Released on: June 30, 2008, 6:48 am

Press Release Author: Edward Victor

Industry: Media

Press Release Summary: Gore Vidal talks about impeachment, possible military action
against Iran, Persepolis and the U.S. constitution.

Press Release Body: Afshin Rattansi: We hear that Michael Mukasey is going to become
the latest of the President's Attorney-Generals to be subpoenaed, this time over his
conversations with Bush and Cheney -- does this show that Congress is serious about
calling the executive to account?
Gore Vidal: No, Congress has never been more cowardly, nor more corrupt. All Bush
has do is to make sure certain amounts of money go in the direction of certain
important congressmen and that's end of any serious investigation. After all, one of
the bravest members of Congress is Denis Kucinich who brought the article of
impeachment in to the well of the House of Representatives. The House of
Representatives must then try the president, and then after that it goes to the
Senate for judgment. However, none of these things will happen because there's
nobody there except for Mr. Kucinich who has the courage to take on a sitting
president who is kind of a Mafioso.
Afshin Rattansi: How can it just be one person among so many hundreds of Congressmen
who wants the impeachment of George W. Bush in these circumstances?
Gore Vidal: Well it's because we no longer have a country. We don't have a republic
any more. During the last 7 or 8 years of the Bush regime, they've got rid of the
Bill of Rights, they've got rid of habeas corpus. They have got rid of one of the
nicest gifts that England ever left us when they went away and we ceased to be
colonies -- the Magna Carta -- from the 12th century. All of our law and due process
of law is based on that. And the Bush people got rid of it. The president and little
Mr. Gonzales who for a few minutes was his Attorney General. They managed to get rid
of all of the constitutional links that made us literally a republic.
Afshin Rattansi: You have often written about the United States' superpower status
in terms of the history of previous superpowers. Do you think we're witnessing the
end of U.S. power as some suggest. Will the White House be seen like Persepolis?
Gore Vidal: Well it won't make such good ruins, no. It'll be more like the tomb of
Cyrus nearby. They managed to destroy the United States -- why? Because they're oil
and gas people and they're essentially criminals. I repeat that this is a criminal
group that's seized control of the country through what looked like an ordinary
election. But there's some very nice films and documentaries about what happened in
the year 2000 when Albert Gore won the election for president and they saw to it
that he couldn't serve. They got the Supreme Court -- which is the Holy of Holies
ordinarily in our system - to investigate and then accuse the thieves of being
absolutely correct and the winners -- Mr. Gore and the Democrats -- of being the
cheaters. It's the first law of Machiavelli, whatever your opponent's faults are,
you pick his virtues and you deny he has them. That's what they did when Senator
Kerry ran a few years ago for president. He's a famous hero from the Vietnam War.
They said he was a coward and not a hero. That's how it's done. When you have a
bunch of liars in charge of your government you can't expect to get much history out
of that. But later on we'll dig and dig. and we will dig up Persepolis.
Afshin Rattansi: Senator Obama talks about change but of course he has courting Wall
Street as well as the Israeli lobby -- do you see any prospect of change with him as
president?
Gore Vidal: Not really. I don't doubt his good faith, just as I do not doubt the bad
faith of Cheney and Bush. They are such dreadful people that we've never had in
government before. They would never have risen unless they were buying elections as
they did in Florida in 2000, as they did in the State of Ohio in 2004. These are two
open thefts of the Presidency. When I discovered that this did not interest the New
York Times or the Washington Post or any of the press of the country I realized our
day was done. We are no longer a country we are a framework for crooks to go in and
steal money. Knowing that they'll never be caught and they'll be admired for it.
Americans always take everybody on his own evaluation. You say I'm a state and they
say "oh, yeah yeah yeah, he's a state, isn't that great." And you accuse the other
people of your crimes before you commit them. It's an old trick which was known to
Machiavelli who wrote about it in his handbook, the Prince.
Afshin Rattansi: Finally that issue which is exercising so many minds in the Middle
East and beyond. You, yourself have written about so many Imperial wars of the
United States. Do you think Bush and Cheney would risk another war in what Mohammad
ElBaradei of the IAEA calls a fireball?
Gore Vidal: They are longing to but they have spent all of the money. They have got
it in their own private companies like the Vice-President and a company called
Halliburton which is stealing more money and should be on trial sooner or later
before Congress. But perhaps not, who knows? But it's well known in Washington,
these people are leaking away the money of the country. Well there's no more money.
They are longing for a war with Iran. Iran is no more a harm to us than was Iraq or
Afghanistan. They invented an enemy, they tell lies, lies, lies.
The New York Times goes along with their lies, lies, lies. And they don't stop. When
the public that's lied to 30 times a day it's apt to believe the lies, is not it?

Web Site: http://www.afshinrattansi.com

Contact Details: Edward Victor
12 Old Compton Street
Soho
London W1
UK