Letters

WITH DEFENDERS
LIKE VIDAL . . .

Re: “The Last Defender of the American Republic” [July 5–11]. Thank God the Weeklyhad the courage to publish Marc Cooper’s revealing interview with that grand old lion of the left, Gore Vidal. Had the Weeklyfailed in this regard, I might never have known that the United States “planned to occupy Afghanistan in October, and Osama, or whoever it was who hit us in September, launched a pre-emptory strike.” Holy Osama (or whoever it was)! Gore must have some remarkable sources — not that Cooper could be bothered to ask about them.

“Last defender” indeed. So this is what the American left has become in the wake of 9/11: a purveyor of imbecile conspiracy theories that have all the resonance (and intelligence) of Holocaust denial. If nothing else, 9/11 has managed to close the circle between the wackos of the left and the right.

—David Bernstein
Studio City

If Gore Vidal didn’t exist, would writers like Marc Cooper — in the interest of getting some laughs — have to invent him? Vidal may score points in some quarters for his “cute” style, but as a pundit he has a dismal record. Over the years, his conspiracy theories have grown as wacky as any talk-show host’s, and his anti-Semitism has become so vile it rivals that of fellow bigot Pat Buchanan. If Vidal is still defending anything, it’s his right to make an ass of himself and become famous doing it.

—Dan O’Neil
Los Angeles

I’m savvy to the fact that you published the Gore Vidal feature not because Mr. Vidal has a breathlessly vast geopolitical insight based primarily on his ability to make stuff up for money. You published it because, well, he’s Gore Vidal. As you noted in the same issue, Vanity Fair was about to publish the homophobic rants of Mike Ovitz, and I can guess that, again, this had little to do with his insight into gay psychology and more to do with the fact that, hey, he’s Mike Ovitz. That’s cool. I’m a critical reader, and I can form my own opinions about whether or not two celebrities have diced squid for brains.

I just wanted to voice my support for the skeptical approach that David Corn took in his fine “To Protect and To Spin” [June 14–20], which so nicely debunked conspiracy peddler Michael Ruppert. We all have a framework of myths we’ve constructed in our heads — Mr. Vidal’s is rivaled only by Watts Towers — and it’s nice to ground them once in a while with facts and evidence, and humor. I need less of the “This man says we faked the moon landing, tonight on Fox!” and more Carl Sagan.

—Taylor Jessen
Burbank

I read the Gore Vidal interview with some interest. Sure, some of his comments seem nutty, paranoid even, but his critique of interventionist American foreign policy is spot on. Bravo!

Then I practically choked on my martini when I saw that Vidal accuses right-wingers of hating blacks and other minorities. That’s pretty rich coming from a man who recently wrote an essay (“The Last Empire,” in The Last Empire: Essays, 1992–2000, Doubleday, 2001) advocating that the United States, Canada, Europe and Russia form a “northern confederacy” of white nations as a defense against the nonwhite hordes. A textbook case of the pot calling the kettle African-American.

—William Myers
Laguna Beach

FORM TRUMPS CONTENT

Re: The Eminem Show CD review by Oliver Wang [June 14–20]. In an issue devoted to exploring the question “Is rock criticism dead?” I find it ironic that you couldn’t find a rap fan to review Eminem’s new CD. Notice that I did not say “hip-hop fan” — I know Wang is a hip-hop fan because I’ve read his work in the Weekly many times. But just once I’d like to read what a “rap fan” thinks of rap music in the pages of your magazine.

Wang’s review reminds me of the review the Weekly gave for N.W.A’s Efil4zaggin more than a decade ago. Back then, the issue wasn’t how good the album was in the wake of Ice Cube’s departure, or whether Dr. Dre’s production skills had improved, or whether Eazy-E was funny or just annoying. The review focused on the group’s misogyny and glamorization of violence, and its effect on an ever-growing young white audience — which were valid issues 10 years ago, when an N.W.A album was truly a new and shocking experience. Since then, we’ve heard about it so many times from critics that it has become redundant.

Wang has good points to make about the tedious nature of the new CD’s beats, but ignores the fact that this new CD is largely produced â by Eminem himself, which would explain why the beats are so tedious in the first place. I’ve heard the whole CD, and the Eminem-produced tracks are okay at best; Dre’s tracks, by comparison, leap out from the speakers.

The week the CD came out, I was listening to it with a friend at my apartment. Two girls came by, and when they heard the CD blaring from the speakers, one girl asked if the CD was good. My roommate and I had just finished debating its merits. I asked her if she were a rap fan — yes, she said. I asked her if she were an Eminem fan — again, she replied in the affirmative. I told her that she’d like the lyrics, but the beats were lackluster. She thanked me for my opinion and went on her way. She didn’t ask me if I thought Eminem was a sexist or a homophobe; she just wanted to know if she should shell out close to $20 on a CD.