Where have you gone Hunter S. Thompson?

February 20, 2005 will be a day that will live in infamy for me.  That was the day one of my heroes, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, committed suicide.  Ever since he made the conscious decision to end it all,  we have not had someone like him willing to take on the authoritarians from either side of the political aisle.  At least in the modern day mainstream media.

In this age of 24 hour news cycles, we have the likes of Glenn Beck and Rachel Maddow skewering one another while acting as apologists for their favored candidates.  The Good Doctor was one of a kind.  He took his digs at authoritarians of all stripes and political parties while championing the cause of personal freedom with no apologies.   Dr. Thompson never saw the world through the eyes of Left vs. Right.   Instead, he saw the world in the eyes of Right vs. Wrong.

There are some who would say that his drug use and willingness to push the envelope in his personal behavior makes him an immoral person and a terrible role model.  But what about the person who preaches virtue while engaging in the behavior that they claim to abhor?  Isn’t hypocrisy and dishonesty just as immoral, if not more so?  Say what you want about The Good Doctor. At least he was open and honest about his behavior and probably possessed a greater moral compass than most Democratic or Republican party politicians and their assorted hanger ons/cronies.

Regardless of his personal appetite for destruction and debauchery,  we live in a world where we don’t have a radical visionary like Dr. Hunter S. Thompson holding our elected leaders accountable for their actions and asking the hard questions.  Instead,  we have male and female cheerleaders masquerading as “journalists.”   Whether they live in the realms of Fox News or MSNBC,  there is no one in the media that is willing to lay it all on the line like Dr. Thompson did.  No one who is willing to look beyond their rose colored partisan glasses and is not afraid to tell it like it is with no apologies and no regrets.  Glenn Greenwald may be the lone exception to the current rule of today’s media.

Right now, we are engaged in three wars and a crumbling economy while our civil liberties are being whittled away slowly but surely.  All in the interest of “national security” or “political correctness” according to the powers that be.  And yet,  we are more concerned about making nice with others and not hurting other people’s feelings than we are about having an open and honest dialogue about the direction of this country.  Unfortunately, that is the state of today’s media and the only outlets that are willing to ask the hard questions are ones that aren’t beholden to the whims of GE,  News Corp or Viacom.   At least most of them are.  There are a few notable local exceptions that are nothing more than mere cheerleading sites for politicians who are perceived by the authors to be without fault or flaws.

It’s time to abandon the pom poms and take a return trip to the edge.   I think this quote from the good doctor sums it all up for me.

 

Words of Wisdom

Now excuse me while I make a visit to Bat Country.

 

 


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