I was struck by a line in the Al-Qaida statement embedded in Amanda's most recent post. The line, "heart full of hate," attributed to al-Zawahri in the following quote sounded oddly familiar:
"America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed, and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always," the deputy of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden said.
Could al-Zawahri be a fan of one of our greatest writers?
"Maybe there is no Heaven. Or maybe this is all pure gibberish—a product of the demented imagination of a lazy drunken hillbilly with a heart full of hate who has found a way to live out where the real winds blow—to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested . . . Res ipsa loquitur. Let the good times roll."—Gonzo Papers, Vol. 2: Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s, 1988
The author is, of course, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson and the sentiment in the quote represents exactly the values and beliefs Al-Qaida so often attributes to Americans. Could it be that al- Zawahri and his pals have been reading Thompson all along?
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