Hunter S. Thompson and the Cornell Case

I'm not going to join in the Cornell festival of blame, about which I know nothing that is not in the newspaper. However, I was reminded very strongly of the Hunter Thompson book I reviewed recently. The reason is that this sort of subject matter getting sensational newspaper stories and big press conferences by policemen and prosecutors was what, Hunter argued, turned the Hells Angels from around a hundred guys in California into what it became after. 

The sensationalist stories spilled purple prose and raised all sorts of accusations; however, on inquiry Hunter found that the charges were generally dropped or not upheld if prosecuted, and anyway it always seemed like the club had no need to go out looking for girls to assault because lots of girls were looking for them. The girls sought out the club, a fact that amused Hunter quite a bit -- not just girls, though lots of girls, but also lots of other ordinary middle class people. The media sold a story that the run to Bass Lake one year was going to be an orgy of destruction, but what all that newspaper ink accomplished was to bring out lots of tourists who wanted to see the show. In spite of some small tension, Hunter's editor had a rather disappointing story after the affair of people mostly getting along and camping out. A lot of beer was drunk, including by visiting girls. 

A lot of sex may also have been had during the drinking and camping on the beach. At least some of the stories in the book are reported as rather enthusiastic seeking-out of the club just for the drinking and very wild sex. That was what brought them out.

I suspect fraternities and sororities can be a milder version of this. I'm not saying that is what happened here, but I do notice the parallel between the wild, hair-on-fire print accounts and then the emerging details that come later on. 

The grandstanding public figures also have strong parallels in both sets of cases. I predict that this grandstanding will end up doing actual harm to the cause they claim to be interested in defending. Hunter is quite vocal in defending the idea that rape is extremely serious and deserves to be punished, though he takes care to be a good journalist and paint a fair picture of what he actually learned about the cases he mentioned. I was struck by the irony that it was not the governors or the police chiefs or the New York Times who went to the trouble to get the facts right, but the gonzo journalist.