Can't Buy A Clue
There has been strange news this week about the perceptions of some right-wing opinion leaders.
First I was laughing at news that the website for Tom DeLay's legal fund was using an interview from the Stephen Colbert show. Apparently, the Comedy Central logo in the corner of the screen didn't tip them off to the idea that, just maybe, Colbert wasn't playing it straight. The interview actually supports the author of a book critical of DeLay.
Then I came upon the list of the Top 50 conservative rock songs, as compiled by the National Review. The mind boggles.
#1? ""Won't Get Fooled Again," by The Who. No, really. The Who. #1 conservative rock song.
Unbeknownst to me, the conservative movement is in favor of chaotic, violent revolution as part of a pointless cycle of government succession, to which the only coherent response is:
The list is chock-full of absurd choices that can only be construed as "conservative" if you ignore everything about the bands, writers, and what was happening as the song was recorded. Some choices are, perhaps unwittingly, revealing.
#4, "Sweet Home Alabama," by Lynyrd Skynyrd, for instance. A song that extols the love the people of Birmingham had for their racist, segregationist governor George Wallace. It pointedly tells off Neil Young for writing a song calling on southerners to remember the teachings of the Bible and adapt to the changes of integration. Look, I admit it's a rock and roll classic, but as an exemplar of a political philosophy it leaves a lot to be desired. That is, unless you want to admit that the conservative movement is proud of its undercurrent of bigotry and racism.
Careful selective reading boosts other songs on the list, such as #3, "Sympathy for the Devil," by The Rolling Stones. The National Review seems to think it comes down against moral relativism and points to its verse about the Russian Revolution as a put-down of Bolshevism.
I guess the listmaker was too busy gettin' his groove on to hear the verse about the Blitzkreig or the one about the 100 Years War:
Personally, I'm worried about a trend. There is a growing prevalence of C.I.I.S., Complete Irony Impairment Syndrome.
When the right goes beyond being oblivious to mockery and starts actually embracing those who mock them, believing the ridicule is support for their beliefs, the end may be near.
First I was laughing at news that the website for Tom DeLay's legal fund was using an interview from the Stephen Colbert show. Apparently, the Comedy Central logo in the corner of the screen didn't tip them off to the idea that, just maybe, Colbert wasn't playing it straight. The interview actually supports the author of a book critical of DeLay.
Then I came upon the list of the Top 50 conservative rock songs, as compiled by the National Review. The mind boggles.
#1? ""Won't Get Fooled Again," by The Who. No, really. The Who. #1 conservative rock song.
Unbeknownst to me, the conservative movement is in favor of chaotic, violent revolution as part of a pointless cycle of government succession, to which the only coherent response is:
I'll tip my hat to the new constitutionI didn't realize that conservatives believed in the illegitimacy of all government. Goes to show what I know.
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no!
The list is chock-full of absurd choices that can only be construed as "conservative" if you ignore everything about the bands, writers, and what was happening as the song was recorded. Some choices are, perhaps unwittingly, revealing.
#4, "Sweet Home Alabama," by Lynyrd Skynyrd, for instance. A song that extols the love the people of Birmingham had for their racist, segregationist governor George Wallace. It pointedly tells off Neil Young for writing a song calling on southerners to remember the teachings of the Bible and adapt to the changes of integration. Look, I admit it's a rock and roll classic, but as an exemplar of a political philosophy it leaves a lot to be desired. That is, unless you want to admit that the conservative movement is proud of its undercurrent of bigotry and racism.
Careful selective reading boosts other songs on the list, such as #3, "Sympathy for the Devil," by The Rolling Stones. The National Review seems to think it comes down against moral relativism and points to its verse about the Russian Revolution as a put-down of Bolshevism.
I guess the listmaker was too busy gettin' his groove on to hear the verse about the Blitzkreig or the one about the 100 Years War:
I watched with gleeThe moral lessons in this song, as with so many others, are a bit too subtle for the National Review.
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the Gods they made
Personally, I'm worried about a trend. There is a growing prevalence of C.I.I.S., Complete Irony Impairment Syndrome.
When the right goes beyond being oblivious to mockery and starts actually embracing those who mock them, believing the ridicule is support for their beliefs, the end may be near.
posted by Paul at 11:36 PM |
|
email this
