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RIP P.J. O’Rourke…

Kyrie Eleison

By Kyrie Eleison
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1 hour ago, Kyrie Eleison said:

good dude who made me a better thinker; i enjoyed his perspective.  

Didn't always agree with him, but was usually entertained.

Made people think...and laugh.   That is special.

 

RIP.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 104628

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24 minutes ago, sidis said:

i occasionally enjoyed his early writing.  he gave the commencement speech at my econ-specific graduation 20 years ago and it was quite literally the dumbest fucking speech i have ever heard in my life. 

Huh.  You must have missed my 25 minute drunken tailgate speech in 2007 about how "I don't care what the question is, the answer is NEVER "Colt McCoy!'"  It was.....not super-smart.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31283

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I have a bunch of his books from PoW on.  I enjoyed them at the time but am afraid to revisit them given my disenchantment with conservatism.

God is an elderly or, at any rate, middle-aged male, a stern fellow, patriarchal rather than paternal and a great believer in rules and regulations. He holds men strictly accountable for their actions. He has little apparent concern for the material well-being of the disadvantaged. He is politically connected, socially powerful and holds the mortgage on literally everything in the world. God is difficult. God is unsentimental. It is a very hard thing to get into God's heavenly country club.

 

Santa Claus is another matter. He's cute. He's non-threatening. He's always cheerful. And he loves animals. He may know who's been naughty and who's been nice but he never does anything about it. He gives everyone everything they want without thought of a quid pro quo. He works hard for charities and he's famously generous to the poor. Santa Claus is preferable to God in every way but one: There is no such thing as Santa Claus.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Chooky

Chooky 13302

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22 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I have a bunch of his books from PoW on.  I enjoyed them at the time but am afraid to revisit them given my disenchantment with conservatism.

Don't be. He transcends party shit with humor. At worse, some bits will feel dated. I disagree with about 80% of George Will's opinions but he's probably my favorite writer still alive and I still read every column he turns out. It's sad, because you see him diminishing on occasion and he's very feeble in appearance.

If you flip through 'Holidays in Hell' you'll be wondering what in the fuck happened to the Republican party. These guys won't be replaced and they lived long enough to witness firsthand that the GOP no longer had a seat for guys like them. It's no longer about small government. It's about striving for the biggest one the world has ever seen that's free from competition.  

Edited by Chooky
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83Horn

83Horn 1638

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"In life, a little luck and a little government are necessary, but only a fool would trust either of them."  Don't know if that's his quote, or if he was quoting someone else, but I first saw it on one of his books and was hooked.  RIP to one of the most thought provoking and entertaining writers of our time.

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Guest Lobo

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^

I'm glad you mentioned that, because I didn't want to post both their names at the same time.  While Thompson is obviously in a world of his own, O'Rourke and he had some striking similarities.  We shouldn't even really be discussing this in CR, it's more of a Books/DT/Lulz topic.  He was a brilliant satirist.  Sure he obviously had centre-right tendencies, but was also fiercely anti-establishment with heavy libertarian and progressive streaks on certain micro issues.  O'Rourke, like Thompson, evolved and devolved politically from puberty to death.  And managed to "live life fully" while pretending to be covering politics.  

I've voraciously digested O'Rourke's writings and media/conference appearances and as much I shared in common with him, I would never think of him as a "conservative author" until my 9th outta 10 guesses.  He was just a mater of sarcastic derision peppered with humanity and just fucking flat-out fun.  

We are quickly running very, very short on critics like O'Rourke.  All that'll soon be left are 'commentators' as annoying as your 8th grade class president debate. 

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C-Man

C-Man 27057

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Dude was funny as shit. I still have a copy of "Modern Manners" somewhere.

I love this quote from him: "The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crab grass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."

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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29794

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16 hours ago, sidis said:

i occasionally enjoyed his early writing.  he gave the commencement speech at my econ-specific graduation 20 years ago and it was quite literally the dumbest fucking speech i have ever heard in my life. 

Your eulogy game needs work.

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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29794

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16 hours ago, Chooky said:

Don't be. He transcends party shit with humor. At worse, some bits will feel dated. I disagree with about 80% of George Will's opinions but he's probably my favorite writer still alive and I still read every column he turns out. It's sad, because you see him diminishing on occasion and he's very feeble in appearance.

If you flip through 'Holidays in Hell' you'll be wondering what in the fuck happened to the Republican party. These guys won't be replaced and they lived long enough to witness firsthand that the GOP no longer had a seat for guys like them. It's no longer about small government. It's about striving for the biggest one the world has ever seen that's free from competition.  

That really is a fantastic post. The quotes in this thread about politics are all necessary. The conservative voice he had was what it was supposed to be all about. It was useful no matter where you place yourself on the partisan spectrum.

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Mach 1

Mach 1 1676

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RIP

Obligatory:  (Spoilered - not sure if this type of humor ages well)

Spoiler

image.thumb.png.6d146cb708ae3e35dba48e6ffa0df3ea.png

 

PJ was the editor of National Lampoon when he published John Hughes first short story, the original Vacation.  Still one of the funniest things I've ever read.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/read-john-hughes-original-national-811591/

 

Edited by Mach 1
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Chooky

Chooky 13302

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18 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

The mid-70s National Lampoon was a collection of comic savants.

It's pretty crazy that there was such a concentration of funny people in one space who didn't even know they were planting the seeds for five decades of iconic comedy.  Imagine sitting in a writing room with Doug Kenney, PJ O'Rourke, Tony Hendra, Henry Beard and Michael O'Donoghue.  Then on the periphery were guys like Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and John Belushi floating around.  That would be a fun group to sit with in a bar.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 104628

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8 minutes ago, Restless Native said:

I was a fan. It seemed like he would start off every discussion by saying he was a conservative, and the more he spoke, the more it seemed like he was out to prove himself wrong.

