Country music is the nation’s most popular genre—with nearly twice as many stations devoted to it than any other—and perhaps its most political. These days, the jingle jangle jingoism from Music Row seems to only be getting louder. Consider these lyrics from a few recent chart-toppers: “Some say this country’s just out looking for a fight / After 9/11 man,… return to article
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Reader Comments (60)Page 1 of 1 pagesThe first line states that country music is the most popular genre in the country, then he says its being killed. That is a contradiction.
Secondly, no-one censored anyone. It was an act of the free market responding to its consumers. Censorship is when a government or its agent -like a state college- trash and burn student newspapers for not being PC enough.
Posted by geronl on Dec 30, 2005 at 6:22 AM I guess if your a group or industry in America that are “Proud Americans” and they express it ... then the liberals think that is a bad thing. I guess liberals would be happy if the Country Music Industry was like Hollywood and hated Bush, hated America and hated our Military. I guess liberals want Country Musicians to wish for America to lose the War like Hollywood does.
What a shock to liberals ... not everyone thinks like they do. Amazing ...
But I do have to say that I really like to see articles like this. Why? Because it proves what we have been saying about liberals all along ... and now more middle Americans can see it for themselves.
PS - I’m going to let you liberals in a little secret. Elections are not won the “far right” or “far left” ... elections are won by the “swing voters”, which are in the middle. So, please keep this up, stuff like this guarantees a White House victory for GOP in ‘08.
Oh ya, make sure you get Michael Moore involved again, that worked out well for the Dems in ‘04. lol ... lmao ....
Posted by tina1 on Dec 30, 2005 at 9:21 AM Maybe I should post all of the anti-homo, anti-women, pro-gang rap lyrics that are out there.
Oops- couldn’t possibly do that here though. Why is that again?
Posted by InThoseTimes on Dec 30, 2005 at 12:54 PM ... country music is “a window into every aspect of lower- and middle-class life, the civic by no means excluded.”
Well, no.
Dishonesty is low-class. Political correctness, an ideological form of dishonesty, is low class. Close-mindedness is low class.
To spell it out (you obviously need assistance here), the elite leftist Old Media, academics, and Dims are low class. That is why you Dims keep losing elections, by bigger margins. And there is nothing you can do about it, short of suddenly becoming honest. You can’t do that, so enjoy, loser.
Posted by scorp on Dec 30, 2005 at 12:55 PM For the rest of the industry, the message was clear: Shut up if you want to sing.
Wait a minute. I thought we was talkin’ country here, not Hollywood!
Oh, I get it. Clever.
Pity the country is behind country, not Hollywood.
Posted by Jay Cline on Dec 30, 2005 at 3:25 PM “I wonder if anybody’d think I’d flipped if I went to LA via Omaha”
Charlie Daniels, Uneasy Rider
I loved this article....especially the “ultimate hat act” part!lol
Posted by minerva on Dec 30, 2005 at 10:00 PM Lo, how the mighty have fallen.
It’s curious just how much country music has strayed from its roots and been bastardized by the nefarious Nashville.
In the beginning, God created country music and he say that this was good because it was about the things that truly mattered, like humanity.
When country music started out, it was down to earth, and about distrusting things that were abstracted from daily life, like the man and his dubious agenda. It’s forefathers sang about hardships and oppression that was brought down on them by so-called worldly matters, and are probably turning in their graves over the path chosen by their estranged heirs. These artists sang about roaming the range and riding the rails, trying to stay out of messes that were neither here nor there, not about their alacrity for quitting their families and lives to risk their necks for some political pervert.
Posted by C Moore on Dec 30, 2005 at 10:57 PM We Can’t Make it Here Anymore
Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one’s paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget’s stretched so thin
And there’s more comin’ home from the Mideast war
We can’t make it here anymoreThat big ol’ building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can’t make it here anymoreSee all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They’re just gonna set there till they rot
‘Cause there’s nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There’s a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don’t come down here ‘less you’re looking to score
We can’t make it here anymoreThe bar’s still open but man it’s slow
The tip jar’s light and the register’s low
The bartender don’t have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day
Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are workin? two jobs and livin? in cars
Minimum wage won’t pay for a roof, won’t pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can’t make it here anymoreHigh school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what’ll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it’s way too late to just say no
You can’t make it here anymoreNow I’m stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
‘Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can’t make it here anymoreShould I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I’m in
Should I hate ‘em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They’ve never known want, they’ll never know need
Their shit don’t stink and their kids won’t bleed
Their kids won’t bleed in the damn little war
And we can’t make it here anymoreWill work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let ‘em eat jellybeans let ‘em eat cake
Let ‘em eat shit, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can’t make it here anymore
And that’s how it is
That’s what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind If you’re listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all whyIn Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That’s done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There’s rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can’t make it here anymoreMusic and lyrics © 2004 by James McMurtry
http://www.jamesmcmurtry.com
Posted by Major Major on Dec 31, 2005 at 12:49 AM Almost sounds like one of those “if we kill them all they can’t take our jobs” type jingosims.
But more to the point, this is what happens when a redneck gets so hopped up on hooch that he jumps into the sack with a fee-lovin’ hippie harlot. It seems to be whining about social justice along capitalist lines--a true contradiction in terms.
Now recall that the Ol’-G countrymen from back in the Great Depression days would have been lynched by McCarthy alongside all those fruity, open-minded, liberal Hollywood types. They didn’t want dead-end, factory jobs. What they wanted was a chance to eke out an existence off the land, without having to whore their bodies, time, and lives out to some rich dude that was a world apart, never mind from another era.
Posted by C Moore on Dec 31, 2005 at 1:42 AM OK, what ‘Country’ are we talking about here.
The article stated at the get go that “country” was the most popular music radio genre.
