Thursday, August 16, 2007

The Man in Black was no Republican hack


So the RNC, for whom irony apparently does not exist, has taken to poking fun at John Edwards for his wealth. Their predicable missive caps off with Edwards' face on a million dollar bill under the heading, "Johnny Cash."

That's where the estate of Johnny Cash comes in. Seems they didn't want the RNC soiling the singer's good name, and told them so.

Snide even when wrong, the RNC spokesidiot said, "We're in a ring of fire." [HILARIOUS, and not at all predictable!] "But they were cool about it. I mean, we have the same constituency."

Yeah, Johnny Cash and the modern GOP. Kindred spirits. Give me a f'ing break.

Let's look at lyrics from one of Cash's most defining works, Man in Black:

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.



Yeah...sounds like a page right out of a Romney speech, no?

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.


Wait...I thought Jesus hated Mexicans, Arabs, Democrats and science. Love? Charity?

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.


Um, yeah. The same Johnny Cash whose career was dedicated to standing up for the lonely, the forgotten, the downtrodden and the imprisoned; the same Johnny Cash who was friends with Nixon but refused to sing right-wing country hits "Okie from Muskogee" and "Welfare Queens" for him, choosing instead to sing "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," the song about the Native American Marine who was one of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima, and still was discriminated against once he returned stateside; the same Johnny Cash who reportedly told his daughter, Roseanne, to convey to audiences his dismay for the Iraq War...this is the Johnny Cash the RNC thinks they share a constituency with?

Not in this lifetime.

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