The October 6 New Yorker contains a selection of Norman Mailer's letters on political subjects. I enjoyed the entire section but would call particular attention to these back-to-back gems from the last years of his life.
To the Editor of the Boston Globe
March 13, 2002
George F. Will writes (Boston Globe, March 12): “Bush’s terseness is Ernest Hemingway seasoned with John Wesley.”
Well, one is hardly familiar with John Wesley’s sermons, but I do know that to put George W. Bush’s prose next to Hemingway’s is equal to saying that Jackie Susann is right up there with Jane Austen. Did a sense of shame ever reside in our Republican toadies? You can’t stop people who are never embarrassed by themselves. George Will’s readiness to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse can be cited as world-class sycophancy. . . .
Norman Mailer
To Sal Cetrano
June 17, 2003
Dear Sal,
. . . Even if you’re a deep-dyed conservative, and Republican, please disabuse yourself of the idea that Bush is a good guy. Please, Sal. It seems to me the best argument you can present is that he’s a total, shallow, manipulative shit, but that he’s got the luck of the devil working for him and so his policy may not end up a total disaster. . . .
Cheers,
Norman
The luck ran out. His policy is a total disaster.
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