I don’t get it, are you saying that Sam Altman is not currently one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world, with the power to influence policy through deep pockets and connections? That he’s just an average Joe that has a CEO job like a million other CEOs?
I've largely nodded along with you over the years but from the little I've read of Vidal's later years he wasn't a hard core truther (of the "they cut the steel and demolitioned the towers" ilk), more his usual cynic political realist self:
I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm a conspiracy analyst.
Everything the Bushites touch is screwed up. They could never have pulled off 9/11, even if they wanted to. Even if they longed to.
They could step aside, though, or just go out to lunch while these terrible things were happening to the nation. I believe that of them.
It's entirely possible that he went further than accusing Bush et al. of being asleep at the wheel and being overly fond of Saudi oil, if so I missed that particular descent into the abyss.
Sure. We can probably amicably depart the thread here with the sentiment that Vidal is not the least controversial authority you could introduce to an argument about shadowy powers controlling the world. I like Vidal! I'm just saying, he's not like, the AskHistorians pick.
It's also just possible I'm wrong! Like, obviously? But I think we're all just hyperfixated on this guy because we can see ourselves wearing the same goofy blue sneakers as he did in the "Bilderburg" photo. It's a crab bucket thing. Our attention to him, I mean. He could end up being a supervillain! I just don't think he is right now; I think what he is is much more boring than that.
> I like Vidal! I'm just saying, he's not like, the AskHistorians pick.
We're in damn near furious agreement . . . although there's a few of the original AskHistorians academics from a decade back that would take Vidal over Jared Diamond in a heartbeat :)
