Posted on 11/14/2004 7:33:51 PM PST by weegee
By Hunter S. Thompson Page 2
"The Summer is over the harvest is in, and we are not saved." -- Jeremiah 8:20
Well, the election is over now, and I was pitifully wrong on my public prediction about the outcome. George W. Bush won handily; and my friend, John Kerry, lost by three percentage points -- which was every bit as big in a vicious presidential election as it was on the football field last night when the low-riding Indianapolis Colts kicked a last-second field goal to beat Minnesota 31-28.
That field goal was just as good for the Colts as if they'd won by three touchdowns. Three points is huge in a football game that goes down to the last snap of the ball on the last play of the game.
Unfortunately, I bet the Colts heavily to win by seven points -- and they only won by three -- so I was wrong again, and I paid a terrible price. First the presidency, then the point-spread on Monday night. Indeed. Gambling was not a happy experience for me last week.
But so what? I lost, but I am not a Loser. I have long understood that losing always comes with the territory when you wander into the gambling business, just as getting crippled for life is an acceptable risk in the linebacker business. They both are extremely violent sports, and pain is part of the bargain. Buy the ticket, take the ride. Mahalo.
Right after the Colts finally won last night, I called team owner Jim Irsay to congratulate him on his fine victory, even though he failed to make the spread.
"That was too close for comfort," I told him. "What's wrong with that kick-off coverage? It cost us 10 points last night; and if Randy Moss had been playing, forget about the Super Bowl."
Which is true. No team with the worst pass defense in the NFL has ever even been to a Super Bowl, much less win the game. That is a basic truth of Quantum Science in America ... And here is how it works in football situations.
The Indianapolis Colts are giving up almost 26 points a game so far, and that leakage is not likely to change a hell of a lot between now and Groundhog Day -- which indicates, by quantum extrapolation, that the Colts are a mathematical certainty not to go to the Super Bowl this year. They are doomed, because their defensive backfield leaks like a cheap rowboat -- especially against a big, mobile quarterback like the Vikes' Daunte Culpepper, who is bigger than any of the Colts' linebackers.
That is usually fatal in the NFL, where 300-pound people with three-percent body fat routinely run a 40-yard dash in less than five seconds. It's like having a vicious bull elephant that can run 40 miles an hour.
And so much for football wisdom, eh? Let's get back to the presidential election, which also caused enormous pain and grief to millions of people.
I am no stranger to the anguish of losing a presidential campaign, and this very narrow loss with John Kerry is no exception. It hurt, as always, but it didn't hurt as much as that horrible beating we took with George McGovern in 1972. That was by 22 points, the worst defeat in any presidential campaign since George Washington ran for a second term in 1787.
And the winner that year was a conquering hero named Richard Nixon, who got whacked out of office two years later because he was a crook. We had a very angry Democratic majority in the Senate that year, which is not the case now.
No. Today, the Panzer-like Bush machine controls all three branches of our federal government, the first time that has happened since Calvin Coolidge was in the White House. And that makes it just about impossible to mount any kind of Congressional investigation of a firmly-entrenched president like George Bush.
The time has come to get deeply into Football. It is the only thing we have left that ain't fixed. And more on that next week.
--------------------------
Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was born and raised in Louisville, Ky. His books include "Hell's Angels," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72," "The Great Shark Hunt," "The Curse of Lono," "Generation of Swine," "Songs of the Doomed," "Screwjack," "Better Than Sex," "The Proud Highway," "The Rum Diary," and "Fear and Loathing in America." His latest book, "Kingdom of Fear," has just been released. A regular contributor to various national and international publications, Thompson now lives in a fortified compound near Aspen, Colo. His column, "Hey, Rube," appears regularly on Page 2.
Gin and Brown Acid.
Wow. Tompson compared Republicans to Nazis. How unique. How creative.
Do you have a source for that?
<< crickets >>
Do I understand that HT thinks the election was fixed? HT must be sick!
Nope....Kerry got 5% fewer electoral college votes, not popular votes.
Irsay takes Thompson's calls? I doubt it.
Bush won by a field goal. I like that.
I thought this guy was dead!!!
His mind is like a squeezed out dishrag from all those drugs he consumed and he still is more cognizant than most brain dead liberals still spitting out their bile about this election
The meager supply of brain cells that remain within the drug-and-alcohol poisoned brain of Hunter Thompson should be allowed a decent burial - SOON! He over-strains himself when he tries to think about politics....
Gee, I'll bet kerry is happy to have this drugged-out old fool describe him as "my friend".
Gonzo journalism, you bet. I wonder if this guy even has the brain cells to get straight again. I think he has LSD in his DNA.
Don't you just it when love foaming-at-the-mouth, anti-RedStateChristian Rats include Bible verses in their articles, as if it somehow makes them God's chosen people, who are the true guardians of all that is holy.
It beats a Kerry administration, which is a pansy-like wuss machine.
