Vom Funkturm / From the Radio Tower

Hunter S. Thompson‘s Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 is the latest member of my Big Pile of Books that I’m Currently (Sort of) Reading. Some of you might know that Thompson held libertarian and anti-authoritarian leaning views all of his life. Thus, even though Thompson followed the 1972 presidential campaigns as a quite enthusiastic supporter of George McGovern, you can find gems such as the following in his account of the campaign and its surrounding issues:

That’s the argument… and it’s probably safe to say, right now, that there is not a single presidential candidate, media guru, or backstairs politics wizard in Washington who honestly believes the ‘youth vote’ will have more than a marginal, splinter-vote effect on the final outcome of the 1972 presidential campaign.

These kids are turned off from politics, they say. Most of ‘em don’t even want to hear about it. All they want to do these days is lie around on waterbeds and smoke that goddamn marrywanna… yeah, and just between you and me, . . . I think it’s probably all for the best.

I neither smoke that goddamn marrywanna nor do I have a waterbed, but I’m a proud member of the youth non-vote. And that is my marginal contribution to the US primaries from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Hope you appreciate it.