True.
In September 2008, O’Rourke announced that he had been diagnosed with treatable rectal cancer, from which he expected “a 95% chance of survival.”
Thank you.
This excerpt from AP to a fair degree captured his politics:
Over the following decades, he became a familiar presence as a writer and on-air pundit. He covered war and unrest everywhere from El Salvador to the Philippines, while mocking “The Dictatorship of Boredom” back home.
“In July 1988, I covered the specious, entropic, criminally trivial, boring stupid Democratic National Convention, a numb suckhole stuffed with political bulk filler held in that place where bad malls go to die, Atlanta,” reads a dispatch from [book title removed] a bestseller published in 1991. “Then … I flew to that other oleo-high colonic, the Republican convention, an event with the intellectual content of a Guns N’ Roses lyric.”
O’Rourke’s rise came a time when political opponents had an easier time agreeing to disagree. Liberal author and commentator Joe Conason tweeted Tuesday that O’Rourke was “always witty if almost always (politically) wrong” and called him a “most pleasant companion” when both covered political fraud in the Philippines in the 1980s.
Like other longtime conservatives, O’Rourke’s loyalties were tested by the rise of Donald Trump. O’Rourke had little use for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, but he found he could live with what he called her “lies and all her empty promises.
“It’s the second worst thing that can happen to this country. But she’s way behind in second place. I mean, she’s wrong about absolutely everything, but she’s wrong within normal parameters,” he said on NPR.
“I mean, this man (Trump) just can’t be president,” he said. “They’ve got this button, you know, in the briefcase. He’s going to find it.”
I revoke the welcome to Atlanta for him, then.
Yesterday, a UNESCO living human treasure died.
Good for an early-morning weep:
From WPFW-FM in D.C.:
WPFW News
Rest In Love & Peace Askia Muhammad
It is with deep sadness that the family of Askia Muhammad announces his passing. Askia died of natural causes in his DC home on Thursday, February 17 at the age of 76. A private service will be held with a memorial planned for a future date.
There are no words to express the profound sadness that we feel at the passing of our dear dear brother Askia Muhammad.
He gave us all so much, always graciously and with a smile. Always speaking truth to power. Always standing up for those he loved and for right.
Words are inadequate at this moment. We just hold onto the vibration of love, truth, perseverance, hope, and joy that Askia exuded always.
Let us reflect on the beautiful legacy that Askia left us, and how we can collectively carry forth the impeccable vibration of his spirit!
modeling agent
Not sure if his books made much impact in the US but his work was very well-known in UK.
Ah, shit… 
FUCK. FUCK. FUUUUUUUUUCK I love this dude’s work. FUCK. Blues Funeral on repeat is the only proper thing to do.
Sounds like he was vaccine hesitant, caught COVID and had a long recovery from it and was one of those that didn’t make it in the end 
He wasn’t exactly a huge celebrity, but he was well known and respected in the underground hip-hop scene. Nicest guy you’d ever meet, both in person and on the mic.
