I love you Kurt Vonnegut!!!
Vonnegut's attacks on Bush have just warmed him up. "I'm lucky enough to have known a great president, one who really cared about ALL the people, rich and poor. That was Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was rich himself, and his class considered him a traitor.
"We have people in this country who are richer than whole countries," he says. "They run everything.
"We have no Democratic Party. It's financed by the same millionaires and billionaires as the Republicans.
"So we have no representatives in Washington. Working people have no leverage whatsoever.
"I'm trying to write a novel about the end of the world. But the world is really ending! It's becoming more and more uninhabitable because of our addiction to oil.
"Bush used that line recently," Vonnegut adds. "I should sue him for plagiarism."
Things have gotten so bad, he says, "people are in revolt again life itself."
Our economy has been making money, but "all the money that should have gone into research and development has gone into executive compensation. If people insist on living as if there's no tomorrow, there really won't be one."
"As the world is ending," he says, "I'm always glad to be entertained for a few moments. The best way to do that is with music. You should practice once a night...
"To hell with the advances in computers," he says after he finishes singing. "YOU are supposed to advance and become, not the computers. Find out what's inside you. And don't kill anybody."
As for work, "there are no factories any more. Where are the jobs supposed to come from? There's nothing for people to do anymore. We need to ask the Seminoles: 'what the hell did you do?'' after the tribe's traditional livelihood was taken away.
Answering questions written in by students, he explains the meaning of life. "We should be kind to each other. Be civil. And appreciate the good moments by saying 'If this isn't nice, what is?'"
Then he leans back. "You're awful cute" he says to someone in the front row. He grins and looks around. "If this isn't nice, what is?