In 1978, Bill Murray and Hunter S. Thompson convened for a truly gonzo objective: re-elect Richard Nixon in 1980.
It would be more humorous if it wasn't so sad. Thompson's war with Nixon is one for the ages. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail is a terrific story of that campaign. In 72, Thompson wrote this:
If the current polls are reliable... Nixon will be re-elected by a huge majority of Americans who feel he is not only more honest and more trustworthy than George McGovern, but also more likely to end the war in Vietnam. The polls also indicate that Nixon will get a comfortable majority of the Youth Vote. And that he might carry all fifty states... This may be the year when we finally come face to face with ourselves; finally just lay back and say it — that we are really just a nation of 220 million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns, and no qualms at all about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable. The tragedy of all this is that George McGovern, for all his mistakes... understands what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been, if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers like Richard Nixon. McGovern made some stupid mistakes, but in context they seem almost frivolous compared to the things Richard Nixon does every day of his life, on purpose... Jesus! Where will it end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to be President?
I can only imagine the joy Hunter would have felt when Watergate came around. He was right. The American people had a chance to realize what they had done. But in 1978, Nixon returned to public life. And to Hunter's shock, he even received some adoration. So Murray and Thompson combined to create the 'Re-Elect Nixon in '80" campaign. Truly brilliant.
And it seems those men and women who stood up to cheer Richard Nixon are now storming Washington by electric scooter to declare the government to keep their socialist hands out of their medicare. These are the people we have to fight. The people who would stand up and cheer for Ole Dick.
But then again, they did vote for George Bush. So we already know how silly they are.
We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the whole world, a nation of bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are not just Whores for power and oil, but killer whores with hate and fear in our hearts. We are human scum, and that is how history will judge us. No redeeming social value. Just whores. Get out of our way, or we'll kill you. Who does vote for these dishonest shitheads? Who among us can be happy and proud of having all this innocent blood on our hands? Who are these swine? These flag-sucking half-wits who get fleeced and fooled by stupid little rich kids like George Bush? They are the same ones who wanted to have Muhammad Ali locked up for refusing to kill gooks. They speak for all that is cruel and stupid and vicious in the American character. They are the racists and hate mongers among us; they are the Ku Klux Klan. I piss down the throats of these Nazis. And I am too old to worry about whether they like it or not. Fuck them.
I just wish he would have been around to see us prevail.
[Voting] ain't much, but it's the only weapon we have against the Greedheads.
Weren't you ever so right Hunter.