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Last updated on August 9th, 2017 at 03:13 pm
Author Kurt Vonnegut visits Ohio State to educate young minds:
“The only difference between Bush and Hitler,” says Kurt Vonnegut, “is that Hitler was elected. You all know, of course, that the election was stolen. Right here.” (In Ohio)
UPDATE. Here’s a longer version of the column linked above. Highlights: “I just want to say that George W. Bush is the syphilis president” and “I’m trying to write a novel about the end of the world. But the world is really ending!”
UPDATE II. A fan’s review: “He’s not what he used to be.” Plus: pictures.
UPDATE III. It’s been a great week for informing the kids:
I’m not saying Bush and Hitler are exactly the same, obviously they’re not. OK? But there are some eerie similarities to the tones that they use.
As they say in the photocopier business: it’s all about tone.
- His writing was very uneven, and now senility has him in its grip.Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2006 03 04 at 10:37 PM • permalink
- “I’’m trying to write a novel…”
That’s what this Nazi-lover Hun has been at for a long time, which resulted in some trash long ago that has now been long forgotten. He hasn’t published even dog poop for 30 years, and so now, like all those who drool after media attention like the hag Sin-dy and Michael the Moorish posterior licker, he attacks GWB well aware that the MSM will lick up his droppings and sail his senile rantings along with those of the banana counter from Jamaica. (BTW, Hitler was elected with never another election in Nazi Germany. I think the USA will have another in November. No, Kurt, don’t you believe it, Ya? You can relax that outstretched arm, Kurt, Hitler is dead, believe it finally.
- Hitler wasn’t actually elected. His party got less than 50% of the seats, but von Papen and others eventually gave him the position of Chancellor, after they failed to get a stable majority government.Posted by Evil Pundit on 2006 03 04 at 10:50 PM • permalink
- That’s right, EP, in the Weimar republic, the Chancellor was appointed by the president.
The Nazis never held anything near 50% of the seats in the Reichstag, and at the immediate election prior to Hitler’s appointment, the Nazi party’s share of seats in the Reichstag had dropped considerably. It’s quite probable that the NSDAP’s power would have peaked in mid-1932 if Hitler never became Chancellor.
Hitler was appointed by President Hindenberg largely on the advice of then powerbroker von Papen, who thought Hitler would be his puppet. He was quite wrong and the rest is history.
Anyway, Hitler was never elected.
Posted by James Waterton on 2006 03 04 at 11:07 PM • permalink
- Reading between the lines of that article, it’s easy to see that at least some of those students probably weren’t so much rapt and reverent as they were stunned by the disjointed senile ramblings of someone they thought they admired. Vonnegut’s picture even looks like the crazy old aunt in the attic.
- I could never stand him. I could never see what was the big deal about his writing either. He seemed to me to be another of those overrated beloved-by-Baby-Boomers writers like whoever wrote Catcher in the Rye.Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2006 03 04 at 11:16 PM • permalink
“I’m trying to write a novel about the end of the world. But the world is really ending! It’s becoming more and more uninhabitable because of our addiction to oil.
“Bush used that line recently,” Vonnegut adds. “I should sue him for plagiarism.”
Yeah, pops, and I’m sure you’ll shortly be receiving a summons from the guy who said it before you.
Posted by James Waterton on 2006 03 04 at 11:20 PM • permalink
- Who the hell is this asshole, beside a has been writer?
Does anyone really think George Bush really cares what this broken down old and probably alcohol sotted bastard has to say?
And I should sue Vonnegut for the use of my copyright on the words “I’m trying to write a novel about the end of the world”.
