KATHY SHAIDLE ON I SHOT ANDY WARHOL.

Had she pursued, say, stand-up comedy, [Valerie] Solanas might have tempered in a crucible of criticism and feedback, positive and negative.

Sand down her edges and she could easily be mistaken for another misanthropic lesbian who was embraced by Warhol ten years later: Essayist Fran Lebowitz.

Heck, maybe even our Florence — Miss King.

It’s fairly easy to imagine both women saying something like Solanas did in a 1977 interview, ten years before her death:

“I consider it immoral that I missed. I should have done target practice.”

Regular readers know I’m somewhat obsessed with the notion that “ideas have consequences.” We can at least be grateful that Valerie Solanas has merely inspired a good movie, some mediocre art and the name of a music group, rather than murderous copycats who might not have missed.

Although, as 2020 more and more resembles 1968 but with worse music, I’m obliged to add a prophylactic “yet.”

Read the whole thing.