Monday, January 19, 2009

Tonight is a good night.

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2 comments:

  1. mwJanuary 20, 2009 at 3:10 AM

    Ah... Good 'ol Pete Seeger:

    "And if you need more reasons to dislike Seeger (besides his discography of course), there's his suspiciously timed turnabout regarding U.S. entry into World War II. As part of the Stalinist singing group, the Almanac Singers, Seeger recorded an album lobbying against U.S. involvement in the war while the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had a peace treaty. Once Hitler invaded Russia, the band pulled their album from the market and issued a pro-war one. More here:

    In the "John Doe" album, Mr. Seeger accused FDR of being a warmongering fascist working for J.P. Morgan. He sang, "I hate war, and so does Eleanor, and we won't be safe till everybody's dead." Another song, to the tune of "Cripple Creek" and the sound of Mr. Seeger's galloping banjo, said, "Franklin D., Franklin D., You ain't a-gonna send us across the sea," and "Wendell Willkie and Franklin D., both agree on killing me."

    The film does not tell us what happened in 1941, when two months after "John Doe" was released Hitler broke his pact with Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union. As good communists, Mr. Seeger and his Almanac comrades withdrew the album from circulation, and asked those who had bought copies to return them. A little later, the Almanacs released a new album, with Mr. Seeger singing "Dear Mr. President," in which he acknowledges they didn't always agree in the past, but now says he is going to "turn in his banjo for something that makes more noise," i.e., a machine gun...."

    And if that is still not enough... Like any good Stalinist,Seeger arrogantly knew better than anyone else what kind of music is appropriate for an audience to hear. At the Newport Jazz Festival, he tried to take an axe to the power cords during Bob Dylan's electric performance. Just wasn't the right kind of music.

    "Your land is made just for me" - Petey

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  2. Harlan WallachJanuary 20, 2009 at 7:34 AM

    oh fer crying our loud.

    The man is an American saint. You know the phrase: "People who live in glass houses"?

    I believe you have had your own "Mea Culpa" about supporting a president and your own buy in on the war he foisted on the American public.

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