You know, people will eat paper, garbage, and each other, if these are the only choices and survival is on the line.
That must be why there’s a tear in my beer, lol
Posted by minerva on Dec 31, 2005 at 3:23 AM You do have to love the elitest snobbery of the piece though. Craig is so above the common man - so is ITT. Let’s see if they can write an actual positive piece about something in ‘06. Not just critical snob rags about whatever dumb topic floats their boat ("jingoistic country music”? I can’t stop laughing. Make fun of the Jews next time guys - you’re better at that), but something positive about the Dems. 5 bucks they can’t.
Posted by InThoseTimes on Dec 31, 2005 at 9:12 AM Technically, censorship means the ideas in question have been removed from the public arena. The statements of Natalie Mains are pretty well known and she is still free to speak her mind to all who care to listen.
The problem is, nobody gives a damn what she thinks about politics. She’s a musican, not an analyst! I appreciate her musical skill, but for her to use her fame to promote an agenda totally unrelated to her field of expertise is unseemly at best.
Nobody should have to listen to Natalie Main’s polical diatribes if they don’t want to. Freedom of speech also implies we have the freedom no to listen, and I sure didn’t need a radio station or corporation to tell me to be nonplussed at Ms. Mains behavior.
I enjoy the music of the Dixie Chicks, but I won’t be supporting them financially by buying their products. That’s not censorship, it’s the free market. Say what you want, but don’t expect to get paid for it!
Posted by crashtech on Dec 31, 2005 at 10:40 AM “Let ‘Er Rip”
I Can Tell There’s Something You Don’t Wanna Tell Me
It’s Killing You ‘Cause The Words Are Hard To Find
I Know You Want To Break It To Me Gently
Well Sweet Baby Say What’s On Your Mind[Chorus:]
Let ‘Er Rip, Let It Fly
Come On Baby, Say It, Do You Think I’m Gonna Cry
I Ain’t About To Bawl, And I Ain’t Gonna Die
So If You’re Gonna Say Goodbye, Don’t Take All Day And Night
Let ‘Er Rip, Let It FlyWhy The Drama, We Don’t Have To Drag Out This Situation
It Wasn’t You, It Wasn’t Me, Sometimes The Chemistry Don’t Ignite
There Ain’t No Rings, No Mortgage, There Ain’t Any Complications
It’s Just A Hyphenated Word, Get It Out, I’m Sure I’ll Be Alright[Chorus:]
Let ‘Er Rip, Let It Fly
Come On Baby, Say It, Do You Think I’m Gonna Cry
I Ain’t About To Bawl, And I Ain’t Gonna Die
So If You’re Gonna Say Goodbye, Don’t Take All Day And Night
Let ‘Er Rip, Let It FlyIt Ain’t No Big Deal, It Ain’t No Great Loss
You And I Are On The Same Train Of Thought
So You Don’t Have To Tell Me Where To Get Off
Maybe I Misunderstood You, If You’re Leaving, Baby Would You[Chorus:]
Let ‘Er Rip, Let It Fly
Come On Baby, Say It, Do You Think I’m Gonna Cry
I Ain’t About To Bawl, And I Ain’t Gonna Die
So If You’re Gonna Say Goodbye, Don’t Take All Day And Night
Let ‘Er Rip, Let It FlySo If You’re Gonna Say Goodbye, Don’t Take All Day And Night
Let ‘Er Rip, Let It Fly[ www.azlyrics.com ]
Posted by Major Major on Dec 31, 2005 at 2:31 PM Singers and actors can make political statements, but they need to be intelligent about it. Americans are happiest when we feel like we’re part of a team. And post-9/11, we were a team. That’s why some folks miss the bygone days of immediately-post 9/11 when everyone had something in common with everyone else. The Dixie Chicks were thoughtless enough to attack this team’s “coach”; the singers thus became the other team, the enemy.
Perhaps Natalie could have pointed out that our opponent was bin Laden and not Hussein. A good part of this American team still doesn’t know bin Laden from Saddam. Clarity should have occurred on all levels, but especially the media, and if that had included The Dixie Chicks, they’d now be sitting pretty.
Posted by Mitcherino on Dec 31, 2005 at 3:04 PM The Dixie Chicks should of realized who their fans were (mostly Republicans). I’m sure Pearl Jam knows who their fans are (mostly Dims).
One thing about Southern people, they back our military .. no matter what and no matter who is President. Another thing about Southerners ... they don’t like “liberals”.
Southerners are a lot smarter that most people think. Why has the Senate in the South switched from Dem to GOP in the past 20 years? The reason is this ... LIBERALS. They know that liberals vote for Dems so the Southerners vote GOP. Again, Southerners don’t like liberals, they don’t like gay people, they don’t want their children learning about the “gay lifestyle” at school, they don’t want their children coming home from school with a book called “I Have 2 Daddies” or “I Have 2 Mommies”.
The more liberals push their anti-military, pro-homosexual agenda ... the more the Dims can figure on never winning the South.
PS - Al Gore didn’t even win his home state (Tennessee) in 2000. That says it all.
“Welcome to the South, except Liberals”
Posted by tina1 on Dec 31, 2005 at 6:40 PM Let ‘Em Fly
Ain’t no talkin’ to this man
Ain’t no pretty other side
Ain’t no way to understand the stupid words of pride
It would take an acrobat and I already tried all that
I’m gonna let him fly - mmmThings can move at such a pace
The second hand just waved good-bye
You know the light has left his face
But you can’t recall just where or why
So there was reallly nothing to it
I just went and cut right through it
I said I’m gonna let him fly
Ooo yeaThere’s no mercy in a live wire
No rest at all in freedom
Choices we are given
It’s no choice at all
The proof is in the fire
You touch before it moves away - yeah
But you must always know
how long to stay and when to goAnd there ain’t no talkin’ to this man
He’s been tryin’ to tell me so
It took a while to understand
the beauty of just letting go
‘Cause it would take an acrobat n’
I already tried all thati’m gonna let him fly
I’m gonna let him fly - fly woah
I’m gonna let him fly - fly woah
I’m gonna let him fly.
