Althouse: "I don't care about pollution/I'm an air-conditioned gypsy..."

November 9, 2009

"I don't care about pollution/I'm an air-conditioned gypsy..."

"That's my solution/Watch the police and the taxman miss me!"

Politically incorrect lyrics from 1971.

36 comments:

vbspurs said...: John Galting freon? I love The Who.

Cheers,
Victoria; 11/9/09, 10:56 AM
peacelovewoodstock said...: Politically Incorrect 1970s song lyric, Obama White House edition:

"But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow"; 11/9/09, 11:05 AM
Ann Althouse said...: @vbspurs I arrived at that song this morning as a consequence of a conversation about the phrase "going Galt" and similar things like "going postal." What were the other "goings"? My first association was: "Going Mobile."; 11/9/09, 11:06 AM
X said...: going mobile is not unreasonable if your wife lives in an aeroplane; 11/9/09, 11:09 AM
Triangle Man said...: Going green
Going bonkers
Going crazy
Going nuts
Going back to Cali

All synonyms of course.; 11/9/09, 11:11 AM
vbspurs said...: Ann, let's see. In the 90s, I recall the ever-present phrase "going global".

And not sure if this counts, but there's also "going commando", a statement of another kind, possibly sticky.

Let's not forget ex-Governor Sarah Palin's autobiography, due to be launched next week.

Going Rogue.

...although I'm much more amused by the parody that has already appeared of it, Going Rouge. :)

Cheers,
Victoria; 11/9/09, 11:12 AM
chickelit said...: There must be something going around: I linked to that same link a couple days go in different context: Link.

wv flopembr
Yeah, what a month it's been so far. ;); 11/9/09, 11:14 AM
vbspurs said...: Going back to Cali

I don't think so!! ...ahhh. LL Cool J. My teenage hero.; 11/9/09, 11:14 AM
vbspurs said...: wv flopembr

Mine was Hesse. Oddment.; 11/9/09, 11:16 AM
Once written, twice... said...: If you know anything about Pete Townshend's Lifehouse project from which this album grew out of, you would know that the narrator of this song is a parody of industrialists and hillbillies who have the attitude that they can free load off the rest of us and not take responsibility for the externalities they produce like air pollution.

I have no problem with industries producing pollution as long as they keep it on their property. If they are going to release it into the air and pass that costs on to the rest of the world then I see no problem with them being appropriately taxed, creating a market that accounts for these pollution costs.

Why do Althouse Hillbillies believe that companies have a right to pass on their externalities (pollution, etc.) onto everyone else? Are you a bunch of communists?; 11/9/09, 11:36 AM
chickelit said...: ...the narrator of this song is a parody of industrialists and hillbillies who have the attitude that they can free load off the rest of us and not take responsibility for the externalities they produce like air pollution...

You don't find irony in that this "parody" has been electrically amplified for close to 40 years using mainly coal fired electricity?

Get a life L.E.Lee!; 11/9/09, 11:45 AM
Once written, twice... said...: Dum-dum Althouse Hillbilly Chickenlittle,

Like I said, I have no problem with this as long as all of the costs are accounted for. Why should a coal fired power plant be allowed to spew their pollution for free, even though it is costing its neighbors, while a cleaner electrical producing company does not get this luxury?; 11/9/09, 11:51 AM
Elliott A said...: Thew true communists are the ones who use taxation of fictitious pollutants to control the means of production. In Communism, the state controls the means of production.

In 1971 there were very little pollution controls on anything. Through innovation and regulation, we have come a long way without destroying our ability to manufacture and have a "mobile" population. If we start extracting large sums of money from the economy, and at the same time limit the ability of industry to produce anything, our life as we know it will end. Not what most rational people would want.; 11/9/09, 12:08 PM
John Stodder said...: Allegedly Not A Hillbilly,

So how do you explain Townshend throwing Abbie Hoffman off the stage at Woodstock?

And how on earth do you explain "Won't Get Fooled Again," which was sage, nearly Burkean, advice to the pseudo-revolutionaries of 1970, expressed in satirical terms?

And just as an aside, do you ever worry that your supercilious attitude might lead some to conclude that you are overcompensating for an inability to grasp complex ideas? This is something children do, but it's sad when an adult does it.

(Unless, you are actually 14 and don't just seem like you're 14. If that's the case, then we can laugh about this when someone buys your first legal beer.); 11/9/09, 12:10 PM
kentuckyliz said...: Externality taxes that aren't used to address the so-called problem the externality is, is merely government theft.

Tax it and then don't do anything about it, while enjoying rolling around in piles of dough and the power piles of dough lends....

corruption!!!!; 11/9/09, 12:17 PM
jr565 said...: Chickenlittle wrote:
You don't find irony in that this "parody" has been electrically amplified for close to 40 years using mainly coal fired electricity?

