Vonnegut Dishes it to Bush

You know I love this man. At 81 he's still going on about how we need to be humane to one another. It's been the crux of every book he's ever written. It must be heartbreaking to have written so many stories trying to better the world through a call to be more humanitarian and find we're worse off than we used to be. And even back then it was pretty bad. He is bitter. His words here are bitter. I read this in my mailbox this morning and I felt bitter with him. But he's still trying, and that is encouraging.

Cold Turkey, by Kurt Vonnegut
Published on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 by In These Times

Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace.

But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America's becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas. ( Read More )