Posted by Major Major on Dec 31, 2005 at 8:56 PM “Unfortunately, the protest music of these “Bluenecks” is often just as shrill as that of the right. With a few exceptions--like Steve Earle’s “Home to Houston” or James McMurtry’s “We Can’t Make It Here"--the topical songs too often feel like novelty records, no less ephemeral than reactionary ditties like Ray Stevens’ “Osama Yo’ Mama (You in a Heap o’ Trouble Boy).”
what songs by what bands? I have yet to hear these shrill screeds.
Posted by stukuls on Jan 1, 2006 at 10:38 AM Tina is fascinating. She’ll support the US in any random war apparently - sort of like wanting your daddy to escape the police regardless of what he has done.
There is a difference beween wanting America to win that war and wanting America to be great. The unwillingness to recognize this is a prominent difference between the so-called ‘dims’ and the likes of tina1 (apparently a tad dimmer)
Posted by GrayArea on Jan 1, 2006 at 5:43 PM My country right or wrong.
My mother drunk or sober.Is about how Shaw put it. Out of all the liberal-bashers on this thread, why do you pick on tina1? Is she really so much dimmer than the rest?
Just curious.
As you were.
Back to your little square dance, or line dance, or whatever you call this little orgy of insults. It’s nice to see you kids having fun. Just don’t get any on ya.
Posted by wileywitch on Jan 1, 2006 at 10:16 PM Sorry Wiley. Her point about liberals wanting America to lose the war sort of typified the disengaged brain attitude we have to endure from the right. That broken record goes like this:
“Well, now that we are in Iraq, do you want us to lose?”
The follow-up goes like this: “You liberals have no ideas.”
Lather, rinse, repeat…
Posted by GrayArea on Jan 1, 2006 at 11:06 PM Hey GrayArea, what are you talking about?
You say that I “support the US in any random war apparently” ... I NEVER SAID THAT ...
And your comment about helping daddy escape the police ... stop .. just stop it. You didn’t see me protesting to keep Tookie Williams alive, nor did you see any conservatives wanting Tookie to get his sentence reduced to life. It was conservatives that wanted Tookie to “fry” and it was the Dims and Libs trying to keep Tookie alive.
Why are Dims and Libs always on the side of Dictators and criminals?
I think it’s the liberal ACLU that is defending the child molesters ... NAMBLA, while suing the Boy Scouts. (liberals should be proud of this)
www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200402270920.asp
Since 1915 the Boy Scouts have taken care and managed land within San Diego’s Balboa Park. The Boy Scouts built a swimming pool, a 600 seat amphitheater and camping facilites. These facilities are not only for the Boy Scouts, but are open to anyone. Common sense would say that this is not only a good thing for the Boy Scouts, but the entire community. But not to the liberals ACLU ... no ... the ACLU sued the city to kick the Boy Scouts out. And the ACLU won ... not only did they the ACLU win, but now taxpayers have to give the ACLU $950,000 in attorneys fees.
So, according to liberals ... child molesters are good, and the Boy Scouts are bad.
Another example of why “Liberalism is a Mental Disorder” ... a “sickness” that cannot be cured.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I guess you missed what Democrats said about Saddam Hussein while Clinton was President.
“Saddam’s goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed.”—Madeline Albright, 1998
“(Saddam) will rebuild his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and some day, some way, I am certain he will use that arsenal again, as he has 10 times since 1983”—National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Feb 18, 1998
“The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow.”—Bill Clinton in 1998
“Iraq is not the only nation in the world to possess weapons of mass destruction, but it is the only nation with a leader who has used them against his own people.”—Tom Daschle in 1998
“As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.”—Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998
“Even today, Iraq is not nearly disarmed. Based on highly credible intelligence, UNSCOM [the U.N. weapons inspectors] suspects that Iraq still has biological agents like anthrax, botulinum toxin, and clostridium perfringens in sufficient quantity to fill several dozen bombs and ballistic missile warheads, as well as the means to continue manufacturing these deadly agents. Iraq probably retains several tons of the highly toxic VX substance, as well as sarin nerve gas and mustard gas. This agent is stored in artillery shells, bombs, and ballistic missile warheads. And Iraq retains significant dual-use industrial infrastructure that can be used to rapidly reconstitute large-scale chemical weapons production.”—Ex-Un Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter in 1998
http://www.rightwingnews.com/quotes/demsonwmds.php
Posted by tina1 on Jan 2, 2006 at 1:04 AM Oh my God...if you’re looking to country music for the answers to the universe, I have this lyrical stew for you:
Why Don’t We Get Drunk....
1973I really do appreciate the fact you’re sittin’ here
Your voice sounds so wonderful
But yer face don’t look too clear
So bar maid bring a pitcher, another round o’ brew
Honey, why don’t we get drunk and screwChorus:
Why don’t we get drunk and screw
I just bought a water bed, it’s filled up for me and you
They say you are a snuff queen
Honey I don’t think that’s true
So, why don’t we get drunk and screw-- spoken: pick it coral reefers, here we go…
(swing instrumental)
Chorus:
Why don’t we get drunk and screw
I just bought a waterbed it’s filled up for me and you
They say you are a snuff queen
Honey I don’t think that’s true
So why don’t we get drunk and screw
Yeah, now baby I say, (lord!)
