A few words on Hunter

        “There is no such thing as Objective Journalism.  The phrase itself is a gross contradiction in terms.”

        The quote, found in The Campaign Trail: The Million-Pound Shithammer, may well represent the most important thing I’ve learnt from Hunter S. Thompson.

        Between all the mischief and his famous ‘tangents’, Thompson’s reports convey more than news and opinions.  They embodied his personality.  

It’s impossible not to be surprised by the many contradictions he held.  Including the way he ridiculed politics and demystify authority; the evil jokes he played and the absurd rumours he made up; the deliberate offenses and disregard; his never ending struggle with deadlines; and most importantly, how starkly fair and honest he was in his characteristic prose.

        “He had that rare weird electricity about him – that extremely wild & heavy presence that you only see in a person who has abandoned all hope of ever behaving ‘normally.’”

        This is how Thompson described the mysterious drunkard and star of the Sunshine Special incident on Muskie’s campaign trail, the “hell-king crazy” aristocrat of Freak Kingdom. 

But I like to think that it would apply perfectly on Thompson himself, too.