February 7, 2021

Bruce Springsteen (and Jeep) call us (the Super Bowl watchers) back to the middle, to "the ReUnited States of America."

 

We see Bruce in Kansas, the geographic center of the contiguous 48 states, and he's mourning about how "the middle has been a hard place to get to lately." It's not overtly political, but I get the feeling that we're being told that the person who is President now, is more or less in the middle, and we ought to come together and feel good about that.

This is — Variety tells us — the first ad Bruce Springsteen has ever done. He'd never even allowed his songs to be used in ads.

But Springsteen has been openly political. Here's a message he put out just before the 2020 election:
There’s no art in this White House. There’s no literature, no poetry, no music. There are no pets in this White House. No loyal man’s best friend, no Socks the family cat, no kids’ science fairs. No time when the president takes off his blue suit, red tie uniform and becomes human. Except when he puts on his white shirt and khaki pants uniform, and hides from the American people to play golf. There are no images of the first family enjoying themselves together in a moment of relaxation. No Obamas on the beach in Hawaii moments or Bushes fishing in Kennebunkport. No Reagans on horseback. No Kennedys playing touch football on the Cape. Where’d that country go? Where did all the fun, the joy, and the expression of love and happiness go? We used to be the country that did the ice bucket challenge and raised millions for charity. We used to have a president who calmed and soothed the nation instead of dividing it. And a first lady who planted a garden instead of ripping one out. We are rudderless and joyless. We have lost the cultural aspects of society that make America great. We have lost our mojo, our fun, our happiness, our cheering on of others, the shared experience of humanity that makes it all worth it. The challenges and the triumphs that we shared and celebrated, the unique can-do spirit that America has always been known for. We are lost. We’ve lost so much in so short a time. On November 3rd, vote them out.

So, Bruce got what he said he wanted, the President who calms and soothes us instead of riling us up. And Bruce is driving a Jeep in Kansas to call us back into a dreamworld of Americana.

162 comments:

wendybar said...

F*ck HIM!! I hope gets what he really deserves, but being a rich donor...he will be rewarded instead, like usual, whilst "the middle" suffers.

wendybar said...

Another reason NOT to watch the Superbowl

rehajm said...

I saw there was one comment and hoped it was 'Fuck Bruce Springsteen!' Thank you wendybar...

A hoarse, horsey set, elitist prig, Springsteen is. Good for him for conning so many insufferable boomers with his working man shtick, I guess...

Ann Althouse said...

Playing golf is hiding from the people but somehow the Obama's Hawaiian beach and the HW Bushes yacht and the Reagan's ranch and the Kennedy compound were places where We the People could hang out with them?

Ann Althouse said...

I agree that Obama on the beach and Reagan on horseback and the Kennedy's doing their touch football make more evocative images for shaping the public mind — better government propaganda.

Golf. It's so easy to look down on golf. So snooty!

sdharms said...

HE is like an abusive battering boyfriend -- after he beats up his girl, he says, ok its all better now, put some makeup (or ice?) on that and we can go get a beer.

FU Bruce.

mesquito said...

We’ll all get along as long as MY grifters and lunatics are in power.

Jess said...

There's nothing more soothing than a man with advancing dementia and the nuclear launch codes.

alanc709 said...

Biden calms and soothes us, as he builds new cages to put border-crossing children into. But he's boring, so it's ok.

lgv said...

Except Bruce has always been hard left. He wants Republicans to move to the middle. He's not moving to the right. It's the civility bull**** era again.

Mr. Forward said...

Peace and prosperity weren't good enough for Bruce. He demands photo ops.

Quayle said...

Go back to sleep so the pillaging can continue. It’s easier to sell the kids and grandkids into financial servitude when they are docile.

Wilbur said...

Bruce, I wish we could say We Hardly Knew Ye.

tim maguire said...

Why is Bruce looking to the president for any of those things? Your average American is (or was, before COVID) probably playing as much touch football, riding horses, and throwing sticks for their dogs as ever. We don’t need our president to show leadership on going to the beach.

Marcus Bressler said...

I'm so old that I remember when Super Bowl commercials aired first during the Super Bowl. Wasn't that the point?

THEOLDMAN

When Bruce's commercial comes on, that's when I'll get up and use the bathroom.

Quayle said...

“We are rudderless and joyless.”

Exactly what happens when we reject a spiritual meaning of life and belief in absolute truth. But it’s not too late to turn around. It’s never too late while we live.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

A quick internet image search tells me that Bruce Springsteen kind of looks like Robert De Niro.

stevew said...

Bruce has become very wealthy off his everyman roots - rising up from the swamps of Jersey as it were. Along the way he's lost touch with those roots. Now he writes and sings for the wealthy and powerful. I really like most of his 70's and 80's stuff. Darkness on the Edge of Town is my favorite of his; he lost me after Nebraska.

Fernandinande said...

Did Bruce Stinkstink have an unhappy childhood? Because it sure sounds like he's looking for a family, with family activities and two cats in the yard.

'Tis pretty sick to look for that in politicians.

Quayle said...

Politics has become some people’s religion.

mezzrow said...

Role play, role play.
You can have it your way.
Role play, role play.
I can have it my way.
Role play, role play,
I can have it my way.
Role play, role play.
You can have it your way.


The question is: who is doing what to whom, and who gets to have a happy ending?

No thanks. I can't go for that.

JMW Turner said...

If I was to be entertained by a lefty "man of the people", instead of this insular Springsteen-type asshole, make mine John "Cougar" Mellencamp...

Kevin said...

Shorter Bruce: those Keystone Pipeline workers needed to lose their jobs.

wendybar said...

JMW Turner said...
If I was to be entertained by a lefty "man of the people", instead of this insular Springsteen-type asshole, make mine John "Cougar" Mellencamp...

2/7/21, 6:25 AM

I'm with you!!

rhhardin said...

Instead of how bad we hallucinated Trump was, look how good how we hallucinate Biden is.

wendybar said...

And I say all of this as a resident of New Jersey who has NEVER liked Bruce. You have no idea how much flak you get for that here. He isn't a man of the people, he is a man out to make as much money as he can....like when he had his "organic farm" so he could pay less taxes on his land than most other people in NJ, until they finally changed the law in 2015.

rehajm said...

Remember too Obama was the most golf crazy of any recent President. Way more rounds than Trump.

...and Obama sucked at it. He got way lucky on a chip in one time when the cameras were rolling and that's the clip they use.

Shouting Thomas said...

Springsteen expressing his own views... well, that’s his right.

Corp America serving up propaganda to celebrate the election they manipulated and stole... well, that’s a little weird. Yes, thanks, corporate lords, for teaching us a lesson.

The problem with this re-unification thing is that we actually voted Trump back into office.

Of course, just last year the NFL endorsed the BLM campaign of extortion, riots, arson and attacks on cops. I haven’t watched an NFL game since.

Not incidentally, it appears that BLM played the “trump” card in more ways than one in stimulating the theft of the election. BLM promised exponentially worse riots if Trump was re-elected, thus putting a gun to the head of corporate America.

David Begley said...

Springsteen flew - in his private jet - into Hastings, Nebraska and was here for all of 24 hours. Had to drive to Kansas.

This commercial is overtly political; pro-Biden and anti-Trump.

Fuck him and Jeep.

David Begley said...

And, of course, soon the Big Three are going to force us to buy coal-powered cars.

David Begley said...

Biden is illegitimate. He stole the election. Time told us so last week.

Fuck all this unity talk. I have nothing in common with Dems.

Shouting Thomas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shouting Thomas said...

Two points:

1. I’m guessing already that this attempt to rule by an illegitimate president is likely to fail. You really do need consent of the governed. That’s why corp America is so feverishly trying to conjure up an illusion of consent.

2. What happened to Althouse’s comments (which I kinda felt promised) about the motives of the author of the Time Magazine piece on the theft of the election and on what sort of strategy the Democrats are following in slowly leaking out the details of the theft?

I was in suspense all last night waiting for her to finish her comments.

rehajm said...

And, of course, soon the Big Three are going to force us to buy coal-powered cars.

Doesn't le Boss know Heep is destroying the environment with internal combustion? Funny how the left gives him a pass. His social credit score must be quite high to take such a hit...

Wince said...

New slogan...

"Jeep. Manufacturing consent."

CWJ said...

Identifying Bruce Springsteen with Kansas is the biggest joke of this ad. It would be like plopping John Cougar Mellencamp down in Jersey City.

rehajm said...

For the times that flag is wrong side up...

BUMBLE BEE said...

Bruce... is he on the board of CEFC yet?

FunkyPhD said...

Can I get one example—just one—of an American freedom that Donald Trump took away?

JPS said...

I am disgusted with any sentimental Americana coming from the left, after a summer where we heard wall-to-wall that America is white-supremacist to the core. American monuments are white supremacist. America’s flag and anthem probably are. Any defense of these is white supremacist. It was the summer of the 1619 Project.

But I guess it’s unfair to throw that up to Bruce, right? After how earnestly he spoke up for our shared aspirations, and the goodness in America?

Oh, wait. He didn’t say shit, did he?

farmgirl said...

It’s a beautiful ad.
Good thing cow country knows bullshit when it sees it.
Reunited.
Good luck w/that.

michaele said...

Such a weird Bullshit commercial with an impeachment trial in the Senate ready to start in just a few days. It just gets more and more Orwellian. Literally gives me a feeling of nausea. And what's with the fake cowboy hat? When did Bruce ever bond over a cowboy hat?

J. Farmer said...

We are rudderless and joyless. We have lost the cultural aspects of society that make America great. We have lost our mojo, our fun, our happiness, our cheering on of others, the shared experience of humanity that makes it all worth it.

I agree, and the presidents Springsteen is referring to all helped make it happen. Appealing to the middle doesn't do much good in a polarized society, and it's difficult to have unity when each side wants the other destroyed.

William said...

I can't recall the show biz types ever celebrating Republicans at leisure. They used the fondness of the elder Bush for speedboats as an example of how elite and out of touch he was. The younger Bush used to indulge in bike riding and clearing undergrowth from his property. They never could find the right angle of attack for those activities, but they certainly tried. They did manage to curtail his golf playing....JFK had more health problems than any President since FDR. He was presented as the very model of vigor and robust sports activities. When does public relations bleed over into disinformation?.....I still like Springsteen's music. It's disinformation, but it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

CWJ said...

"Shorter Bruce: those Keystone Pipeline workers needed to lose their jobs."

Bruce is going to write a song about propping his son on his lap and talking to him while driving through a Dakota town.

David Begley said...

I watched it a second time and hated it even more.

Springsteen is an extreme Dem and he’s giving us this bullshit that WE have to unite behind China Joe?

It wouldn’t surprise me if Antifa went to Kansas and burned that chapel down. Unity my ass.

Doug said...

Troubadour for the Troubles of the Working Man.

Never had a job that didn't require a guitar pick.

MadTownGuy said...

Enjoy your Jeep while you can, Mr. Springsteen. Soon it will be electric micro cars for the few who can afford them, and public transit for those who can't.

Barry Dauphin said...

Bruce has always tried to project the image that he stands with the deplorables but he actually prefers to stand over them.

Howard said...

Good Morning. What a beautiful day for a Superbowl. Never liked Springsteen except for the fact that without him, there would never be a Silvio Dante by Little Steven.

Rusty said...

Oh. NOW you want to be friends. Tell ya what, Bruce. Why don't you go and fuck right off.
I don't watch sports as a rule. Sometimes I'll catch some Aussie motorcycle racing.
While the game is on is a good time to go shopping for groceries and hit Manards.

donald said...

There is no bigger fake, no bigger hack in music. Tom Joad in a fleet of limousines and multiple mansions in the hill. When he talks, you realize he’s industrial grade dumb. Unfortunately he can write songs and bore the shit out of you for four hours in an arena while milking hundreds and thousands from idiots that buy his hypocrisy. So he’s rich. Really rich, so fucking rich that he’ll never feel the pain his idiocy and fellow scumbags are doing to his idiot fans.

mockturtle said...

F*ck HIM!!

Also my very first reaction to this post. Wendybar speaks for us all.

donald said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Doug said...

Wearing the mute button out tonight

Doug said...

Captcha is asshole.

donald said...

Jeeps are made by Fiat.

Big Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Big Mike said...

What in Hell do they teach in B-school marketing classes these days? The sort of people who normally consider buying a Jeep are scarcely the sort of people who join Springsteen in his mindless Trump hatred. There was a day gone by when a Jeep Grand Cherokee was the car for a limousine liberal to own, and perhaps the appeal to Biden voters is an attempt to return to those days? They’re going to lose a lot of Deplorable Wrangler and Renegade buyers so they’d best hope that someone buys enough Grand Cherokees to compensate.

Gahrie said...

So, Bruce got what he said he wanted, the President who calms and soothes us instead of riling us up.

I don't know about that...I'm pretty riled up.

mockturtle said...

Like politicians who campaign in the rural Midwest wearing jeans and plaid shirts. I was impressed with Trump who landed in Kansas in a private chopper and wearing his signature navy blue suit and red tie. Trump is the least phony President we've had in decades.

Wince said...

White Supremacy is why Jeep didn't use Peaches & Herb for this "ReUnited" commercial!

Reunited
And it feels so good
Reunited
Cause we understood
There's one perfect fit
And sugar, this one is it
We both are so excited
'Cause we're reunited, hey, hey

Bob Boyd said...

Check out the image at 1:45.

A map of America with a big red star in the middle.

Retail Lawyer said...

Begley beat me to it:

"Fuck him and Jeep."

Bob Boyd said...

There’s no art in this White House. There’s no literature, no poetry, no music.

The artists didn't want to get cancelled.

Temujin said...

Nice ad. Fuck Bruce. He's spent years playing like he's above it all, while he continued to insult half the country.

I'm sure the NYT will review and loerve the ad. (Woody Allen reference) And I'm sure they loved the look of the middle of the country and wonder if Bruce will get out of there alive.

He will. Nicer people live there.

BTW, Bruce always annoyed me. My flaw I guess. From early on, I just never bought into his entire thing.

Go Bucs!

mikee said...

Bruce's 50% of the population were calmed and soothed by Obama, and will be calmed and soothed by Joe. These people will be calmed and soothed when Kamala takes over for Joe. But they will still be wrong.

Being calm and soothed while horrible things are done with one's government is idiocy.

mockturtle said...

Go Chiefs!

Beth B said...

What's The Matter With Kansas? It's suddenly the center of everything. Common ground? Oh no, good sir, that's stolen ground to you. Who we are? What do you mean we, white man? And why aren't those people in the diner social distancing & wearing masks?

Here's a little church for the rubes. Light a candle, show them crosses. It's easy to fool them by agreeing with them, or shamelessly pretending to be one of them for decades. Bruce has gotten his way. Happy days are here again! Let's all come together now, you depraved deplorable insurrectionists, lest you disappoint our modern day Woody Guthrie.

Cow skulls on garages and open top Jeeps in the dead of winter. Bruce is playing cowboy today. Giddy-up! Baby, we were born to moo...

LYNNDH said...

Is it all Electric? Bruce you are polluting the world then. But then you are rich and can do what you want.

Bob Boyd said...

O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast!

Arturo Ui said...

If you actually read Bruce's comments, you'd see that they were bipartisan, that he praised the normalcy and regular humanity of past presidents both Democratic and Republican. And yeah, there was nothing normal or very human about President Donald J. Trump.

JPS said...

Kind of disingenuous of him, Arturo, since he hated the guts of the past presidents with (R) after their names. But now that we've had Trump, he's willing to retroactively suggest they were ordinary decent guys. It's big of him, in a way.

(A propos of nothing: Bertold Brecht won the Stalin Peace Prize.)

Is it me, or did this post formerly feature the ad? I saw Alan Ruck about to say, "Pahdon my French, but you're an asshole!...Asshole!" and thought maybe Althouse is more pissed off at Springsteen than I am.

Clyde said...

This note’s for you, Springsteen. Ain’t singing for Pepsi, ain’t singing for Coke.

who-knew said...

While I can agree with everyone trashing Springsteen's politics and hypocrisy and pretty much all of his music after The River, I have to say Springsteen and the E Street Band in their prime were incredible. A co-worker gave me a ticket to see them in 79 (he was a huge fan and I was indifferent) and it was the most amazing rock concert I'd ever seen. A year or two later he was touring to support The River and he called me up out of the blue and offered me a ticket again. I accepted but on my way to Milwaukee for the show I remember thinking "was that really the best show ever, or was it just time and place". It was that good a show, and the Milwaukee show was even better.

Mary Beth said...



Socks, who was given away as soon as they moved out of the White House? I'd rather have a president with no pets than one who abuses a dog by pulling its tail.

Some former presidents had pets before and after they were in the WH. Some had them only while in office. I like pets but I don't think owning one is the best sign to indicate whether someone is a good person or not, especially when the ownership appears just to be for the optics. Owning a pet is commitment, and I prefer that people who don't want to make that commitment recognize that and don't get a pet.

Mark said...

Bruce and Jeep and the NFL management can all go f*ck themselves.

At least half the country agrees.

And the thing is that in their twisted thinking, they really do think that throwing sh*t on other people is the path to unity.

Gunner said...

If the Trump White House had put out pictures of him spending time with his grandkids, the shitgoblins of the Left would have terrorized and insulted those kids without mercy.

Arturo Ui said...

JPS said...
Kind of disingenuous of him, Arturo, since he hated the guts of the past presidents with (R) after their names. But now that we've had Trump, he's willing to retroactively suggest they were ordinary decent guys. It's big of him, in a way.

************************

It's not disingenuous, since he did not do a 180 and praise the politics of those (R) presidents. He only praised their general decency and normal human behavior. That was the clear and obvious point of his post ("I strongly disagree with these men, and yet they tower over the current individual in the White House due to their basic humanity, which this man is sorely lacking.")

Sam L. said...

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. I will tottttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttaly trust Bruce. (sark)

Bob Boyd said...

Bruce is the only person in Kansas. Looks like they cleared out all those domestic terrorists and insurgents.

tcrosse said...

Meanwhile, with a stroke of a pen the generally decent and normally human Joe Biden deprived thousands of their livelihoods.

Joe Smith said...

The biggest phony 'man of the people' in history.

He wouldn't know a lunch pail if Joe Biden hit him upside the head with one.

I give him respect for being a great entertainer. I've seen a couple of his shows and you always get your money's worth (my Jersey wife is a big fan).

But to equate musical genius with intelligence would be a mistake.

Charlie said...

I didn't think I could dislike Bruce any more than I already do. I was wrong.

michaele said...

Cultural appropriation with the cowboy hat and, frankly, the narration approach. Who does he think he is, Sam Elliot? Oh, yeah, I know....one old white guy looks like another. Ha, well, at least he didn't grow a mustache for this gig.

Joe Smith said...

Btw, AA, your videos keep switching somehow. I haven't clicked to check, but the previews are from previous posts...odd.

This one is showing the 'Pardon my French' preview.

David Begley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JPS said...

Arturo:

"He only praised their general decency and normal human behavior."

Again: His belief in their general decency seems to be entirely retroactive.

Joe Smith said...

"Golf. It's so easy to look down on golf. So snooty!"

Hey! I'm playing golf today and tomorrow.

Public courses...$18 for one and about $24 for the other.

We'll be walking for the exercise.

On both courses I will see people wearing jeans and t-shirts under their pullovers.

The vast majority of golfers have never set foot inside a private club...

Joe Smith said...

"A quick internet image search tells me that Bruce Springsteen kind of looks like Robert De Niro."

Bruce has had a lot of work done lately.

We saw a movie preview pre-pandemic that was a promo for something or other. His skin was stretched out like a snare drum.

It was Southwest/Native American-themed and he was decked out in denim with lots or turquoise jewelry.

It was all fake bullshit just like his man of the people schtick. He's more of an actor than a singer these days.

David Begley said...

Quiz time! What is the name of Jeep’s owner? No cheating!

Joe Smith said...

"Trump is the least phony President we've had in decades."

'Where can I get me a hunting license?'

David Begley said...

“Better fear and freedom.”

The Dems and Fake News used fear to scare the hell out of people to steal the election.

David Begley said...

Just so no one here forgets, Springsteen flew his private jet to Nebraska to film this spot. Per the OWH, his manager and Chrysler worked 10 years on getting Bruce to do an ad.

Chick said...

No one cares about Bruce Springsteen

Bob Boyd said...

Fiat Chrysler?

Bob Boyd said...

George Soros?

AZ Bob said...

Civility bullshit.

Lurker21 said...

Okay, Bruce can go to Kansas.

But he still avoids dark, edgy, introspective Nebraska.

We have lost our mojo, our fun, our happiness, our cheering on of others, the shared experience of humanity that makes it all worth it.

It's called getting old, and getting old in the age of COVID.

Get used to it already, Brucie.

who-knew said...

Fiat-Chrysler merged with Peugeot. Then they changed their name to Stellaris, or Stellantis or something like that. Fun fact, even though the corporate name was Fiat-Chrysler the only thing they made that actually sold was Ram trucks and Jeeps,

Iman said...

Blogger Ann Althouse said...
Playing golf is hiding from the people but somehow the Obama's Hawaiian beach and the HW Bushes yacht and the Reagan's ranch and the Kennedy compound were places where We the People could hang out with them?


Reagan and Bush wouldn’t be included in Tweeter and the Monkeyman’s little world. Fuck his way overrated ass.

LA_Bob said...

My father, an engineer, loved Chrysler cars. He always said, in the 1960's, they were the best engineered cars around. Now I see "Fiat-Chrysler" and I think "fiat money." Basically, fake.

WA-mom said...

Smith County Kansas, of the US Center Chapel, voted 83% to 16% -- Trump over Biden in the last election. Bruce Springsteen's Jeep commercial is a paean to patriotic, conservative Americans.

Moondawggie said...

Getting insightful political analysis from a rock star is about as likely as getting an intelligent explanation of the second law of thermodynamics from a gender studies major.

Jeep sponsored this drivel? Well, that cements my decision to make my next car purchase a Bronco!

Josephbleau said...

Jeep goes woke. In my experience in 4 wheeling Jeep’s go broke. Cheap Jeep junk. The only good Jeep were the ones in the Popeye cartoons.

Bob Boyd said...

President Trump spent his time away from the WH traveling all over America to commune with working and middle class Americans rather than releasing pictures of himself enjoying the leisures of the wealthy in exclusive locals.

As I recall, Obama spent most of his time away from the WH on Martha's Vineyard, not in Hawaii.

Yancey Ward said...

Jeep and Springsteen can go fuck themselves. Like I am going to forget Springsteen's politics while being preached at in this commercial about coming together. I promise you this- this commercial doesn't get made if Trump had won.

Yancey Ward said...

This is a horrible ad, by the way, for the business of Jeep. They should fire their ad agency immediately because it will cost them future sales from half the country's people, and will gain them nothing with the other half.

Althouse thinks this isn't overtly political- this is only true if the people who voted for Trump don't know Springsteen's politics, and I promise you that we do know- it was rubbed in our faces constantly pre-election. Don't shit all over me and expect me to make up and say it is all good after you win.

Springsteen and his ilk are not my countrymen any longer. We are enemies.

320Busdriver said...

This is where the term. “ stay in your lane” comes from.

Kevin Walsh said...

Trump didn't have a dog or a cat because he wanted neither. He didn't attend the Kennedy honors because he knew they didn't want him. Ditto the Correspondents' annual thing. In that, he's like me. I never appear where I wouldn't be received.

David Begley said...

Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands,[4][5] which formed by the merger of French automaker Groupe PSA and Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (following completion of a 50-50 merger agreement)

320Busdriver said...

At least he’s an American. I recall some overt anti Trump theatrics when I attended the U2 Joshua Tree redux tour. Still, was an amazing show with Beck opening.

JPS said...

Moondawggie:

"Getting insightful political analysis from a rock star is about as likely as getting an intelligent explanation of the second law of thermodynamics from a gender studies major."

In fact I have about the same reaction to either one: Hey, good for you!

I don't accord the analysis or the explanation more weight because of who it comes from, but the surprise makes it delightful. (See also Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, self-taught missile defense expert.)

Bob Boyd said...

He literally spent every weekend...

Do you know what literally means?

Rusty said...

Arturo Ui said...
"If you actually read Bruce's comments, you'd see that they were bipartisan, that he praised the normalcy and regular humanity of past presidents both Democratic and Republican. And yeah, there was nothing normal or very human about President Donald J. Trump."
You can fuck off too.

chuck said...

LOLGF Bruce.

320Busdriver said...

At my last airline we contracted with Kerry to provide airline services. Bruce campaigned with Kerry. I still recall the charter crews posting selfie’s with the Boss.

I don’t remember seeing Bruce shilling for illegitimate Biden. Just another data point that the election was stolen, errr “fortified”

Bob Boyd said...

Here's a list of rallies held by Trump during his term in office. There were about 130 all over America. There would have been even more if he hadn't curtailed them for a few months due to the Covid outbreak. It's an incredible amount of travel that would have exhausted many half his age. Plus he had a pretty demanding day job. Note that many of the rallies took place on Saturdays and Sundays.

Most of Trump's golf course visits were to courses in DC for a few hours, which isn't what we were talking about. We were talking about what they did in their time away from DC.

Did you ever attend a Trump rally?

Bob Boyd said...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_post-2016_election_Donald_Trump_rallies

Michael said...

Nauseating.

Howard said...

Fix It Again, Tony.

Arturo Ui said...

Test.

Earnest Prole said...

And a first lady who planted a garden instead of ripping one out.

Saying their politics were bad is one thing; saying they were bad people is another, far more divisive thing.

Iman said...

Fiat-Chrysler merged with Peugeot. Then they changed their name to Stellaris, or Stellantis or something like that. Fun fact, even though the corporate name was Fiat-Chrysler the only thing they made that actually sold was Ram trucks and Jeeps

OTOH, I own a 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth, bought new in May of that year and it has been the best, most entertaining, less cost to maintain of any of the small cars I’ve owned. By far.

GDI said...

JMW Turner @ 2/7/21, 6:25 AM
If I was to be entertained by a lefty "man of the people", instead of this insular Springsteen-type asshole, make mine John "Cougar" Mellencamp...

John Mellencamp: "I don’t trust the government. I don’t trust the Democrats. I don’t trust the Republicans. I’m a little more Democratic than I am Republican, but really I’m a socialist. And that’s where it’s at.”

More entertaining than Bruce and lacking the self-awareness to understand the irony in his beliefs.

Francisco D said...

Yancey Ward said...
This is a horrible ad, by the way, for the business of Jeep. They should fire their ad agency immediately because it will cost them future sales from half the country's people

Jeeps reputation for breakdowns has cost them plenty. As Scotty Kilmer says, they become endless money pits after 50k miles. In that sense, it seems appropriate to use Bruce Springsteen for their ads.

A neighbor told me he was buying a new Jeep Cherokee and wanted to use it off-road here in AZ. I told him not to worry. My 4Runner was made to pull Jeeps out of ditches.

Bob Boyd said...

Dang. I was taking Arturo's argument apart like a washboard roads disassembles a Jeep.

Iman said...

I give him respect for being a great entertainer. I've seen a couple of his shows and you always get your money's worth (my Jersey wife is a big fan).

Saw him in ’81 at the LA Sports Arena - free tickets from wife’s girlfriend who couldn’t go - 6 rows back from stage... the loudest thing I’ve ever heard... my ears rang and hurt for days afterward... pain bad enough that I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d been bleeding.

Jim at said...

I'd say Bruce should stick to singing, but even that sucks.
Overrated twerp.

Clyde said...

Finally had time to watch the ad. Meh. Once Springsteen sang about being "a rich man in a poor man's shirt." This time, he's appropriated the poor man's cowboy hat and boots. Saying something is ReUnited does not make it so. And having a dictator ruling by executive fiat and destroying our country's energy sector and peoples' livelihoods at a whim to satisfy the Global Warmist religious cult (science not included) is not the recipe to ReUnite anything.

Richard Dolan said...

Well, the ad captures a moment but perhaps not the one it was aiming at. So Springsteen is pitching a Jeep ad for Stellantis, the French-Italian conglomerate selling the product. He used to be the troubadour of blue-collar Jersey guy, the fellow bleeding red-white-and-blue who no one would confuse with the Ivy uber-mensch lording it over that set. Look at him now, channeling his inner Aaron Sorkin.

You've come a long way, baby, and there's no going back.

wendybar said...

Yancey Ward said...
This is a horrible ad, by the way, for the business of Jeep. They should fire their ad agency immediately because it will cost them future sales from half the country's people, and will gain them nothing with the other half.

Althouse thinks this isn't overtly political- this is only true if the people who voted for Trump don't know Springsteen's politics, and I promise you that we do know- it was rubbed in our faces constantly pre-election. Don't shit all over me and expect me to make up and say it is all good after you win.

Springsteen and his ilk are not my countrymen any longer. We are enemies.

2/7/21, 11:48 AM

It's what THEY want. I agree.

wendybar said...

"It is time for an exorcism in our nation’s capital,” Springsteen told his SiriusXM audience. “Welcome to our Halloween/Election Day monster mash. This is Vol. 14 of ‘From My Home to Yours’ titled ‘Farewell to the Thief.’ In just a few days, we’ll be throwing the bums out. I thought it was a f—— nightmare but it was so true.”

wendybar said...



Two days after Trump was inaugurated in January 2017 Springsteen told an audience at a concert in Australia:

“The E Street Band is glad to be here in Western Australia. But we’re a long way from home, and our hearts and spirits are with the hundreds of thousands of women and men that marched yesterday in every city in America and in Melbourne who rallied against hate and division and in support of tolerance, inclusion, reproductive rights, civil rights, racial justice, LGBTQ rights, the environment, wage equality, gender equality, healthcare, and immigrant rights. We stand with you. We are the new American resistance.”

wendybar said...

Springsteen is a liar and an inciter of hate and violence...until NOW...when he is preaching unity even though we know how much he actually hates people like us. The Middle Class.

Yancey Ward said...

It is basically this:

October:

"Trump and his supporters are lying, racist scumbags who should be rounded up and put into reeducation camps."

February:

"Join with us to reunite the country in love and harmony."

As for the content of Arturo's deleted comments, Springsteen would have been saying the exact same things the last 4 years if it had been President Jeb Bush who had defeated Clinton and running against Joe Biden. How do I know this? Because he was saying the exact same things about George W. Bush that he has been saying about Donald Trump. It is like we are expected to forget that every Republican president is called the next coming of Hitler by the Left. "They're going to put y'all back in chains" wasn't referencing Donald Trump, it was referencing Mitt Romney.

Yancey Ward said...

The Left can take their so-called unity and stuff it up their asses. I wouldn't cross the street to piss on Bruce Springsteen if he were on fire.

DeepRunner said...

Meh. Bruce Springsteen is a great artist, but listening to him is like taking political advice from Cher.

Another old lawyer said...

Bob Dylan allegedly said of Springsteen something like 'Some think of Bob Seger as the poor man's Bruce Springsteen. I think of Bruce Springsteen as the rich man's Bob Seger.'

Maybe apocryphal, but says so much about Springsteen, Seger, and Dylan.

Tom Hunter said...

If Bruce ever does hang out with working class Americans again in his lifetime - and frankly I don't think he ever really did, despite all his shyster bellowing about their virtues - he's going to get the shock of his life at their level of support for a Republican named Trump.

n.n said...

despite all his shyster bellowing about their virtues - he's going to get the shock of his life at their level of support for a Republican named Trump.

And Reagan before him, another conservative convert or perhaps an epiphany, which leads to consider Ginsburg's choice.

Rabel said...

This is — Variety tells us — the first ad Bruce Springsteen has ever done. He'd never even allowed his songs to be used in ads.

walter said...

Oh, those groovy White House parties Obama had.
Paul Fucking McCartney!
Those were the daze.

Danno said...

Josephbleau said..."Jeep goes woke. In my experience in 4 wheeling Jeep’s go broke. Cheap Jeep junk. The only good Jeep were the ones in the Popeye cartoons."

Jeeps today are not cheap. Jeep should be worried about their continued relevance and even their existence with the lurch toward the end of fossil fuels for vehicles. An all-electric Jeep will be a joke.

walter said...

"An all-electric Jeep will be a joke"
Harley Davidson testing same waters

Arturo Ui said...

I'm not sure why, but it looks like moderation deleted most of my comments from this thread. I wasn't cursing, threatening, or abusing anyone, but I did disagree with some people. Oops.

Bunkypotatohead said...

I'm surprised a woke, modern business would have some old white male (racist) representing them.

Aggie said...

Reading through these comments. Just, