Epistemological violence in America

Last night I went to see Gonzo, the Hunter S. Thompson documentary, which is essential viewing for anyone new to the good doctor's work. While it doesn't provide much new insight for the dedicated Gonzoist, one new gem is an audio recording of Jimmy Carter's Law Day speech at the University of Georgia in which he, President Carter, went about criticizing the legal system's bias toward the well-to-do and powerful. He called out lawmakers in Washington, Atlanta and Birmingham. He also praised Martin Luther King's contribution to advancing our society. Keep in mind he delivered this speech in the early 1970s to a room filled with wealthy Southern lawyers. Thompson supposedly carried this tape around the country, insisting that people listen to what Carter said.
Thompson, who initially had little interest in anything Carter had to say, described it as a "king hell bastard of a speech" and the best bit of political oration he'd ever heard. He doesn't quote extensively from the speech in his article, so it's nice to hear actual excepts of Carter delivering his devastating critique to the Southern gentry.
President Carter even quotes from "Maggie's Farm", which reminds me of Barack Obama's acknowledgment of that being his favorite Dylan song. Plenty of parallels can be drawn between Obama and Carter, not to mention Thompson's favorite former candidate, George McGovern. Like Carter, Obama is a supposed populist from a modest upbringing who rose to political prominence, seemingly from out of nowhere. The beginning of his end came when McGovern chose a shaky running mate who ultimately had to step down; Carter of course got trounced in the 1980 election after appearing week in the Iran hostage crisis. The specter of weakness and indecision plagues the Democratic presidential nominee now as it did then.
Obama certainly appears to be too politically savvy and learned in history to suffer the same fate that befell McGovern, Carter, Dukakis and Kerry. As most pundits agree, this election is Obama's to lose. Yet I can't help but think that some kind of crisis, real or manufactured, is lurking just over the horizon, waiting to sink the seemingly invincible Obama political machine and leave John McClain, I mean McCain, victorious in November.


Image courtesy of Hooverville