Here’s a travesty brought to light by The eXiled: Christopher Hitchens wrote an introduction to Ancient Gonzo Wisdom (a Hunter S. Thompson interview book) and shat on it.
Hitchens barely grazed Thompson’s presence and is the last person that should be speculating about his suicide. Yet, Hitchens was allowed to write that Thompson killed himself because of “the strain imposed on him by visitors who wanted him to be outrageous” – you know, for show! Surely, it had nothing to do with the fact that Hunter outlived his own life expectancy and didn’t feel like suffering through another Bush term or some other, less offensive theory.
And so, Hitchens the dummy demagogue (because taking the Bible 100% literally isn’t wise, whether you’re a Christian or a so-called atheist), uses the introduction to drone on how Hunter’s questioning of 9/11 is a signature of a “basement-dwelling paranoid.” Ramon Glazov calls it like it is: “As Anita Thompson’s case demonstrates, widows aren’t necessarily sharp enough to notice leeches and tell them to get fucked.”
I often like reading Hitchens, but this is deplorable.
“the strain imposed on him by visitors who wanted him to be outrageous”
Wasn't that the reason given for why Cobain killed himself?
Or you could read the introduction for yourself rather than formulate an opinions based upon the regurgitated hearsay contained herein.
The positing by The eXiled and yourself – that HST killed himself at least in part because of Bush's presidency – is quite disrespectful to the good Doctor. Dr Thompson was never one to back down from a fight; to say that he killed himself because the strain of another four years of Dubya was too much for him is an accusation of him being spineless and weak. He was neither.
Likewise, implying that Hitchens meant HST killed himself "for show" is similarly incorrect. The speculation given in the foreword is more along the lines of HST tiring of being a circus sideshow, one that had to constantly be outrageous in order to live up to the expectations of his guests. After thirty years of playing Raoul Duke, HST was tired of it all and wanted out. That is the entire assertion that Hitchens makes.
True. If Thompson was going to kill himself because of an election he would have done it when Nixon was reelected. Hell, the fact that he survived the Reagan years means that he didn't base his life decisions on presidential elections.
The fact of the matter was that Hunter S Thompson was a party animal and he was on the death road for a long time.
I knew I'd feel bad about this post when the time comes…
…which doesn't mean he wasn't full of vacuous, vicious shit while still kicking.