And then there was Abbie Hoffman. He was like a force of nature, and another trapeze act over the abyss of madness. The following bit about Hoffman is lifted from an interview by the novelist Thomas Kennedy, published in The Literary Review, 50th Anniversary Edition, Winter, 2007:
        Kennedy: Who else from the sixties impressed you? Who were the most impressive?
        Gover; Well, two people of note were certainly Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin.  I attended the last House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) Hearing when their "street theater" antics turned that anti-democratic ritual into a farce.  I was amazed, delighted and fascinated in October 1967 by Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and their merry band of pranksters, bent on an absolutely whimsical project: “to levitate the Pentagon.” No one believed this was possible of course yet everyone found a role to play in this magnificent spoof. I flew East for the occasion and my friend Dan Greene introduced me to Abbie (Dan was then a feature writer for the National Observer) and the night before the big event we spent some hours walking the streets of downtown Washington, DC. Abbie led us into a sandwich shop for a bite to eat and by the time we left he had everyone there either confounded, collapsed in laughter or both.
        Top Pentagon officials, who directed the mightiest military the world had ever known, were totally undone by Hoffman, Rubin and the estimated 50,000 (or 250,000, depending on who you believe) demonstrators they brought together for the ha-ha levitation. The media turned out in force. Helicopters prowled overhead. Soldiers surrounded the Pentagon, faces frozen in deadly determination. Police cars zoomed back and forth on surrounding streets as throngs of people—-many dressed in mythical costumes (witches, warlocks, gremlins, Roman gladiators, etc.) moved toward the Pentagon's front entrance, having been prevented from surrounding it. The atmosphere was electric with slapstick magic.
        Out of this day “Flower Power” was born, and the comedy was ordered continued by the House Un-American Activities Committee, which called before its august members Abbie, Jerry and assorted other leaders of the antiwar movement. Jerry Rubin donned a Revolutionary soldier uniform for his appearance, and on another day carried a toy M1 rifle that frightened the guards, till they pounced him and captured the gun and discovered they'd been had.
        I think it was on the second day of the hearing that Abbie pulled his most memorable off-news-camera spoof. He put on a USA flag shirt and left the hotel, crossed the street toward the entrance to the building where the hearing was being held, and was immediately assaulted by half a dozen cops, who tore that flag shirt off only to discover that he'd painted a Vietnamese flag on his back. They then grabbed him and strong-armed him down a side street, where a black police van was parked. After locking him in the van they were distracted by demonstrators across the street, heckling them. During this distraction, a longhaired hippie type sneaked up to the police van and, circling it on his haunches, let the air out of each tire. So when the police turned back to their primary duty, they could not drive the van and had to call for backup.

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