Isn't that the funniest thing? (Funny in a sad pathetic way and not a ha ha way)The environmentalists and do gooders have to rely on the market to get their message out about the dangers of polluting the environment,and in so doing pollute the environment, often in grossly distorted ways in comparison to the rest of us normal folk. Think about how many times the Who were in concert, using tons of electricity and how the concerts were broadcast on satellites and how many thousands of people drove gas guzzlers to the concerts to hear said songs which railed against pollution. You'd think if the Who simply had less concerts, and by extension, environmentalists wrote fewer books and made fewer products extolling the clean life, that we'd have a more clean environment. But the last thing I want to hear from is a multimillionaire artist selling millions of records/cd's made of plastic and jetting around the world telling me about my profligate ways. Pete, stay retired and put the cash cow to bed.; 11/9/09, 12:40 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "If you know anything about Pete Townshend's Lifehouse project from which this album grew out of..."

Now, now. Don't end a clause with a preposition (or 2). That should be:

If you know anything about Pete Townshend's Lifehouse project out of from which this album grew...; 11/9/09, 12:45 PM
X said...: Happy Jack is happiest in a Hummer; 11/9/09, 12:49 PM
Salamandyr said...: So which CSI of which this is the theme?; 11/9/09, 12:52 PM
chickelit said...: Pete, stay retired and put the cash cow to bed.

I caught a little bit of what looked like a recent The Who reunion concert the other night. Pete looked pretty good doing his windmills and all. He's been making a living doing that since his teens. Of course he didn't dare smash his gorgeous Strat. It was Daltrey who looked a little dweeby with closely-cropped locks and erudite spectacles. IMO, Robert Plant did a much better reprise the other year at that O2 Led Zeppelin concert.

RIP Keith Moon, John Entwhisle, and John Bonham.; 11/9/09, 12:53 PM
Andrea said...: Like Kathy Shaidle of Fivefeetoffury.com likes to say, the Who is cooler than that indie band you like. I'll bet Not A Hillbilly (Just A Jerk) likes emo folk music sung by British crusties who squat in abandoned caravans (what we call trailers over here). See, since they have less talent, they have a smaller carbon footprint!; 11/9/09, 1:15 PM
Once written, twice... said...: A grammar flame Ann?

Sorry, but I wrote my post on the fly. I have a business to run. I don't have the luxury of hanging out at my law school office with nothing to do but surf the web. It must be nice to be on the State's payroll and pretend to be John Galt.; 11/9/09, 1:18 PM
Andrea said...: "I have a business to run."

Those macrame hoodies with the marijuana leaf appliqués aren't going to sell themselves!; 11/9/09, 1:26 PM
Triangle Man said...: Now, now. Don't end a clause with a preposition (or 2). That should be:

If you know anything about Pete Townshend's Lifehouse project out of from which this album grew...

I suggest:

If you know anything about Pete Townshend's Lifehouse project, from whence this album grew,...; 11/9/09, 1:45 PM
blake said...: Whither goest whence?; 11/9/09, 2:05 PM
Salamandyr said...: I've never understood the "Althouse Hillbilly" insult. It seems to be something made up by LE Lee with no reference to something from the blog or something Althouse said that would make it clever.

As it is, it just a repetitive, unimaginative attack.; 11/9/09, 3:15 PM
chickelit said...: As it is, it just a repetitive, unimaginative attack.

I've become kinda fond of the appalachian appellation.; 11/9/09, 3:37 PM
John Stodder said...: Is there an Althouse Hill where we all came from?; 11/9/09, 3:55 PM
Paco Wové said...: I got my thrill
On Althouse's hill
On Althouse's hill
When I trolled you; 11/9/09, 4:40 PM
daubiere said...: "I've never understood the "Althouse Hillbilly" insult. It seems to be something made up by LE Lee with no reference to something from the blog or something Althouse said that would make it clever.

As it is, it just a repetitive, unimaginative attack."

seconded. hillbillies?? it doesnt make any sense and certainly doesnt describe the commenters here. hell im an official "brown person", do i qualify as a "hillbilly". if one were creative and intelligent, one could come up with a much more imaginative insult. hillbilly is just lazy.

plus it has the uncomfortable twinge of class-based hatred of the appalacian poor, a strange position for a supposed "liberal" to put hisself in.

wv: ducat. what i just pilfered from cosimo de' medici's purse; 11/9/09, 4:48 PM
Once written, twice... said...: A lot of homophobic and racist stuff gets posted on this website and then goes without passing comment. But "God damn!" if you make fun of the Althouse Hillbillies! Obviously, I am not making fun of poor white people. Instead, I am making fun of the intellectually poor twits who eat up the red meat that Ann forks over on this site everyday.; 11/9/09, 6:08 PM
Rumpletweezer said...: Saw The Who open for Herman's Hermits at the Baltimore Civic Center in 1967. I was 13. It changed my life.; 11/9/09, 6:42 PM
Rich B said...: Not a Hillbilly -

oozes condescension.

and humorlessness.; 11/9/09, 7:00 PM
Once written, twice... said...: ''humorlessness?''

I hope this does not sound condescending but I am laughing at you Althouse Hillbillies as I write this.; 11/9/09, 8:01 PM
Andrea said...: I thought you had a business to run so you had no time to chaffer with us hillbillies. Did you sell all your COEXIST bumper stickers and Authentic Hemp Oil Aromatherapy Candles?; 11/9/09, 9:26 PM
Rialby said...: Did you anticipate that you would have to go Galt at some point when you voted for Obama a year ago?; 11/9/09, 10:28 PM