Posted on 02/26/2005 9:53:47 AM PST by BraveMan
Sure, Fred. Solipsistic, narcissistic, drug-addled self-promotion is a ticket to immortality . . . to everyone whose glands define his existence, anyway.
If you remember the drug laden Haight Ashbury and Woodstock events of the 1960's you probably weren't there.
Actually Fred sounds banal with a strong desire to be unique but falling short. Well short.
Sure. Sorry if my 'disagreement' with Fred's take on the `60' vs. the `00's radiated out in the wrong directions.
But I was there; I saw it and lived through it, and I don't have a lot of patience with the `60's romanticists. Mr. Reed has lost a ton of credibility with me, with this article.
FRED Donate
Or don't. I don't know. But it would sure help. Panhandling is not particularly pleasant, or I'd be sitting outside the subway jiggling a McDonald's cup seeded with bait change. Fact is, though, costs attach to producing these eruptions of outrage and sedition -- not much more than $1K a year in direct costs, but lots more in time which, for a freelance purveyor of lies and distortion, is money lost. Granted, you didn't ask me to do it. You don't owe me anything. On the other hand, these curiosities seem to amuse a lot of people, who of course may have too much time on their hands.
This isn't a strong-arm approach. The column will continue anyway. I'm not actually dying. Why, you might ask, should you pay for my hobby when I don't pay for your hang-gliding? Think about something else. But in a moment of reduced alertness, especially if you are filthy rich from exploiting orphans and oppressing children in iron lungs, a few small bucks would sure help. That funny-looking little button below that says "Donate" works. Or send a massive check to Fred Reed, 10560 Main Street, Suite 211, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030. Your children probably don't need to go to college anyway.
That whole era can be summed up by the song "I went thru the desert on a horse with no name..." You listen to that song and say, what the hell is that all about? Weird shit.
The world of the late sixties through the election of Reagan was a hideous, frightening place. We had to elect a real grown up to take us back to where our parents had left us.
I couldn't let my wife and child go to the store at night during those days, and the liberal judges were finding every reason under the sky to release the most horrible killers and predators. Patti Hearst was kidnapped by one such bunch. Remember Manson, the Hillside Stranglers, the Freeway Killers, Zodiak, Zebra, Son of Sam? There were more mass murderers than grapes on the trees because of this type of lifestyle.
We were a powerless, listless, out of sorts society. I came from the southern/western bunch of boomers. That's the split you see in elections today, between the SF/Haight Asbury coastal hippies and the good ole boys from the interior who make up the red states. Most of us got drunk and grew our hair over our ears. But we never stopped loving our country, supporting our military, or feeling something wasn't quite right with the way Watergate and Vietnam ended. We listened to Led Zeppelin, but liked Lynyrd Skynyrd a whole lot better.
I ended up in AA and sixteen years later am still working to get people out of the lifestyle and depression and self centered loathesomeness that caused him to end his life as he did.
They can celebrate him any way they want to. All I see is waste, like so much of my generation. The Soviets did their work well.
All rather amusing to me.
I suffered through the dreadful sixties
but fortunately never heard of Hunter Thomson
until last week.
I didn't have a clue who he was
and I am rather thankful for that.
I grew up in that generation as a non-drug user. I actually thought it was a good idea to study hard and stay out of trouble. Our generation produced some really, really bad ideas and characters.
Fred - only cowards live in the past. Quit romantizicing a horrible time in American history - drugs, sexual disease, rampant crime (see burning cities), creation of a welfare state, lack of respect for authority, etc.
These kids of the 60s were a bunch of spoiled brats. And now these divorce idiots have given America a generation of wacked out kids, who I can only pray will see the light and distance themselves from their parents' false notion of self-indulgence and self-importance.
I can't remember which comedian does it, but there's some young comic who has a whole bit about the idiocy of that song. One of the lines is something like, "Dude, you've been riding across the desert for nine days with nothing to do. NAME the damn HORSE!!!"
He could've taken the edge off all this morbid fascination of his life if he'd said:
"Excuse me, while I kiss the sky"
[BANG]
It is interesting to observe the FR reaction to the news of Hunter S. Thompson's suicide. The saddest thing is the ignorant hatefulness expressed toward him by those who know very little about him. He was NOT a communist or a hippie. If any label applied, he was a Libertarian. He loved freedom and the rights of the individual. He held the 2d Amendment close to his heart. I grew up with him (reading him) along with many others. Although I am a life-long conservative Republican who won several medals in Viet Nam, I laughed at his pillories of Nixon. I celebrated his wedding with a beautiful woman >30 years younger, because I followed a similar flight path. But his love for this woman was what killed him in the end; he could not draw her any closer than the spirit of freedom he so loved. He was an American Original in the vein of Thomas Paine, Samuel Clemens, and H. L. Mencken. He will be missed.
and how vain he was...eating his .45 instead of his .44 magnum to leave a prettier face.
Many persons throughout history have demonstrated through their own example how not to live life. With their display over time, they teach us the perils in life we may endure if we choose our paths unwisely. In that regard, Hunter Thompson served us well . . .
That is a great summation.
I knew this sh!t would happen...............FRegards
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.