Why don’t we get drunk and screwJimmy Buffett
(hey, this is your country music singer, not mine, lol)
Posted by minerva on Jan 2, 2006 at 2:04 AM You know, I heard you folk talking about censorship, homos, and mama....
but I ain’t heard nothing about trains, or the rain.......
lol
I love America...I even pledge allegiance to it whenever I have the opportunity to chant that prayer.
Sincerely, Minerva
Posted by minerva on Jan 2, 2006 at 2:12 AM rightwingnews.com huh? I’ll bet that site is a real time-saver. “Tell em what they already know. We are good. they are bad.”
Tina, wake up. Iraq is essentially a random war. It was the perfect, half-trillion dollar war Osama wanted for Christmas. If you are backing your administration’s completely foolhardy adventure into a country that did not attack us and p o s e d u s n o t h r e a t, well, then I can’t think of an American war you wouldn’t support.
How many innocent Iraqis did 9-11 give us the license to kill? Considering, that Iraq was not behind 9-11, do you think their mothers and fathers sisters and brothers see it the same way you do, or do you suppose they think it is a crime?
If you define a crime by who commits it, then of course, I can see your point about dems supporting criminals… but if you actually paid attention, you would see things a bit differently. You might notice a lot of republicans in legal jeopardy these days. It isn’t because they are republicans; it is because they are greedy little criminals - regardless of their stance on abortion.
By the way, propping up despots is a highly bipartisan activity (and not a liberal one). In fact, it goes to show how far to the right the government truly is when it favors economic stability and greed over democracy.
Would a little introspection kill you tina?
Posted by GrayArea on Jan 2, 2006 at 2:20 AM Minerva, that is a great song, and it is in the country style, but Buffett is kinda ‘island’ don’t you think? - I don’t believe he’s in the fold.
Thanks for posting it =)
Posted by GrayArea on Jan 2, 2006 at 2:24 AM crashtech,
Those poor girls said that they’re ashamed of a single man, not of an entire nation and culture, and now they’ve been lynched into obscurity. Is that fair? Doesn’t freedom of speech have to do with not having to be an expert to express and opinion on something. Your point is as lame geriatric member. When you but their CD, you support their music, not their politics. For politics, we have a things called democracy.Tina,
George W Bush is a criminal (and on so many levels). If the grandfathers of country music knew about the eavesdropping that he authorized, they’d be singing for his lynching.
But then again, the stuff coming out of Nashville today is nothing more than some easy listening soft-rock with a southern twang. Know why? Because the countryside and its music don’t really exist anymore.
Something called urban sprawl turned it all into suburbia, and the people that live there are similarly mindless as any other mass-consumer soccer-mommy living in Grosse-Pointe or Pasadena. Their brains have been washed into rot-gut, and believe anyone that adopts the same arrogant chauvinism that reminds them of their alcoholic, homo-phobic father. They’re like cats that are scared of their own shadow, or dogs whose tails chase them. They might be southerners, but they’re sure no cowboys or country folk, and that crap they tune into on the drive to work is on par with any other genre of top 40 pop.
Posted by C Moore on Jan 2, 2006 at 12:47 PM first link I found with Murtha’s recent speech about the state of our military>
Only chumps and propogandists are still behind this war.
Read it and weep:
“The threat posed by terrorism is real, but we have other threats that cannot be ignored. We must be prepared to face all threats. The future of our military is at risk. Our military and their families are stretched thin. Many say that the Army is broken. Some of our troops are on their third deployment. Recruitment is down, even as our military has lowered its standards. Defense budgets are being cut. Personnel costs are skyrocketing, particularly in health care. Choices will have to be made. We cannot allow promises we have made to our military families in terms of service benefits, in terms of their health care, to be negotiated away. Procurement programs that ensure our military dominance cannot be negotiated away. We must be prepared. The war in Iraq has caused huge shortfalls at our bases in the U.S.
“Much of our ground transportation is worn out and in need of either serous overhaul or replacement. George Washington said, “To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.” We must rebuild out Army. Our deficit is growing out of control. The Director of the Congressional Budget Office recently admitted to being “terrified” about the budget deficit in the coming decades. This is the first prolonged war we have fought with three years of tax cuts, without full mobilization of American industry and without a draft. The burden of this war has not been shared equally; the military and their families are shouldering this burden.
There’s lots more, see the link for the complete speech. Doubt there will be a country song about our broken military to rile the hearts of veterans so that they forget about dying from the DU.
Oh yeah, C Moore. Why we have no DJ’s, huh? Why we not have local music? Why? I don’t know about L.A., but from what I’ve seen of Nashville (ragweed and rednecks on the verge of rioting) I’d rather not feed it.
Hank Williams will have to hold me over. (Though I can’t take more than ten or twelve hits in a row---Yeah, yeah, yeah ----you’re feeling blue.)
Posted by wileywitch on Jan 2, 2006 at 5:17 PM Thanks for the clarification, Gray Area. I think a lot of people are confusing the Commander-in-Chief with someone who knows their ass from a shetland pony on military matters.
Posted by wileywitch on Jan 2, 2006 at 5:24 PM Hey liberals ...
In case you haven’t heard, we are on the downslide in Iraq. I guess you were sleeping during the elections… or stoned.
There is only a few pockets in Iraq that are trouble, kind of like “South Central LA” ... or the “North Side of Philly”.
I had to laugh a week ago while watching one of the cable news shows. This was after the elections when Rummy was said that we would be cutting back on troops this Spring. Now what have all the libs and dems been saying? Bring home the troops .. right. Well, on this show they were talking about what Rummy said ..... about cutting back on the troops. Guess what one of those stupid liberal pundits said? He said “we might be sending mixed messages to the Iraqis” ... lol ... lmao
Are you kidding me ... you stupid libs have been cryinig about bringing home the troops and they when Rummy says he will cutting back this Spring ... a stupid lib says “that we might be sending mixed messages to Iraq”.
