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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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 INTERVIEW 
27

Gore Vidal: Hillary Would've Been the Better Prez

Onetime supporter bashes Obama, who needs more of Lincoln's 'chill'

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(Newser) – Gore Vidal is 83 and uses a wheelchair now, but the legendary American writer hasn't lost any of his strong opinions—not least on Barack Obama, who is doing "dreadfully" and has "fucked up" health reform. Vidal supported Obama after originally backing Hillary Clinton, but now thinks she'd be the better president: "Hillary knows more about the world and what to do with the generals." Vidal foresees a GOP victory in 2012, but that's nothing compared to the "military dictatorship we'll have fairly soon."

In an interview with the Times of London, Vidal also offers a campy impression of Katharine Hepburn—who he insists had Parkinson's disease and "shook like a leper in the wind." Yet the man who once said he'd slept with 1,000 men by age 25 also says he doesn't believe in homosexuality at all, and as for gay marriage, he "couldn't care less." What is Vidal proudest of? Not his novels: "Really I am most proud that, despite enormous temptation, I have never killed anybody."

Author and essayist Gore Vidal delivers the keynote presentation Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009, during the first session of the 27th annual Key West Literary Seminar in Key West, Fla.
Author and essayist Gore Vidal delivers the keynote presentation Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009, during the first session of the 27th annual Key West Literary Seminar in Key West, Fla.   (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Carol Tedesco)
In this May 5, 2003 file photo, author Gore Vidal arrives for the Film Society of Lincoln Center's gala tribute for actress Susan Sarandon held in New York.
In this May 5, 2003 file photo, author Gore Vidal arrives for the Film Society of Lincoln Center's gala tribute for actress Susan Sarandon held in New York.   (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson-File)
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Obama would have been better off focusing on educating the American people. His problem is being over-educated. He doesn’t realize how dim-witted and ignorant his audience is. - Gore Vidal

I looked at his writing and all he writes about is being a fag and how it’s the greatest thing on Earth. He thinks I’m another queen and I’m not. It was vulgar fag-ism. - Gore Vidal on Edmund White, who wrote a play based on Vidal's correspondence with Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh

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27 comments
VIEWING:
 
sully4411
Sep 30, 09 9:01 AM CDT
hahhaha i get it, hes bein a comic. sarcasm is funny. (but not when you say obama is dreadful...thas not funny) Reply
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-2
IN RESPONSE:
MarkMcJackoff
Sep 30, 09 9:10 AM CDT
Obviously this ageing old liberal bumboy is losing it and no longer believes in homosexuality or Obama, who he thinks is overeducated. What an ass!
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
IN RESPONSE:
prowlerzee
Sep 30, 09 9:59 AM CDT
He's saying it's Amateur Hour at the White House. And he's right. And you're right...he's being funny at the same time.
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+1
QueenAlli
Sep 30, 09 9:06 AM CDT
SHOCKING - HIllary supporter thinks she would have been a better president. Is it lost on Mr. Vidal that it was Hillary & Co that first fucked up health care reform? Is it lost on Mr. Vidal that Hillary said during the primaries she would obliterate Iran if they attacked Israel? How good would that look now considering the bond that was created between the US and Iranians via twitter during their election? Is it lost on Mr. Vidal that she is Secretary of State and has a major influence on what O is doing with Iran? I do believe that Mr. Vidal is completely blind to the fact that a President Hillary would have faced the same vitriol from the right that O has now. Not just because she is a woman but especially because she is a Clinton - their favorite target. And it's pretty hard to take you seriously when you think that there will be a GOP victory in 2012 and that under O we will see a military dictatorship. Actually, there might be a GOP victory in 2012, I mean at least one Republican will win a seat in the House or Senate, right? Certainly NOT the White House. Reply
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+4
IN RESPONSE:
Fondue
Sep 30, 09 9:11 AM CDT
Excellent summation of the facts.
Vote up! Vote down!
+1

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