As time went by, his challenge was that he was strongly pro-conservative ideas, but also strongly anti-moron.  That's a tough place to be these days.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31283

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21 hours ago, Chooky said:

Don't be. He transcends party shit with humor. At worse, some bits will feel dated. I disagree with about 80% of George Will's opinions but he's probably my favorite writer still alive and I still read every column he turns out. It's sad, because you see him diminishing on occasion and he's very feeble in appearance.

If you flip through 'Holidays in Hell' you'll be wondering what in the fuck happened to the Republican party. These guys won't be replaced and they lived long enough to witness firsthand that the GOP no longer had a seat for guys like them. It's no longer about small government. It's about striving for the biggest one the world has ever seen that's free from competition.  

My recollection is that he mostly avoided social conservatism and culture war bullshit, which is something I have long been uncomfortable with.

I do recall his chapter on the "Farm Bill" being hilarious and revelatory.  "The Farm Bill needs to be dragged out behind the barn, and killed with an axe."

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dcbc

dcbc 14409

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Helluva great writer and funny as hell.  Although my political position has shifted a lot in the last twenty years, I need to revisit "How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink."

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RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26281

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11 hours ago, Mach 1 said:

RIP

Obligatory:  (Spoilered - not sure if this type of humor ages well)

  Hide contents

image.thumb.png.6d146cb708ae3e35dba48e6ffa0df3ea.png

 

PJ was the editor of National Lampoon when he published John Hughes first short story, the original Vacation.  Still one of the funniest things I've ever read.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/read-john-hughes-original-national-811591/

 

Was he editor when the OC & Stiggs stories came out? Because it seems like he would be.

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DalTxHornFan

DalTxHornFan 3085

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26 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Helluva great writer and funny as hell.  Although my political position has shifted a lot in the last twenty years, I need to revisit "How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink."

Here you go:

What I’d really like is a new label. And I’m sure there are a lot of people who feel the same way. We are the Republican Party Reptiles. We look like Republicans, and think like conservatives, but we drive a lot faster and keep vibrators and baby oil and a video camera behind the stack of sweaters on the bedroom closet shelf. I think our agenda is clear. We are opposed to: government spending, Kennedy kids, seat-belt laws, being a pussy about nuclear power, busing our children anywhere other than Yale, trailer courts near our vacation homes, Gary Hart, all tiny Third World countries that don’t have banking secrecy laws, aerobics, the U.N., taxation without tax loopholes, and jewelry on men. We are in favor of: guns, drugs, fast cars, free love (if our wives don’t find out), a sound dollar, cleaner environment (poor people should cut it out with the graffiti), a strong military with spiffy uniforms, Nastassia Kinski, Star Wars (and anything else that scares the Russkis), and a firm stand on the Middle East (raze buildings, burn crops, plow the earth with salt, and sell the population into bondage).

There are thousands of people in America who feel this way, especially after three or four drinks. If all of us would unite and work together, we could give this country... well, a real bad hangover.

P. J. O’Rourke
Jaffrey, New Hampshire 1986

      reptile.gif



 

How to Drive Fast on Drugs

While Getting Your

Wing-Wang Squeezed

and

Not Spill Your Drink

https://www.heretical.com/miscella/reptile.html

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sheeeit

sheeeit 129

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One of my favorites from him.  He said his daughter was arguing with him about something and said things were not fair.  His response- you were born in the USA, white, smart and well off. You better pray things never start getting fair.  

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dcbc

dcbc 14409

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54 minutes ago, sheeeit said:

One of my favorites from him.  He said his daughter was arguing with him about something and said things were not fair.  His response- you were born in the USA, white, smart and well off. You better pray things never start getting fair.  

"I'd rather spend money like there's no tomorrow than to spend tomorrow like there's no money."

I think that one is from Modern Manners.

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28713

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On 2/16/2022 at 11:21 PM, DalTxHornFan said:

Here you go:

What I’d really like is a new label. And I’m sure there are a lot of people who feel the same way. We are the Republican Party Reptiles. We look like Republicans, and think like conservatives, but we drive a lot faster and keep vibrators and baby oil and a video camera behind the stack of sweaters on the bedroom closet shelf. I think our agenda is clear. We are opposed to: government spending, Kennedy kids, seat-belt laws, being a pussy about nuclear power, busing our children anywhere other than Yale, trailer courts near our vacation homes, Gary Hart, all tiny Third World countries that don’t have banking secrecy laws, aerobics, the U.N., taxation without tax loopholes, and jewelry on men. We are in favor of: guns, drugs, fast cars, free love (if our wives don’t find out), a sound dollar, cleaner environment (poor people should cut it out with the graffiti), a strong military with spiffy uniforms, Nastassia Kinski, Star Wars (and anything else that scares the Russkis), and a firm stand on the Middle East (raze buildings, burn crops, plow the earth with salt, and sell the population into bondage).

There are thousands of people in America who feel this way, especially after three or four drinks. If all of us would unite and work together, we could give this country... well, a real bad hangover.

P. J. O’Rourke
Jaffrey, New Hampshire 1986

      reptile.gif



 

How to Drive Fast on Drugs

While Getting Your

Wing-Wang Squeezed

and

Not Spill Your Drink

https://www.heretical.com/miscella/reptile.html

Mmmmmm...Nastassia Kinski...

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