More proof that “Liberalism is a Mental Disorder” ... sick .. sick in the head.
I couldn’t stop laughing… too funny.
If Bush nominated someone to the Supreme Court from the ACLU ... liberals would probally bitch about that. lol ... lol ...
Posted by tina1 on Jan 2, 2006 at 9:21 PM Talk about shrill! Do you ever read your posts? You could just say, “All liberals suck. They’re wrong. I’m right. I saw something on t.v. that proves it.”, and save yourself a lot of typing.
Did you read Murtha’s speech? Do you know who he is? Aside from what you see on television, what do you make of this speech?
Posted by wileywitch on Jan 2, 2006 at 9:42 PM Tina - Not sure I follow. Are you disappointed that we are cutting back the troop levels this spring or are you happy? It will certainly surprise you to learn that liberals are not all of one mind. Now, see that as a weakness if you must, but don’t you ever miss having original thoughts?
There are times when it would be comforting to lsing along as someone unquestioning and loyal tells me how great our leaders are, but I choose not to live in North Korea. I choose reality, for all its warts. Facts are not so poetic as songs about putting boots in people’s asses, but they also tell a story.
Did you know that the violence is claiming the lives of over 1,000 Iraqis per month not to mention the wounded? I assume you parrotted the “South Central LA or the North Side of Philly” remark from a shameless partisan font such as rightwingnews.com. Did it occur to you that you are being manipulated? Does it even add up that things are going swimingly despite severe shortages in water, electricity and other utilities?
Worse than false, your statement is rather mean spirited. It suggests to the Iraqi people that their security situation is pretty much as good as it gets.
Posted by GrayArea on Jan 2, 2006 at 10:48 PM The new, hot country single
I’ll Save You a Place
“General Casey said in a September 2005 hearing, “the perception of occupation in Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency.”
They think I’m bad
“General Casey said in a September 2005 hearing, “the perception of occupation in Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency.”
that I oughtta eat lead
General Abizaid said on the same date, “Reducing the size and visibility of the coalition forces in Iraq is part of our counterinsurgency strategy.”
they want me gone, they wish I was dead
“Much of our ground transportation is worn out and in need of either serous overhaul or replacement.”
My truck is broke
”Our deficit is growing out of control. The Director of the Congressional Budget Office recently admitted to being “terrified” about the budget deficit in the coming decades. This is the first prolonged war we have fought with three years of tax cuts, without full mobilization of American industry and without a draft.”
And I’m broke too
“Oil production and energy production are below pre-war levels. Our reconstruction efforts have been crippled by the security situation.”
Iraq is a mess
and I’m a mess too
And most importantly, insurgent incidents have increased from about 150 per week to over 700 in the last year. Instead of attacks going down over time and with the addition of more troops, attacks have grown dramatically.
they’re shooting at me and I wanna go home
A poll recently conducted shows that over 80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops, about 45% of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified.
Let me come home
and buy me a beer,
If you wanna fight
then come over here.I’ll save you a place
(didda twang)
Posted by wileywitch on Jan 3, 2006 at 1:40 AM As the author notes while country has large attractiveness to the right wing and often has very conservative undertones, and sometimes more blatant conservatism, the left, we the progressives, need to focus on expanding the real music of the anti war movement and the progressive idea. Punk has absolutely replaced the previous liberal progressive music genre that encapsuled and spoke for the liberals of the 1960s. We should encourage and embrace this new movement as conservatives have embraced country.
Bands like Anti-Flag, The Code, Bad Religion, The Suicide Machines, NOFX, MXPX, Whatever it Takes, Red Lights Flash, Thought Riot, among others passionately embrace progressivism, while the level of this in each band and others may reach different levels each does its own part.
Songs like “911 for Peace” by Anti-Flag are devout in their progressivism:
“It’s in the paper every day
I see it in the headlines and I feel so sick, yeah
Another life leaves this world (this world) so full of hate
But short
Short on compassion
Short on humanity
Asking myself in vain, shaken by the shock,
“do we even have a chance?”I don’t wanna die
(I don’t wanna kill)
I don’t wanna kill
(I don’t wanna die)
We are all human.
It’s time to prove it.This is a plea for peace (world peace)
To the oppressors of the world and to
To the leaders of nations, corporate profit takers,
to the everday citizen
Greed, envy, fear, hate-- the competition has to stop.
When you see someone down, now’s the time to pick them up
Set our differences aside and never look back, noI don’t wanna die
(I don’t wanna kill)
I don’t wanna kill
(I don’t wanna die)
We are all human
It’s time to prove it.Isn’t everybody tired of the fighting? (hey, hey)
Isn’t everybody tired of the killing? (hey, hey)
Isn’t everybody tired of the dying? (hey, hey)
Isn’t everybody tired of the hatred? (hey, hey)
Violence.. fighting… killing...dying.. aaaaaah!![excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech:]
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow,
I still have a dream
we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children,
black men and white men
Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join
hands and sing
“Free at last, free at last.
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”I don’t wanna die
(I don’t wanna kill)
I don’t wanna kill
(I don’t wanna die)
We are all human
It’s time to prove it.We are all human
It’s time to prove it.
We are all human...”While Anti-Flag can be seen as the head of this progressive peace-punk, and many of their songs can be found for download at: www.anti-flag.com
Punk in general is the music of the left.
If you want to check out some punk bands visit www.downloadpunk.com this website offers thousands of punk songs for free to download. Also punk record labels compared to most major labels nearly always have a mp3 download section for free where you can sample their artist.
