Use the flag pole. That’s one of those tricks that seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people new at bludgeoning people with the flag forget that.
And that post, my friends, is what made reading this entire thread worthwhile.
Thanks, man.
You’re starting to sound like on of my ex-girlfriends who inisted that *Self Esteem *was denigrating all women as lying manipulative bitches. It’s a fucking song, I can enjoy Anarchy in the USA without agreeing with its message.
And be imprtalized in a Pulitzer Prize winning photo (2nd from the bottom).
I love Merle, and the only real problem I have with the song is the notion that he doesn’t get “respect.” It’s obvious that politicians very much cater to the opinions expressed in the song, it’s not hard to find those opinions expressed in the media, and it’s not hard to find a neighbor or coworker who sympathizes. I guess the prevailing myth is that if anyone at all disagrees with you, it’s not enough.
Or we could kill two birds with one stone and wrap the bible IN the flag. Kinda like doorknobs in a pillow case. 
Yeah, that’s exactly the problem. His viewpoint is anything but uncommon and Washington is anxious to reach out to people like this guy. Some portion of the right seems to have decided that they’re victims as long as there are people who don’t share their opinions. It’s not good enough to raise your child in a religious environment, or to have the child pray privately at school, or to enroll the child in a private religious school. Nope, all of the children have to pray to your particular diety. Otherwise you’re a victim of the Liberal Elite, a secretive cabal of hooded figures led by Sean Penn who meet in a shadowy room to plot against America, motherhood, and apple pie.
Of course there are religious, patriotic liberals. The point isn’t that liberals are irreligious and unpatriotic, it’s that they are often accused of being those things.
This song isn’t all that different from Haggard’s older than dirt song “Okie From Muskogee”. Same sentiments, different melody. We love America and the flag, we are good “whatever the hell we are”, and we are squares, we have to work, etc etc etc. It had a catchy tune at least.
Horseshit. May I suggest this hypothetical emendation as closer to the truth?
Yours for accurate, honest Pitting,
Poly
There ya go. I remember the furor over Cop Killer.
Righto. It’s a freakin’ remake,and has the same problem of most remakes in falling short of the original.
And as for a country song about solidarity with the downtrodden, I’ll take Mr. Cash’s Man in Black, thank you very much.
Your own cite speaks quite clearly to the issue.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing… Merle has a pretty good share of genuine down-and-out songs, like “Mama Cried,” and I see “Okie” (and perhaps this latest song) as a kind of commercial hoodwink. He’s deeper than that, I swear. He even hangs out with Metallica sometimes.
Mama TRIED :smack:
Haggard has written some songs that I like - a lot. This latest just doesn’t do it for me. Now if you want a song about the downtrodden worker, look no further than “Sixteen Tons”. That was a classic (by Ernie Ford).
You just did.
I grew up in a rural area and earned money pickin’ cotton the old-fashioned way. When I worked in the city, I had a job where I literally got my ass kicked and spent three days in the hospital. All of my work has “felt” equally honest.
Surely there are plenty of liberals who are religious and patriotic. By definition, they just don’t tend to get bent out of shape about the particular things mentioned in this song, especially the chorus (Bible, flag, getting respect, being politically “uncorrect.”) Liberals are more likely to respect that not everyone interprets the Bible in the same way and that other Scripture is also to be respected. Liberals see the flag as a symbol and not as “the thing” itself. Liberals don’t demand respect for themselves or their beliefs so much as they demand their rights. Religious Conservatives not only want to control our rights, they want us to respect their beliefs.
Yes, I know that this is a great over-generalization. There is at least some truth to it.
Actually, most states in 2004 were varying shades of purple. Click and scroll slightly for a map.
And Ernie turned out to be pretty right-wing too, as I recall.
I think nobody in country music really spoke better for the downtrodden than The Carters and Jimmie Rodgers. I think if you got Merle to talking, he’d say the same thing.
Thank you. I read the whole thread thinking “How can these smart people be so fucking stupid.” I am acquainted with more than one successful Nashville songwriter and they are far from dummies. You’d have to ask the authors what was the real intent of this song {if there was one other than to make money} but I guarantee that Politically Uncorrect, rather than in, was no accident. Nashville songwriters are more often liberal to moderate. Did anyone notice that the people mentioned in the song are the very people being fucked over by this conservative hypocritical administration? I’ll bet the songwriters did.
I don’t think the song is promoting conservative politics. It’s saying “fuck you politics in general. They just don’t get it.” You can be for the Bible and the Flag and love this country, without being part of the political bullshit. It says nothing about prayer in school or flag burning. Assuming that is just bias bullshit.
Liberals have been crying for months that they can love their country and be great patriots, support the troops without supporting the war or this numbnuts lying fuck of a president. Now somoene else is saying something similar and I see this bullshit pile on. Honest folks. It’s not you best side.
Assuming that rural or even country, means ignorant and conservative is more of the same. I think it’s talking about average people who care about the reality of what is going on and how it affects their lives rather than the bullshit rhetoric from either side. I despise this admin but I can’t say the Dems or the Libs or their preferred term “progressives” have shown that they have any more sincerity, honesty, or concern for the average citizen.
Diogenes the Cynic You’re a real smart guy but your ignorant bias seems to have gotten the better of you here. You assume attitudes without conclusive evidence and put words into the mouth of Hag.
Around these parts the joke is we know how high he was when he wrote “We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee”
Regardless, I doubt that there is a “real” interpretation. It’s just a song designed to make a buck, but the reaction here and in the previous thread about this song is ridiculous.
Maybe those country bumpkins realize the difference between condescending lip service and actual respect. What a concept.