{"id":865,"date":"2004-10-17T09:35:09","date_gmt":"2004-10-17T16:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp\/2004\/10\/mailer_hits_a_vein\/"},"modified":"2004-10-17T09:35:09","modified_gmt":"2004-10-17T16:35:09","slug":"mailer_hits_a_vein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/2004\/10\/mailer_hits_a_vein.html","title":{"rendered":"MAILER HITS A VEIN"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the florid words of my good friend Repulski: “A great and testy old fart steps up to the
\nplate in those worn and dusty spiked shoes before the indifferent crowd. He knocks the
\nspikes against the bat, just to clean the bullshit of old games away, the ugly hard toil of
\nyesteryear, remembering when he was a confident extra-base hitter. Some called him a slugger.
\nThings are different now. He loosens up his arthritic shoulders and swings — and It’s Out of the
\nFucking Ballpark! Praise the Blood-Soaked Lord!”<\/P>
\n

In other words, if you haven’t seen it yet, take a look at Norman Mailer’s commentary<\/FONT><\/B><\/A> in the Nov. 4 issue of the New
\nYork Review of Books. (Scroll way down). It begins:<\/P>
\n


\n

A victory for Bush may yet be seen as one of our nation’s unforgettable
\nironies. No need to speak again of the mendacities, manipulations, and spiritual mediocrity of the
\npost\u20139\/11 years; the time has come to recover from the shock that so abysmal a record (and so
\ncomplete a refusal to look at the record) looks nonetheless likely to prevail. Who, then, are we? In
\njust what kind of condition are the American people?<\/BLOCKQUOTE>
\n

<\/P>
\n

It goes after Ahnold:<\/P>
\n


\n

A quick look at our movie stars gives a hint. The liberal left has been attached
\nto actors like Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson. They spoke to our cynicism and to our baffled
\nidealism. But the American center moved their loyalties from the decency of Gary Cooper to the
\ngrit and self-approval of John Wayne. Now, we have the apotheosis of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
\nHe captured convention honors at the Garden in the course of informing America, via the
\nphysicality of his presence, that should the nation ever come to such a dire pass as to need a
\ndictator, why, bless us all, he, Arnold, can offer the best chin to come along since Benito
\nMussolini. Chin is now prepared to replace spin.<\/BLOCKQUOTE>
\n

<\/P>
\n

“Bush’s appeal is, after all, to the stupid,” Mailer continues. “They, too, are inflexible — they
\nalso know that maintaining one’s stupidity can become a kind of strength, provided you never
\nchange your mind.”<\/P>
\n

Then comes the topper, hitting a vein that nobody has dared to use before. It’s
\ndeeply personal, more revealing about the character and religiosity of the
\nIgnoramus in Chief than anything anyone else has said in public, and it spurts real
\nblood:<\/P>
\n


\n

It is cruel but true that he has the vulnerability of an ex-alcoholic.
\n

People in Alcoholics Anonymous speak of themselves as dry drunks. As they see it, they may
\nno longer drink, yet a sense of imbalance at having to do without liquor does not go away. Rather
\nthe impulse is sequestered behind the faith that God is supporting one’s efforts to remain
\nsober.<\/P>
\n

Giving up booze may have been the most heroic act of George W.’s life, but America could
\nnow be paying the price. George W.’s piety has become a pomade to cover all the tamped-down
\ndry-drunk craziness that still stirs in his livid inner air.<\/P><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
\n

<\/P>
\n

Mailer knows from boozers (ex- and otherwise). His words
\nhave the ring of truth, and those are just the highlights. Go read, while keeping your
\nfingers crossed the irony will not come to pass.<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the florid words of my good friend Repulski: “A great and testy old fart steps up to the plate in those worn and dusty spiked shoes before the indifferent crowd. He knocks the spikes against the bat, just to clean the bullshit of old games away, the ugly hard toil of yesteryear, remembering when he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbvgEs-dX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}