Gonzo Suicide

A Hunter Thompson friend blamed the writer's suicide on President Bush and America's move toward conservatism. (More at WashTimes)

"He was depressed about the state of society," said Loren Jenkins, foreign editor for National Public Radio in Washington.

A vehement opponent of President Bush, Mr. Thompson, 67, "was feeling maudlin about the current conservatism sweeping the country," Mr. Jenkins said. "He felt he'd had a long run, trying to create a freer society in the '60s and '70s and he felt it had all been closed down."

I would have had straight-A's in journalism if it hadn't been for Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. I foolishly endorsed his idea of freewheeling desecration of media objectivity, and a right-thinking prof gave me a B.

Unlike Thompson, I continued to look at the world, instead of looking at the walls of my rut. I discovered that liberalism couldn't deal with the ills of society any easier than Hunter Thompson, himself a manefestation of the ills of a society, could.

It's too bad he's gone, and that he never took the brave step of challenging the foolishness of his youth and appying his wild creativity to something greater than his image and his ego. It's too bad he grew no roots that would allow him to weather a storm.