Posted by NaderRaider on Jan 3, 2006 at 11:13 AM What I’m listening to, some songs to try out if you want progressive music:
“Seattle was a Riot” by Anti-Flag (About the famous Seattle protests of the WTO, and as a sidenote for those of you that dont know this Seattle protest was the largest protest(at its time) of any protest in human history)
“Alert, Aware, Involved” by The Code
“I Voted For Nader” by Thought Riot
“City Streets, Summer Heat” by Whatever it Takes
“No Security” by the Bouncing Souls
“Mumia’s Song” by Anti-Flag
“Dinka’s When I Close my Eyes” by Against All Authority (about the evils done under capturing slaves and the grief it brought to those in the African continent)
“Are We Dead Yet” by The Unseen
“Step One” by The Suicide Machines
“D.D.T” by The Suicide Machines
“Unity” by Operation Ivy
“Sellout” by Reel Big Fish
“Lost in the Supermarket” by The Clash
“Artificial Life” by Operation Ivy
“White Trash (Second Generation)” by Bad Religion
“Union Town” by Good Riddance
“South Bound 95” by Avail
Posted by NaderRaider on Jan 3, 2006 at 11:23 AM I think some folks are being too tough on country music. Country music blends all that is wonderful about the South with the style and class of the WWF.
Country music also proves that it is more than possible that Neanderthal man had music as well, giving us a much broader view of these supposedly primative people.
Yes, flag-waving to the point of mania is part of the genre as well, but it is really quite harmless. None of those young men posing as cowboys has the least intention of participating in anything that would require being shot at. It’s all just harmless fun, like Clint Black, who I believe is from New Jersey, pretending to be a a cowboy. Who knows? Next year they may all dress up as firemen or Indian chiefs.
Any way, country music represents the people of America: the ones who still think Sadam personally piloted the 9-11 flights, that WMD were found, that Bush really grew up on a ranch and is a devout Christian and that Colin Powell and Condi Rice are pretty goddamn smart — for niggers.
Posted by opeluboy on Jan 3, 2006 at 6:27 PM OOOWWWWWCH! That hurts, opeluboy.
I’d like to think that the current pitch of Bush supporters is a frantic swan song, soon to become a dirge.
Posted by wileywitch on Jan 3, 2006 at 7:03 PM I’d like to believe that, too, wileywitch, but I’ve learned to never underestimate the nearly magical stupidity of the American people.
Posted by opeluboy on Jan 3, 2006 at 7:21 PM Hey, it’s like the only Country singer that I know to be a Rhodes Scholar put it:
Eggheads cussing rednecks cussing
Hippies for their hair
Others laugh at straights who laugh at
Freaks who laugh at squaresSome folks hate the whites
Who hate the blacks who hate the klan
Most of us hate anything that
We don’t understand
Posted by C Moore on Jan 3, 2006 at 8:18 PM We haven’t cornered the entire market on stupidity, but our stock in reason has certainly plummeted to dark-age depths. Our poor language! So abused.
Oh, well. Gotta play the hand that’s dealt us. Would rather err on the side of hope sometimes. Even though I think the evil memes will win, I’m privileged enough to carry some hope, so I feel obligated to generate a little cheer. Nothing too much.
I’ve learned to throw the deadbeats off my raft without apology.
Posted by wileywitch on Jan 3, 2006 at 8:22 PM That’s right. But he was one of the so-called outlaws that Nashville kind of shunned.
Posted by C Moore on Jan 3, 2006 at 10:14 PM Hey Tina...we can’t be stoned.
Dont’cha know?
“We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee;
We don’t take our trips on LSD
We don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street;
We like livin’ right, and bein’ free...”Merle Haggard.
God, I love Country Music...so funny and absurd.
Posted by minerva on Jan 7, 2006 at 9:25 PM Ha! Nice work opeluboy and C Moore!
Kris is a God…Jesus was a capricorn
He ate organic food
He believed in love and peace
And never wore no shoesLong hair, beard and sandles
And a funky bunch of friends
Reckon we’d just nail him up
If he came down againhow sad a state of affairs that picture at the top of the article displays...Willie with Toby fcking Keith?!? Gimme my speed lovin’ pot smokin’ bourbon chuggin’ country anyday...this ain’t country...it’s thinly veiled pop-schmaltz worse than anything Celine has loosed upon this world…
and as for Tina1...she probably missed the joke of “America, Fck Yeah!"…
Posted by thegreatwent on Jan 7, 2006 at 11:15 PM Okay, here’s my last comment on this country music thing.
Everyone in the known universe should stop what they’re doing and go out right now and buy Steve Earle’s Jerusalem and The Revolution Starts Now! Not only is this some of the best politcal/social commentary and downright protest music (for you young folks, that’s music that had a politcal or social relevance) it is also as close to real country music (okay, maybe some’s a bit rockabilly) as you would ever want to get if you aren’t a fan of monster truck rallies, dove hunting and masturbating to pictures of the late Dale Earnhardt.
Steve Earle is this generation’s Johnny Cash. And he could kick Toby Keith’s fat chickenhawk ass.
Posted by opeluboy on Jan 9, 2006 at 7:01 PM What’s going on here, is that both the Left and the Right have set up their own very high, idiotic, stupefying walls of censorship and blacklisting that block the kind of productive debate that leads to actual solutions. Liberal Democrats have only themselves to blame for much of this, since it was they who began this whole ultra-PC shut-your-mouth thing in US universities, where people with conservative views-- even reasonable conservatives, who formulate their views out of logic and sound thinking and promulgate them politely-- are shouted down as racists, sexists and thugs. Campus leftist radicals too often began us down this path of censorship of discussion by attacking ad hominem anyone who raised other opinions, rather than engaging them in sensible debates.
