“…if beneath all our criticisms and detestations of America’s vulgarity, misuse of power, and sheer pompous stupidity there has been still some optimistic love affair with the secret potentialities of this nation, some buried unvoiced faith that the nature of America was finally good, and not evil, well, that faith has taken a pistol whipping in the last months.  the romance seems not even tragic or doomed, but dirty and misplaced.”

-norman mailer, cannibals and christians