Mr. Haggard makes an impactful statement. What freedoms does the average American not have now that were available before 9-11, other than restrictions regarding what you can do or carry in airports? What do you suppose he means?

Does this mean Elie Wiesel isn't going to show "her" tits for peace?

I notice Merle Haggard hasn't been gathering criticism for his comments in concerts lately, where he has spoken against the war, suggested we "give Ashcroft a big hand... right in the mouth", and said that he had more freedom as a parole just out of prison than the average American citizen has now.

You might want to google Weisel for other surprising info.

Edited by author 03-17-2003 06:42 AM
It's a shame Elie Wiesel didn't come up with anything more than some of the weaker pro-war rhetoric.

She claims the war is to 'eradicate international terrorism', describes Iraq as a 'rogue state', Hussein as a 'madman', who 'threw out' UN inspectors... Come on, it's like a press release.

She accepts that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction simply because Powell says so.

And the punchline? "We have a moral obligation to intervene where evil is in control." *There's* an extendable principle.

The nice thing about being a washed-up has-been country muzak artist like Charlie Daniels is at least you're home on nights and weekends.

When I read Weisel's piece in the SF Chronicle, it made me wonder: is this going to help make the case that Israel is the engine behind a war in Iraq?

You have to admit Miss Bulgaria makes a pretty good case for peace.

http://fr.news.yahoo.com/030310/202/334fj.html

I just can't see Charlie Daniels' name anywhere without hearing "Chicken in the breadpan pickin' out dough!" , sorry.

I thought Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Weisel did a much better job of making the case for war than Charlie Daniels did.

hmm. My bad - there seems to be much more to the story and the woman who worked for the cable channel is looking less innocent. For one thing, she regularly used her personal account for business. For another, the first response she sent had her business contact information at the bottom. Worst of all, she forwaded the email and her response to a couple friends in the country music business calling for a boycott of Charlie Daniels cds and concert tickets, and then forwarded this email to Charlie Daniels' publicist along with a note threatening to send the same email to 2,000 people in the business. Her employer says they fired her not for her views but for not making it clear that she wasn't representing her employer's views. Charlie Daniels had no direct involvement with all this and didn't even know about it until after the fact.

It still smells bad, and definitely doesn't reflect well on Charlie Daniels. But it isn't the clear-cut First Amendment case it initially appeared to be. If she wanted to go bear-baiting like that, she definitely should have made sure she'd covered her ass first.

Patriotism is the first resort of the faded celebrity neverwas.

Damn. I followed that link to Twangzine (looks like a pretty cool rag, btw), and found that there's even more Charlie Daniels nastiness there. Apparently, a woman received the Charlie Daniels email at home in her personal mailbox, so she responded (negatively) while apparently making it clear these were her own opinions. Unfortunately, she works for a Country Music cable channel. Charlie Daniels' publicist (who sent out the email and who received the woman's response) complained to her employer and she was fired for having doubleplusungood political views.

Reminds me of The Clash song "Know Your Rights" - "You have the right to free speech...as long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it."

On the hopeful side, I read the online paper from the small northern Arkansas town where my mom lives, and the letters to the editor regularly have writers suspcious of Bush and his war. I was really surprised to see that.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/31403_local_rodeofight.html

Oh look - The poor maligned redneck in action:

With some 15,000 to 20,000 folks at the rodeo drinking beer and having fun, things can get a little out of hand at times. It happened when a tape of Lee Greenwood's song Proud To Be An American was playing. Some rodeo fans were standing and others were sitting down. Felix Fanaselle and his buddies chose to remain seated.

"This guy behind us starts yelling at us (because) we're not standing up," said Fanaselle. "He starts cussing at us, telling us to go back to Iraq."

Edited by author 03-16-2003 01:24 PM
Drop inbred, but fuck the redneck hick. I'm from the south and I grew up in a sea of willful ignorance.
The clue train pulled out a long time ago, and if bubba thought he was too clever and proud to get aboard, fuck'em.
Don't waste your time with pity for the poor, maligned hillbilly bigot, who hides behind words like "tradition" and "heritage".
Fuck them and Taliban, who are the other side of the same grimy coin.