- Hate his novels, hate his senile political views. Only decent thing he ever did was his role in the Rodney Dangerfield film, Back to School, and only then because his role was written by Rodney Dangerfield.Posted by Mr Snuffalupagus on 2006 03 04 at 11:39 PM • permalink
- Latino — Only sensible thing I ever read in the LA Weekly (on the way to the strip club coupons, I swear) was Michael Ventura, think it was, explaining that writers like Vonnegut and Ellison were what adolescents read between YA novels and read literature…Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 03 04 at 11:45 PM • permalink
- Blair — You sent us to a MySpace site hosted by Poeta-Mexi Warrior and two out of focus pictures. WTFH?!Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 03 04 at 11:50 PM • permalink
- And I have it on good authority that Signal never e-mailed voters in Ohio, so that’s proof that Bush is EVEN WORSE than HitlerPosted by richard mcenroe on 2006 03 04 at 11:54 PM • permalink
- my personal fave bit:
As he accepts the students’ standing ovation with characteristic dignity and grace, not a few tears come from young people who are wise enough to appreciate what they are seeing.
I bet. Vonnigut’s ass-licker wants us to know the old rascal still has a twinkle in his eye:
Then he leans back. “You’re awful cute” he says to someone in the front row. He grins and looks around. “If this isn’t nice, what is?
Due to advancing dementia and degrading eyesight he was probably referring to someone’s golden retriever
- Personally, I don’t think Vonnegut’s problem is due to senility or dementia; he started his downhill slide into madness and/or idiocy years ago. About the same time he wrote Slaughterhouse Five, in fact. Perhaps his old age has aggravated his problems, but this is not anything new.
My real problem with Slaughterhouse Five was not its anti-war stance; my problem centered on his moral relativism in the book. Vonnegut came across as saying that the Allies were as bad as the Nazis….largely because of the Dresden fire bomb raid, which he himself went through while a POW.
Sound familiar, people? Yep, Vonnegut anticipated the leftie stance on the Iraq war, where the lefties labeled the US as bad as Saddam Hussein.
No wonder he can speak to
the massescollections of leftie idiots….he effectively wrote the book.Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 03 05 at 12:15 AM • permalink
Latino — Only sensible thing I ever read in the LA Weekly (on the way to the strip club coupons, I swear) was Michael Ventura, think it was, explaining that writers like Vonnegut and Ellison were what adolescents read between YA novels and
readreal{?} literature…Too true, Richard. That’s exactly when I read Vonnegut and Ellison. And I haven’t since. Thank GOD.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 03 05 at 12:18 AM • permalink
- Hmmm.
And I supposed the United States Marine Corps are a bunch of anchor worshippers?
Oh Holy Anchor! What are the lottery numbers for tomorrow?
Sounds just as absurd as the bit about the cross.
Posted by memomachine on 2006 03 05 at 12:55 AM • permalink
- Hmmm.
But maybe there’s more going on than Fox wants us to think.
(from the long version of the article)
Fox? As in Fox News? As if Fox News give’s a rat’s arse what this person thinks.
Man they get boring really early in life.
Posted by memomachine on 2006 03 05 at 12:59 AM • permalink
- I read one of his books after he was highly recommended, Ice Nine, I think, and couldn’t see the point. There were tons of better writers and shelves full of better science fiction. He may not be quite as irrelevant as that other 60’s fave, the harmless Richard Brautigan, but he was close. I didn’t like The Crying of Lot 69 or Gravity’s Rainbow either. I think God made me a boomer to test my soul, I just can’t figure if I am passing or not.
- that rant by bennish is hilarious. the man deserves a medal, not being sent on leave. he has shown his class just how paranoid the left is. & my hasn’t the teaching of geography come a long way…
#26 i remember trout fishing in america with great fondness – it made me retreat to real books, which have proven a continuing treat
- What kind of an idiot compares an American Presidenial Election which is an “indirect2 election through an Electoral College with a parliamentary system ?
I suppose next he thinks Congress should be dismissed by the President and fresh elections called.
Are all authors in the US as ignorant of their own constitutional arrangements ?
- Dear Kurt,
Comparing Bush to Hitler is so old and so lame that people can’t even be bothered satirising it any more. You are meant to be an author (although most of us grew out of your work by about twenty), so when you slander your president please try to invent an interesting and novel slander.