Meanwhile President Bush got millions more votes than all other candidates combined ("ANYBODY BUT BUSH" in full).
The Rats know that they lost this election and have no one to pin the blame on (such as Nader or Buchanan) this time.
Gee, I'll bet kerry is happy to have this drugged-out old fool describe him as "my friend"
Absolutely, they even exchanged warm French-kisses during the campaign when Kerry passed through Aspen to raise some more money from depraved leftists. They're big pals, or at least I thought at the time how interesting it is that deranged buffoons like Larry Flynt, Michael Moore-on, and Hunter Thompson can actually be taken seriously by the likes of the 'leaders' of the Democratic Party.
"Panzer-Like"
Rotflol!
He spends this whole piece trying to convince us that the loss was no big deal..."buy the ticket; take the ride." is what he says.
But the above proves he's bitter as hell, and that's why he puts a poison pill at the end.
"I laugh at your superior intellect." (Kirk to Kahn)
On this election map, Red is commie libs and Blue is "TRUE BLUE" Republican voters.
1972...
Meanwhile I cannot find this 1787 defeat of George Washington.
Here is the 1789 map of the US results:
PURPLE is G. Washington.
Here is the 1792 map of the US results:
PURPLE again is G. Washington.
Here is the 1796 map of the US results:
1796 was a closer race (Purple again is the Federalists, this time running John Adams against "red" Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson). Purple won by a few electoral votes. Surprisingly, Both Adams and Washington ran as Federalists AGAINST EACH OTHER in the second election and no party affiliation during the first.
I guess that I missed read Thompson's error stat.
I guess that he means that George Washington completely dominated the map in his re-election bid (which was NOT in 1787).
I have seen that Olberman (the fool) on his blogsite over there at MSNBC still keeps insisting that the huge story of an OH recount is about to break -
This guy is a complete fool but I want to hear that his comments are completely untrue.
Anyone with any info please fill me in. Thanks.
(snip)Today, the Panzer-like Bush machine
Oh yea, we get the Nazi reference but considering that Panzers were bad ass German war machines I'd take it as a compliment and so would Karl Rove.
Hunter and the dims just can't believe we can win a fair election . like the NFL is a clean running machine .... let me make my bet ;-)
What a clown!
In fact, if you look at the mini-biography at the end of his column-which lists some of the books he's written-you'll notice that his latest work is Kingdom of Fear.
This book basically consisted of essays written by Thompson, most of which were several years old. Actually, that's been the case for the past decade and a half and I'm not sure if he's done any real investigative reporting over the course of the last two decades.
Hunter Thompson=Loser.
Guess again there good buddy...
I would love to debate thompson, but I have been a member of a drug free workplace for all of my working life.
Of course he thinks it was fixed, well, maybe not really, but this has become the rallying cry of the leftists. Bush stole the election (again) but gee whiz, we can't investigate cause they control the entire federal government.
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail is a classic. I wish he had been embedded in the Kerry campaign the way he was with the McGovern campaign. He would have hade a field day with Lurch and TeRayZuh.
LOL!! I still remember the Unknown Comic saying his father was from BAGhdad and his mother was from SACramento!
In addition to being an all-out phony, Thompson has always been a compulsive name-dropper. If he shook the guy's hand in a rope line, suddenly he's the man's personal confidante. But the Pass-The-Bong-Stop-Hogging-The-Cheetos crowd has always doted on him.
He says in the article that he supported McGovern for President.
He also states that John Kerry is "his friend."
He claims that Bush cheated in the election.
He further states that "we" don't have "angry democrats" in Congress.
What libertarian would ever talk like this? What libertarian is as abysmally ignorant of our founding history as Thompson is in this article?
He's a liberal.
"Gin and Brown Acid."
Probably not too far from the truth. Many moons ago, I had the distinct displeasure of "babysitting" him before a speaking engagement. The man is a deep-fried nutbar.
Is that a wolverine on his leg in the second picture?
Somebody get ahold of Sonny Barger and tell him to finish the job on this wannabe dork, okay?
bump
I swear to God I thought Hunter Thompson was dead. Didn't he die a few years back???? I guess not. Oh well.
None of the sober or un-coked ones, however, Hunter. :)
(the Hell's Angels) "let Hunter hang out...for a price, two kegs of beer. But as time went by, Hunter turned out to be a real weenie and a stone f****** coward. You read about how he walks around his house now with his pistols, shooting them out of his window to impress writers who show up to interview him. He's all show and no go. When he tried to act tough with us, no matter what happened, Hunter Thompson got scared."
Ralph "Sonny" Barger, Hell's Angel, American.
And that makes it just about impossible to mount any kind of Congressional investigation of a firmly-entrenched president like George Bush.
Yep, instead of ideas they want to win through scandals. George W's integrity will never allow them.
Either that or a Badger
He might just kill himself.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.