Obama: a Lawyer/politician who never served his country for a single moment. An almost non-existent legislative record and one of the most partisan records in Washington for the short while he has been there. Has zero executive experience in the public or private sector. Has never owned or run a business, not even a lemonade stand. Primary qualification? A slick tongue.
John McCain: Commanded the largest naval squadron in the United States Armed Forces. A true hero who Spent five years as a prisoner of war under horrific circumstances, tortured and abused, but never betrayed his country. Served for decades on the Armed Services Committee of the US Senate with a long record of bi-partisanship and legislative achievement.Tough choice, huh?
Hat Tip: Neocon Express.
I must ask.
ReplyDeletePlease give your take on this -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV7TMFceriw
I consider Jimi Hendrix as integral to the WHOLE of human forward progression.
So ... wondering wht you think.
Like you, I've always found Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner" to be a brilliant example of "Art" - for a lot of reasons: it's patriotism, the complicated social commentary, the personal artistic expression, the public (and dirty) setting, etc. It even has the ability to convey wisdom - something that was certainly in short supply at Woodstock.
ReplyDeleteI don't just hear the simple act of rebellion many take it as, but also the knowledge that his friends were still "over there," and actually doing the things he was expressing in sound - and not all because they were ordered to (war sets many men free.)
I think viewing Hendrix as "integral to the WHOLE of human forward progression" is troubling - he was incredibly naive, which led directly to him choking on his own vomit, when (if I may say so: like me) he should've been protected - but standing in awe, of his work, is more-than-appropriate:
He deserved it.
I've always felt Hendrix represented a turning point in social history. He, himself -- young, hugely talented, on a one-way course to self-destruction -- AND his Woodstock rendition of the national anthem.
ReplyDeleteThose 10 minutes encapsulated so many social changes -- a musician no one thought of as "black," however prejudiced they were, and who played his own unique style instead of mainstream stuff like funk or Motown; at the pivotal cultural shift for which Woodstock has become iconic; playing the national anthem so everlastingly uniquely, giving voice to so many currents of thought. To the rebellious ones, it spoke of rebellion. To patriots, it was reverent, even if in so alien a presentation. To those of no reliable persuasion, it reconnected them to their America and made them rethink what their country meant to them, especially in the climate of Vietnam. So many things coming together -- I just can't help but think it represented a subtle paradigm shift in that one snippet of time.
He was a candle in the wind, to be sure -- but what a flame!
McCain vs Obama. Funny, I thought the same thing about the last election. Didn't make any difference.
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