Before cable news, before reality TV, there was Gore Vidal. The best-selling author and television commentator died in his home in Los Angeles yesterday at age 86. He not only leaves behind hundreds of essays and several novels, he also leaves behind a trail of glorious television debates.
One classic appearance — preceding Jon Stewart's Crossfire takedown by nearly 20 years — happened on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971. Right before going on the set, rival novelist Norman Mailer head-butted Vidal in the green room. Their feud went public when the cameras started rolling. His strategy: let Mailer dig himself into a hole.
The rest is TV history.
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Watching this clip of the Dick Cavett show makes me realize how far we have fallen culturally in this country. To think that the 'unwashed masses' would now rather listen to the drivel of the likes of Limbaugh and Hannity than attempt to pull themselves up to the intellectual level of Vidal and Mailer.
The trickle down theory didn't work; the war on drugs didn't work; we are now mired in the profound consequences of those highly successful propaganda campaigns by the 'Right'. Their other big one, 'the dumbing down of america,' has crippled us as a nation in far worse ways than lack of money or use of drugs ever possibly could.
Thank you, Lawrence, and the Last Word, for sharing this clip, so we can all be reminded.