Donald Trump is a serial sexual predator. Roy Moore is a serial sexual predator who preys on underage girls. Vile behavior crosses all lines. The entertainment industry is currently trying to deal with Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and let's be real here, plenty of other people who take advantage of their power, which is what this is really about. And of course, the lines between politics and entertainment are no longer clear. See: Trump, Donald.
See, also: Franken, Al. The left-wing hero/comedian/politician is, apparently, pretty vile to women too. Are you shocked? Why? Did you assume that a liberal wouldn't do that? Did you assume that you could tell from his personality? Really? Are you, what, psychic, or something?
Give people power, and they will abuse their power. It seems to me there's an old saying about that, if only I could remember how it goes. And you can't tell who will and who won't abuse their power. Not from their politics, not from their work history, not from their demeanor... Yup, Al Franken. Him too.
You may have noticed that I'm kind of obsessed with music. Relatively obscure music, generally. Just this week, before Al Franken was outed as a piece of shit, I was checking for any recent projects from a band called "Hazmat Modine." They are a sort of experimental blues band that draws from a wide range of musical traditions, from jazz to klezmer to Tuvan throat-singing (they invite a Mongolian group, Huun-Huur-Tu, to participate in their recordings). I told you, my taste in music is odd. The group is led by a harmonica player named Wade Schuman. Not seeing anything recent from Hazmat Modine, I started looking around for recent projects by Schuman, who is just a generally interesting musician. I stumbled across a story about a New York Academy of Art faculty member-- a painter-- involved in some sexual harassment allegations. Same guy? I was looking for a harmonica player, not a painter. Is this individual just some artistic polyglot? (In addition to being pondscum?)
Yup. Same guy. I wasn't even aware of his day job as the Chair of the Painting Department at the New York Academy of Art. Talented guy.
Also, a total fucking douchebag. Fuck you, Wade, and fuck you, New York Academy of Art for helping to cover up his shit, which is what academic institutions do. Actually, it is what institutions in general do. They help people in power. Power=power. The reflexive property. It means scumbags get away with doing vile shit.
Last weekend, I posed the question of what a sincere, socially conservative voter should do in the case of a Roy Moore vs. Doug Jones election. Really, maybe they should vote for Moore. Now, how should a liberal look at Al Franken, either his political or entertainment careers? Can you watch The Usual Suspects, knowing what you know about Kevin Spacey? (I never watched "House of Cards") Can I listen to Hazmat Modine? (Your taste in music has to be pretty out-there to like their music, but... my taste in music is pretty far out-there).
This is a question far more familiar to conservatives in any entertainment context because, let's be blunt here, entertainment does generally skew liberal in ways that you don't even notice if you are liberal. It is either so ubiquitous, or so subtle that it just becomes part of the background, and no, conservatives aren't making that up. Why? Short version: artists are generally lefties (hence the surprise that some people have when people in the arts community turn out to be sexual predators, as though politics would have anything to do with personal morality...).
Music is easy for me because it is the entertainment that I know best. Ted Cruz took flak for some bullshit a while back when he said that he switched to country exclusively after 9/11 based on politics, but here's a serious question. If you actually know music history, how many anti-war rock songs can you list, off the top of your head? The more classic rock you know, the longer the list will be, but if you know rock history, the list should be pretty long. (The length of your list will depend on how generally knowledgable you are).
How many songs about war can you list that are, if not pro-war, then at least accepting of war? In rock?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Now, let's turn to country.
Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" rejected the burning of draft cards. He wasn't glorifying dropping napalm on Vietnam, but culturally, country provided an entertainment genre that didn't put conservatives in the position of listening to lyrics with which they didn't agreed.
"Okie from Muskogee," or John Lennon's "Imagine." If you are a conservative, which is more politically comfortable?
Country isn't just "Okie from Muskogee." My Saturday music series is... snarky. (Yes, me, snarky.) Even the title is snarky. I am participating in what Neal Stephenson might call the "apostropocalypse" by reducing America to 'mer'ca. Why? I'm an elitist snob. I also love country music, though, and there is a wide range within the genre.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Now, let's turn to country.
Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" rejected the burning of draft cards. He wasn't glorifying dropping napalm on Vietnam, but culturally, country provided an entertainment genre that didn't put conservatives in the position of listening to lyrics with which they didn't agreed.
"Okie from Muskogee," or John Lennon's "Imagine." If you are a conservative, which is more politically comfortable?
Country isn't just "Okie from Muskogee." My Saturday music series is... snarky. (Yes, me, snarky.) Even the title is snarky. I am participating in what Neal Stephenson might call the "apostropocalypse" by reducing America to 'mer'ca. Why? I'm an elitist snob. I also love country music, though, and there is a wide range within the genre.
Anyway, there is value to having your values challenged, but... people don't like that. They try to minimize their "cognitive dissonance." Is there a difference between listening to someone advocate a political position that you find repellant, and listening to a person you find repellant? That depends on whether or not you judge the person by the views expressed. To the extent that you do, then no, there's no difference.
Would you listen to the best musician ever play a song with neo-nazi lyrics? I... wouldn't. I love music, but fuck no.
Will I still listen to Hazmat Modine? Um, yeah, I probably will.
I've been listening the Charles Mingus for decades, even knowing what a shitbag he was. Charles Mingus was one of the great geniuses in the history of jazz, not just as a virtuoso bass player, but as a composer and bandleader. He was also a violent nutjob, who would go so far as to physically assault people, either audience members or his own band members. Mingus was scum. Genius scum, but scum nevertheless. That said, I don't think I can go the rest of my life without listening to Black Saint and the Sinner Lady or Mingus Ah Um, or, or, or... he just recorded so many of the best albums in jazz history that yeah, he was reprehensible, but I'm going to listen to those albums anyway.
OK, you say, that's different from sexual assault, domestic violence, and that whole category of stuff. Has the musical world excommunicated James Brown? Does anyone remember Chuck Berry's legal issues?
Here's a little aside made by B.B. King during "Worry, Worry," from Live at the Regal, often considered his best album (although I prefer Live in Cook County Jail). Regarding domestic violence he says, "don't go upside her head. That don't do but one thing. That make her a little smarter. She won't let you catch her the next time." The problem with domestic violence, according to B.B., wasn't that it was morally wrong. It would just backfire. Yeah, nice... Do we just say, "eh, that was 1965?"
And then there's Lewis Carroll.
At some point in your life, if you don't already, you will take some important medication. If you found out that the research for that drug was conducted by a rapist, child molester or other shitbag, would you stop taking it?
No, you wouldn't. Don't even try telling me you would.
Have you read Alice In Wonderland? Or otherwise enjoyed some adaptation of it? Have you ever clicked on one of those Mingus clips I regularly post? Or ever listened to any post-Mingus jazz?
Have you ever listened to rock & roll? That all comes from that shitbag, Chuck Berry. He went to prison for transporting a 14-year-old girl across state lines to have sex with her. And every time you listen to rock & roll, you are enjoying the fruits of a child molester, because it all comes from Chuck Berry.
Al Franken, Roy Moore, Donald Trump, Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, Wade Schuman... Fuck all these people. What do you do, now that you know what shitbags they are?
Fuck if I know. I'm just some asshole, ranting at the void. I'm a misanthrope who likes music.
At some point in your life, if you don't already, you will take some important medication. If you found out that the research for that drug was conducted by a rapist, child molester or other shitbag, would you stop taking it?
No, you wouldn't. Don't even try telling me you would.
Have you read Alice In Wonderland? Or otherwise enjoyed some adaptation of it? Have you ever clicked on one of those Mingus clips I regularly post? Or ever listened to any post-Mingus jazz?
Have you ever listened to rock & roll? That all comes from that shitbag, Chuck Berry. He went to prison for transporting a 14-year-old girl across state lines to have sex with her. And every time you listen to rock & roll, you are enjoying the fruits of a child molester, because it all comes from Chuck Berry.
Al Franken, Roy Moore, Donald Trump, Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, Wade Schuman... Fuck all these people. What do you do, now that you know what shitbags they are?
Fuck if I know. I'm just some asshole, ranting at the void. I'm a misanthrope who likes music.