Now, it appears that some conservatives may be doing the same sorts of things. I never particularly was a fan of the Dixie Chicks to begin with, thought they were overrated, but the effective censorship and blacklisting of the Chicks that occurred afterward was a disgusting sight to see. Utterly disgusting, and yes, as the author said, aided and abetted by the consolidation of the radio biz under Cox and Clear Channel Communications.
The funny thing is, I sympathize with the country conservatives on most things, am a former Marine who’s loudly and proudly patriotic for my country who hasn’t cast many votes for liberals before. But the problem with the way the Dixie Chicks were muzzled, is that some legitimate questions raised at the outset in 2002 were silenced, with the result that a much greater Fsck-up has emerged in the years since in Iraq. Namely, it was Osama bin Laden who attacked us, not Saddam Hussein, and Osama and al-Qaida have gotten away with it. Yes, bin Laden and his thugs brutally attacked the US as we haven’t been attacked since the early 1800s by British assholes, and they got away with it, because we focused on the wrong enemy.
This is a classic blunder by gung-ho young guys who *think* they’re fighting for their country but are actually hurting the good-ol’-USA-- they turn their guns on the wrong enemy. You only “kick the ass of those who messed with us” if you actually those who messed with us. The problem with raw, naked aggression like what we see in the young guys singing the jingoist tunes, is that it’s easy for someone with a little brains to manipulate it into hurting the USA even more. This is why Marines and Army soldiers have to be professionally trained to use their brains as much as their raw aggression-- they need to make sure they’re directing that aggression in the right places.
The point is that Iraq was the wrong place to go fighting in the first place. We should have opened up our can of whoop-ass against bin Laden and his fellow fanatic freaks up in the mountains of Tora Bora in Afghanistan, but instead we left that to unreliable Afghans, while turning our firepower against Iraq, which was the wrong place to waste our resources in.
Posted by Skullcrusher on Jan 13, 2006 at 3:36 AM People from the South are very proud of their heritage and rightfully so. Honor, chivalry, patriotism, and a living warrior spirit are some of the first things a Southerner will tell you about when you start exchanging life stories. Unfortunately the GOP and the neo-cons have saw fit to manipulate these values to their own benefit and promote a war where a disproportionate amount of casualties come from this region of the country. But watch out GOP a true Southerner will only be patronized for so long…
Posted by Anti-War Conservative on Jan 13, 2006 at 2:45 PM If you need a good antidote to knuckleheads who write stuff like: “we’ll put a boot in your ass, it’s the American way”, I know of at least one song you should hear. It’s called “NEW ORLEANS 2005”. The song addresses the disgraceful handling of last year’s relief effort for survivors of hurricane Katrina, and doesn’t forget to make the obvious connection with wasted resources poured into the Iraq war. You can read the lyrics below. If you’d like to hear (and/or download for free) the song, you can do so here:
http://www.polarityrecords.net/sammbennett/sounds/NewOrleans_2005.html
NEW ORLEANS 2005
see the black man down in New Orleans
waist deep in the flood waters wading
gunfire crackles in the distance
the last glimmer of daylight is fading
he didn’t have much to begin with
now his world has come all unglued
he’s on his way to bust into a grocery store
to get his family some water and foodnew orleans new orleans 2005
now see the president way up in his airplane
he says zero tolerance for looters
i tell you one thing this president really knows how to do
is to send in the guns and the shooters
but less bullets more boats, beds and blankets
and a few hundred lives he might save
ah but blaming the victim is what we do best
here in the home of the bravenew orleans new orleans 2005
they say the president loves all americans
no matter the color or creed
but you decide for yourself where the real truth resides
is it found in the word or the deed
if you say you don’t think that it’s racist
maybe this’ll cut through your dense mental haze
just try and imagine a whole stadium full of white people
left to fend for themselves for six days
i don’t think it would’ve happened quite that waynew orleans new orleans 2005
now if there’s good that can come from this tragedy
it’s that maybe things’ll get rearranged
lord knows over in washington d.c.
we’re long overdue for regime change
one hundred eighty six million dollars they spend
on the war in iraq every day
with just a fraction of that
they could’ve shored up those levees
and kept the floodwaters at baynew orleans new orleans 2005
copyright 2005 samm bennett
Posted by flapjax on Jan 15, 2006 at 8:22 AM Whee! What a thread, thank all gods there is no tina2.
The three greatest country songs ever written or sung were, in no particular order:
David Alan Coe carrying on about the time his mother got run over by that damn ol’ train in “You Never Even Call Me by My Name”.
“They Don’t Make Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “I’m Just an Asshole from El Paso,” by Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jew Boys.
Kinky is currently running for governor of Texas as an independent, and threatens to be a bit of a spoiler, drawing votes from both dems and repugs.
Posted by viejolex on Jan 19, 2006 at 5:48 PM “You don’t have to call me darlin’, darlin’....”
Glad to meet you, viejolex
Posted by minerva on Jan 21, 2006 at 5:26 AM Hey, Minerva, how you doin’ - a sunshiny morning here in this far outpost of west Texas, where the deer and the dread immigrants play -!
Posted by viejolex on Jan 21, 2006 at 8:01 AM Good sunshiny morning to you minerva, and everyone else, from this corner of far west texas where the deer and the immigrants play -
Posted by viejolex on Jan 21, 2006 at 8:33 AM “...no-one [sic] censored anyone. It was an act of the free market...” No FREE MARKET exists when corporate monopolies flaunt contaminated “bottom lines” and the fundamental exercise of governmental checks-and-balances has been maligned and marginalized by the likes of Murdoch and Abramoff.
