycle gang Hell's Angels and the death of the American Dream.

ONE of my favorite pieces by the Godfather of Gonzo is an obiturary on former President and the epitome of a marginal man, Richard Milhouse Nixon.

The following is an excerpt from He was a Crook published in the Rolling Stone in 1994:

"Nixon's spirit will be with us for the rest of our lives -- whether you're me or Bill Clinton or you or Kurt Cobain or Bishop Tutu or Keith Richards or Amy Fisher or Boris Yeltsin's daughter or your fiancee's 16-year-old beer-drunk brother with his braided goatee and his whole life like a thundercloud out in front of him. This is not a generational thing. You don't even have to know who Richard Nixon was to be a victim of his ugly, Nazi spirit.

He has poisoned our water forever. Nixon will be remembered as a classic case of a smart man shitting in his own nest. But he also shit in our nests, and that was the crime that history will burn on his memory like a brand. By disgracing and degrading the Presidency of the United States, by fleeing the White House like a diseased cur, Richard Nixon broke the heart of the American Dream."

In two grafs, Thompson captured the essence of the Crook King and the skid mark he left on American politics.

Nasty Nix and his dirty tricks caused the American public to distrust their elected officials. His uber-conservative agenda and the swine that voted him into the most esteemed office in the US killed the most beautiful period in our society, the Love Generation.

Thompson couldn't have said it better, "Richard Nixon broke the heart of the American Dream."

This obit is only one of Thompson's works that exemplifies journalistic perfection. Thompson vividly captures not only Nixon's personality but also the lasting imprint he left on America.

All journalists, writers and the general public can learn something from Thompson. Take his words to heart, think about them. Look back at Nixon's policies on war and social programs. His harsh treatment on people (hippies, liberals etc.) who only wanted to raise consciousness in America, who wanted their American Dream to become a reality, was cruel and vindictive.

Long Live Hunter.

-Krista