Nixon in Pynchon WAS Re: scoundrel: _Nixon's Shadow_

[pynchonoid]

My personal opinion of the man is that he was, like
most politicians, a criminal who, unlike most
politicians, got caught and had to suffer some
consequences.  The US electorate has put lots of
quirky characters into office with whom the public
enjoyed a love-hate relationship. That Nixon was able
to capture the public imagination and divide the
country the way he did, imo, speaks more to the growth
of media culture and the pioneering work of  emotional
manipulation via mass media (public relations,
advertising) that coincided with his rise to power and
subsequent fall.

Otto:
>He may have
> been a scoundrel, but Nixon ended the Vietnam war.

Debatable.  Far more significant is that Nixon
continued the war -- at a cost of countless lives,
Vietnamese and American, and untold suffering -- for a
long time after knowing it could not be won, and, like
George Bush now, lied about the progress of the war
and manipulated public opinion for partisan political
gain. 

> Don't forget in your righteous anger about the
> killed innocents those at
> least one thousand American troops who've died in
> the belief of serving
> their country but instead were just employees of
> Halliburton IG; 

The same could be said for the 50,000-plus US forces
who died in Vietnam for the good of war profiteers. 
This is the subtext for Gravity's Rainbow and the
background against which Pynchon writes that novel.
This "righteous anger" is obviously alive in the US
still -- Kerry is perhaps the most prominent Vietnam
Vet who grew disillusioned when he discovered the
truth about the war, then turned against the war when
he got home, while the Swift Boat Vets for Untruth are
among the many who have chosen instead to cling to the
patriotic slogans and myths that their leaders fed
them to keep them killing, and dying, in Vietnam.

Seems to me that in GR Pynchon portrays Nixon as a
figure of fun manipulated by the companies and
individuals who thrive on war, then in Vineland
identifies Nixon with the fascist twilight that is
overtaking the US.  I don't see Pynchon treating Nixon
as a tragic figure anywhere.
 

 

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