Fucking Seriously? (Part 1)

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.

Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,

Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me. ~Johnny Cash, The Man In Black.

So, I saw last night that Country singer Neal McCoy has released a new song called "Take a knee, my ass" (I won't take a knee.) Per the article that I read, he seems to recognize that there's some reason, or some validity to why African American athletes are taking a knee when the national anthem is played. He just doesn't approve of how they're doing the protest.

So, in other words, something something gazpacho White Privilege! More of the same old "I don't know and I don't care what your issues actually are, but the fact that you're taking a stand where I can see it makes me uncomfortable, please stop it" type of milquetoast half-ass racist (but they'll get offended if you call them racists) bullshit.

No, seriously, this motherfucker should just record a track of himself singing "Doo Dah" and call it the fuck even, at least then he'd be being honest.

This song isn't art, it's politics and dog-whistle racism for profit.

If anybody wonders why I (an old-school Country music fan from Way back, I grew up on Johnny Cash, John Denver and Kenny Rogers, to the point where I still might get a random song by any of the three stuck in my head over 30 years later) have such a rabid, seething hatred of modern Country music...look no further than this fucking guy.

I started to lose interest in about 2002-2003 or so, when Toby Keith's music started to get all political in the post-9/11 era. I'd previously liked him, and I'll admit that even after "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" (The Angry American) he did have a couple of good songs. But that's when Country really started to lose me. Of course the fact that my ex-wife was a rabid Country music fan didn't help much.

Now, I think that politics and social issues and spiritual topics are as valid of a subject for art and music as anything else...and music absolutely is a valid way to vent anger and stress. An old roommate of mine, Kellie (who I also worked with) would routinely come home from work extremely enraged about something and blast her music (often, yes, Country) for a couple of hours to calm down.

But see, I've been around for a long time and as somebody who's mucked around with art and writing on occasion and who, as a gamer, makes and acts out characters and writes plots and stories to serve as background for the games I run...I have this thing about "Quality matters" and for that matter, context and the character of the artist can play a big part, too. That's another reason Toby Keith turned me off...because like a lot of conservative artists he hopped on the anti-Obama gravy train and while he did get off it a few times, he always got right back on as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

I'm not a fan of politically partisan art. Any fair-minded person, much less a person whose job description involves creativity and trying to understand the human condition (for a profit or otherwise) ought to damned well be able to criticize their own side when it's needed.

Another thing the article mentioned about Neal McCoy that struck me as odd, was that he has said the Pledge of Allegiance live on social media tor 677 consecutive days. Who does shit like that? McCoy also mentioned that he's performed for US troops in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

OK...Whatever, dude. This guy is just trying to make a buck off rednecks and their Christian Nationalist sentiment.

I'm just sayin' if this guy is so patriotic, instead of praying on street corners to be seen by men, he ought to strap up and enlist. Funny how that tends to work with these Patriotic Musical Patriots of American Patriotism. It's funny to me just how many of these Nationalist dick bags, despite or maybe even because of their fake militarism, have never spent a single day in uniform nor ever done much of anything for anybody but themselves.

I'd like to contrast this with Johnny Cash, whose actual military service as a code-breaker in the United States Air Force (stationed at Landsberg Air Base, Germany) was actually a step up to his later career...being that he was part of a band that was composed of Airmen from the base, named the Landsberg Barbarians.

It should also be noted that Johnny Cash performed several free concerts for inmates at various prisons, most famously Folsom and San Quentin in California and Osteraker prison in Sweden. Albums were cut from each, true, but Cash's activism and support for prisoner's rights was very real.

He also supported Native American rights and lent his talents to the recording of an AIDS benefit album.

While we're at it, one of the reasons I always liked John Denver was his support and putting his money and time where his mouth was in service to environmental causes...and it should be noted that I was a conservative at the time.

It's worth noting that both men had issues with substance abuse, both had the sense to get help and took the lumps that resulted.

These guys supported the causes that they did...and believed in the things they did...because it was right and because it was a reflection of who they were, not because it was popular. People listened because good art and good music speaks to the souls of people. People listened because the message resonated...and it has endured because it was true.

As opposed to our political situation, where a year on, Trumpism hasn't endured in any meaningful way and doesn't resonate much anymore except with fools and racists...and Trump's big talk has been replaced by Congressional Republicans clearly calling the shots, except they can't.

Not worth a shit, anyway.

Good artists, like good athletes, leaders, and whatever...make you want to follow them because of their character and their skills. They don't do what the crowd wants, they do what they do and people who support it either turn up or they don't, but people tend to be drawn to them. Respect is earned, by every action, every day.

If anybody wonders why I knew who Colin Kaepernick was and had to look up Neal McCoy, that's your answer: Respect.

As recent events show, it only takes one screw-up for that respect to be lost, right, Senator Franken?

Remember that and remember, too, how people on his own side of the political fence responded. A clear majority of liberals think he should resign, and to his credit he's taking the consequences like a man.

But he shouldn't have sexually harassed that lady in the first place, and he knows it. Maybe he'll get through this, maybe he'll resign, I don't know. For myself I think the important thing is that the way the Democrats and liberals are handling it is almost a polar opposite from the way the Republicans are handling the Roy Moore scandal.

Just like I can't respect what Country music has turned into by going with the crowd too much, I can't respect what the Republican party has turned into, either.

There will be more on this later.