Gore Vidal

New Film Explores Fiery Bill Buckley-Gore Vidal ABC Convention Debates in 1968
By Tim Graham | June 20, 2015 | 4:02 PM EDT

In 1968, ABC News tried to improve on its lowly third-rank status by bringing on some rock-em, sock-em commentary around the two party conventions  from two intellectual heavyweights: William F. Buckley Jr. On the right, and author Gore Vidal on the left.

A new documentary – from the left, considering it carries a tag from Independent Lens, a leftist documentary series for PBS – explores the battle, that turned personal on television. The filmmakers insisted on Wednesday night in Washington that it made them a pre-cursor to today’s talk/shout TV:

In Appreciation of Gore Vidal, NPR Broadcasts Historic Lie About William F. Buckley
By Tim Graham | August 4, 2012 | 7:31 AM EDT

NPR is the network that sought out Christopher Hitchens to trash Mother Teresa upon her death as a horrible fraud, and then when Hitchens died, they warmly remembered how he hated God and Mother Teresa. So it's not surprising that radical leftist and gay activist Gore Vidal was going to be honored without a second of dissent or disapproval of critics.

None of the glowing obituaries and appreciations carried an ideological label, and one -- on Wednesday night's All Things Considered -- contained a glaring falsehood -- that William F. Buckley called Vidal a "queer" on national TV in 1968 without being provoked. Vidal called him a "crypto-Nazi" first. NPR turned to the gay novelist Christopher Bram to do the honors, and he brazenly lied:

 

NBC: Gore Vidal 'Unquestionably Brilliant'; William F. Buckley 'Paid Dearly for Some of His Words'
By Kyle Drennen | August 2, 2012 | 4:28 PM EDT

In a glowing tribute to radical left-wing commentator Gore Vidal on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams could barely contain his adoration for the "prolific writer" who was "unquestionably brilliant." Williams further gushed that Vidal, "got his larger wish in life, to be remembered as both a polemicist and a man of letters. One of the most active and agile minds of his generation."

Compare that fawning eulogy to the shots Williams took at conservative icon William F. Buckley, upon his death in 2008: "Buckley paid dearly for some of his words: His defense of Senator Joe McCarthy, his early views on race and remarks he made about AIDS, saying those with AIDS should be tattooed to prevent its spread."

CBS Applies Multiple Ideological Tags to Ted Cruz But Refuses to Label Gore Vidal
By Brent Baker | August 2, 2012 | 10:16 AM EDT

“A conservative Republican was beaten by an even more conservative Tea Party candidate,” CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley announced Wednesday night in reporting Ted Cruz’s victory in the Texas Republican primary. Sharyl Attkisson relayed how the candidate Cruz defeated, David Dewhurst, “is considered a very conservative Republican,” yet “Cruz spent months tacking even further to the right.”

CBS, however, was unwilling to apply any ideological label in their obituary piece on hard-left writer Gore Vidal, though in that story Martha Teichner did issue one tag: She referred to the “televised confrontation between Gore Vidal and conservative commentator William Buckley.”

Nets Sing Praises of 'Brilliant' and 'Witty' Gore Vidal; Omit His Left Wing Ideology
By Matthew Balan | August 1, 2012 | 12:37 PM EDT

The Big Three networks enthusiastically paid tribute to leftist author Gore Vidal on their Wednesday morning newscasts, but not one mentioned his political ideology. NBC's Today devoted two briefs to the "sardonically witty" Vidal, who died late Tuesday. The morning show also labeled him a "cultural icon." ABC's Good Morning America played up his "outsized personality and scathing wit."

However, CBS This Morning surpassed its competitors, with anchor Charlie Rose's retrospective on the "brilliant essayist and a commentator on America."

Author Gore Vidal Labels Polanski Victim a ‘Young Hooker’
By Colleen Raezler | October 28, 2009 | 3:54 PM EDT
Gore VidalPlenty of celebrities issued crazy statements in their efforts to defend director and rapist Roman Polanski but none went as far as author Gore Vidal did when he labeled Polanski's victim a "young hooker."