P.S. “syphilis president” is pretty lame too. Try to do better.
- #14 Richard, I think you’re right about this. It’s been so long since I read anything by either of them that I can’t even remember any of the plots. The only thing I remember about Vonnegut’s stuff is that it seemed tedious, pretentious and left a bad taste in my mouth (I suspect due to the moral equivalence another poster mentioned).
- Even when I read Slaughterhouse 5 back in 1960-something, I knew that, OK Kurt, war is bad and all, yes, but sometimes it is necessary even if civilians die, and I chalked up his pacifistic sensibilities as an understandable reaction to what he had undergone as a POW. But this crap he spews now, there is just no excuse, it is so vile, hateful and deranged. I have absolutely no use for leftards of any generation who will not defend the West.
- #26, charlesr.I think God made me a boomer to test my soul, I just can’t figure if I am passing or not.
You’re doing better than I am. I only tried to read one Vonnegut book, Slaughterhouse 5, and I couldn’t get through it. I don’t think I’m passing Boomerdom 101 at all, because there’s a whole raft of stuff that doesn’t make sense to me.
I agree with Malkin about that geography teacher: he needs medical help. I’m willing to bet if they dig deep enough, they’ll find out he’s been doing some illicit paranoia-inducing drugs.
- Vonnegut’s stuff has always reminded me of gnats for some reason.
Chief among the (very few) things I remember about his body of ‘work’ was being forced to read the crap – at grade point – by a mousey procession of totalitarian-minded teachers; who’s sweaty armpit hairs invariably overflowed their worn out paisley sundresses in some zenish juxtaposition of both the best and worst qualities of summer.
“You veeel LIKE reading thiiiz ~insert crappy Vonnegut title~!
<smacks hand with ruler>
a mousey procession of totalitarian-minded teachers; who’s sweaty armpit hairs invariably overflowed their worn out paisley sundresses
The women were worse.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 03 05 at 12:56 PM • permalink
- ANDREA!!!Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 03 05 at 03:36 PM • permalink
- Fixeed?Posted by Quentin George on 2006 03 05 at 04:11 PM • permalink
Hitler stole his election in Ohio?
Apparently so, PW. Or so claim the academic intellectuals parading their pomposity to porous pupils. Someone musta re-written history. Again.
Maybe wronwright ought to warm up the Tardis……
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 03 05 at 05:05 PM • permalink
- I seem to remember reading ‘Sirens of Titan’ under the mistaken impression that it was science fiction. (Well, it was weird, anyway.) And I read ‘Cat’s Cradle’ and ‘Player Piano’ and ‘God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater’ and, you know, I don’t remember the first thing about any of them. I can remember books I read back to age 9 or so, and I can’t remember anything useful about any of these.
I read ‘Slaughterhous Five’ and wasn’t impressed. It dragged. I barely remember the name Billy Pilgrim and the cooler or ice house or meat locker or whatever the hell it was.
In the late ‘80s or so I made a real attempt to read ‘Galapagos’ because my roommate had it. I kept starting over, thinking I was missing something. I finally totally gave it up about 80 pages in because *NOTHING WAS FREAKIN’ HAPPENING!!* Sheeesh.
Over-rated, overripe, due for decomposition.
Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2006 03 05 at 07:00 PM • permalink
- monkeyfan — these italics are coming out of your budget…Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 03 05 at 08:09 PM • permalink
- Evil Pundit 4
Hitler wasn’t actually elected. His party got less than 50% of the seats, but von Papen and others eventually gave him the position of Chancellor, after they failed to get a stable majority government.
I dimly recall being spectacularly wrong about this point, on this very blog, a few short weeks ago. Maybe if Kurt V read this stuff, he’d … nahhh
Posted by Stoop Davy Dave on 2006 03 06 at 05:28 PM • permalink
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