MR. BAD EXAMPLE

George W Bush does not speak for me or my son or my mother or my friends or the people I respect in this world. We didn't vote for these cheap, greedy little killers who speak for America today - and we will not vote for them again in 2002. Or 2004. Or ever. Who does vote for these dishonest shitheads? - Kingdom of Fear, 2003

If Hunter S. Thompson finally became a victim of his own persona, he was a willing one. He wrote two stone cold classics, and if his later stuff veered toward self parody and repetition I still would occasionally check out his online ESPN sports columns despite the fact I don't give a shit about sports. I'll always remember when I discovered his books as a kid in the little complacent rural town I grew up in. He opened my eyes to the hardball world of power politics, and I don't think I ever took any politician completely seriously after reading Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. I think that lunatic crazed charge that some kids got from punk rock I got from the writings of HST. Profane, paranoid, but fucking hilarious at the same time.

Ralph Steadman and Christopher Hitchens on the life and death of Dr. Thompson.