In an Oct. 28 interview with The Atlantic's John Meroney about a variety of topics, Vidal claimed he didn't "give a f---" about the Polanski case. "Look, am I going to sit and weep every time a young hooker feels as though she's been taken advantage of?"

Gore Vidal: Obama 'Too Intelligent' for America; Vidal Adds He Wanted to 'Murder' Bush
By Jeff Poor | October 23, 2009 | 8:08 AM EDT

If you haven't gotten your daily dose of left-wing crazy, strap yourself in.

On CNN Headline News Oct. 22 broadcast of "The Joy Behar Show," left-wing author and conspiracy theorist Gore Vidal shared his thoughts about President Barack Obama. He said he thought the 44th President of the United States might be a little overqualified - at least as far as his intelligence.

"I like him," Vidal said. "I wish he knew more about the United States. I was for Hillary at the beginning on the grounds she knew how to be president. Having sort of done the job as a spouse. And then I realized, you know, he's too intelligent for the job."

Gore Vidal Writes About Gates Arrest; Lapses Into Incoherence
By P.J. Gladnick | July 29, 2009 | 11:05 PM EDT

Perhaps it is time to recall William Shatner to the Tonight Show in order to read aloud, accompanied by bongos,  leftwing novelist Gore Vidal's incoherent screed about the Henry Louis Gates arrest. Even Grampa Abe ranting aloud while spinning around on the church floor in "The Simpsons Movie" made more sense than Vidal. Perhaps it could be explained by one too many Ketel Ones but here is his seemingly endless essay from Truthdig which starts out from a far left position and then quickly plunges into utter incoherence:

For those of us who had hoped that the Obama administration would present us with a rebirth of the old republic that was so rudely erased a few years ago by that team of judicial wreckers, Bush and Gonzales, which led, in turn, to a recent incident in Cambridge, Mass. that inspired a degree of alarm in many Americans. But what was most alarming was the plain fact that neither the president nor a “stupid” local policeman seemed to understand the rules of behavior in a new America, where we find ourselves marooned as well as guarded (is that the verb?) by armed police who have been instructed that they are indeed, once armed, the law and may not be criticized verbally or in any other way and are certainly not subject to any restrictions as to whom they arrest or otherwise torment. 

Gore Vidal Signs Open Letter to Obama Urging Him Not to Concede Even If He Loses
By P.J. Gladnick | November 3, 2008 | 8:07 AM EST

If Barack Obama loses the election, will he graciously concede? According to an open letter signed by author Gore Vidal and a gaggle of leftists, Obama should not concede under almost any conditions. If Jon Voight had signed an open letter to John McCain asking him not to concede, that would be big news. So far the only sound from the mainstream media to Gore Vidal's dangerous request is the sound of crickets chirping. Here is the open letter plea to Obama signed by Vidal among others (emphasis mine):

An Open Letter to Senator Obama and the Democratic Leadership:
On Election Night, DO NOT CONCEDE! 

Even if Obama loses? This sounds like Vidal wants the aftermath of Election 2008 to be like the followup to Election 2000 on steroids.

“Eight years is too much” is how Barack Obama explained why we must win the coming election and begin to restore America. But, even if we receive the most votes, will we win the election?

According to the U.S. Constitution, you need the most electoral votes, not the most votes.

DO NOT CONCEDE!
Both of the last two elections were conceded by the Democratic presidential candidate. The 2004 election was handed to George Bush while votes were still being counted in closely-fought Ohio. While the 2000 election was contested to the Supreme Court, it too was ultimately conceded to Bush “for the good of the country.”

Some good. 

N.Y. Times Magazine Publishes Charge That McCain's a Phony POW
By Tim Graham | June 16, 2008 | 7:19 AM EDT

Liberals were outraged in 2004 when they nominated Sen. John Kerry, who by the way, served in Vietnam, and some veterans who served with him on Swift Boats had the audacity to challenge his war heroism. So how will they greet cranky old leftist author Gore Vidal who does some "swift boating" of his own in the Sunday New York Times Magazine?