Posted by 14Justice on Jan 22, 2006 at 1:43 AM Being an open minded leftist I gave country music a chance and have been listening on and off for some time. I must say that I regard true country music of the 40s, 50s, and 60s to be a genuine expression of the attitudes and feelings of the people and communities from which it stems. It represents an aspect of authentic American culture and is an honest portrayal of the lives, struggles, pain, and joys of the people of the regions where this music first derived. Naturally, its appeal became widespread with the growth of a national music industry in the post-WWII era. I respected the old greats like Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and some a bit more contemporary like George Jones, Willy Nelson, George strait, Tammy Wynette, and Waylon Jennings. These folks sang about life the way it was in the hills of Tennesee, Kentucky, and elsewhere. Without becoming preachy they imparted a deep sense of the hardships of the small town workingman and the American farm family. Much of the music evokes the inner strength of the people; their refusal to tolerate encroachment on their independence and a fierce yeomanlike individualism. Other songs reveal a quiet, almost poetic, piety in modest and humble homage to the almighty and a kind of downhome and earnest spirituality. Still other pieces convey a joyous and rollicking spirit of a Saturday night at the squaredance or the pain of broken hearts and shattered relationships in need of restoration. This was the authentic and heartfelt music that made a particularistic culture a national treasure! Todays post-1990s “New Country” bears none of this heartfelt authenticity. What we have today is a crude and bullying array of “agitprop” for an ultra-conservative American Regime and its theocratic and warmongering political agenda unbecoming to any artistic community and beneath the dignity of people whose artistic sensitivity should cause them to be repulsed at playing such a role for authority. I know that country folk are more conservative than most others. Their deep religiosity is one reason for this phenomenon. Yet I never expected them to prostitute their former creative and intellectual independance to a wealthy music industry in order to propagandize America on behalf of a horrible agenda that is causing country folk above all to suffer. This is quite shameful!
Posted by cabdriverinchicago on Jan 23, 2006 at 1:44 AM How sad! The c/m industry has become the Dalton gang of High Noon. However, that travesty creates Gary Coopers, the real good guys. Just as God created Jesus to redeem even the bad guys.
I have one question, How many innocent men, women and children must we kill to avenge the men, women and children killed on 9/11? How much destruction of homes, buildings and cities will be necessary to defeat the terrorists? “You broke it, you own it,” don’t apply. “Might makes right” does.
Good guys always win, just ask the supreme authority.
Posted by Starvinmarvin on Jan 23, 2006 at 3:01 PM Killing innocent people doesn’t win the “war on terror” it just creates lots more terrorists! The news hasn’t reached the Red States yet but in fact Iraq, once a stable albeit brutal dictatorship with Saddam’s uncontested power free to crush rival groups is NOW a hot bed of Al Qaeda activity. Incidents of terrorism, somewhat rare before the invasion of Iraq, is now taking untold thousands of lives! Iraq under the Baathists was one of the few places where terrorists both has no quarter and from where they recieved no funding (unlike our allies Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc,) and one place radical Islamists gave up on subverting. Now ironically radical Shiites who DO hate us have been put into power in Iraq and there is little we can do about it. By the way, the same is true for Palestine. As the secular nationalists fight to hold themselves together after being battered for years by Israel and their US benefactors, Hamas is poised to take the reigns of power. The radical Islamists rose to power with our help on the backs of our Cold War obsession (the war against the Soviets, 1979-89). They now seem poised to finish their struggle for the Middle East! Again, this was enabled by US policy! But after all, being religious fanatics ourselves, we seem more afraid of social democrats than the Osama bin Ladens of the world. One thousand years ago the Crusades posed the Christains against the Muslims. Today the wars of the new international political disorder pose ALL religous fanatics (Christian, Muslim, and even Jews) against enlightened civilization. This is the real present danger!
Posted by cabdriverinchicago on Jan 23, 2006 at 11:49 PM Yes, Viejolex....
watch what they put in that gumbo.
This is purely anecdotal, but I understand that these guys
http://www.dallasobserver.com/special_reports/full_frontal/full_frontal.gif
sat in the stew/roux pot throughout the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s that all ‘country’ music emerges from.
Is there no end to this modern cannibalism?
I ask you.....?
PS : say hello to your momma, and your daddy too,
Posted by minerva on Jan 24, 2006 at 12:38 AM minerva, this is a wild comment! Please explain!
Posted by cabdriverinchicago on Jan 25, 2006 at 1:13 AM New to this site. Hi y’all!
I’m from the South - but I vote Dem just like my mom and grampa and elders.
The reason being that if you know anything beyond country music you know that the GOP screws the working people. Profits are more important than jobs, safety, or liberty.
They get us folks by calling on our loyalty in wartime. We don’t back down from a fight, but we can be blinded and are too damn stubborn to admit it.
If you are Christian and wave the flag and love country music you don’t question.
As long as they claim anti-abortion they got us. What brings up a good boy’s deepest instinct to protect the helpless like fighting abortion or the terrorists who would kill our babies and women?
But maybe the mine tragedies will wake up rural folks to the fact that it ain’t our daddy’s GOP anymore. If it gets out that the Bush administration cut safety regs and are in the process of other deep cuts that helps us proud rural southerners and country folk. Maybe....but its hard to get that out to hardworking men and women who got no time or energy to seek out news that isn’t quick. Its not ignorance, its time and energy and preference.
We forget our roots in the unions and progressive policy. Dems don’t get it if they keep fussing about abortion and gays and other stuff that is poison to the good ol boy rebels.
I don’t know how I turned out like I did!
Peace and jobs and justice and liberty!
Posted by tlcs3 on Jan 25, 2006 at 9:03 AM I hope things get better when we finally finish crawling out of this primordial stew
In the mean time:
“Hear that lonesome whipoorwill, he sounds too blue to cry....”
Posted by minerva on Jan 28, 2006 at 8:40 PM I hear you, Minerva! Can’t go wrong invoking the immortal Hank!
the moon just went behind the clouds…
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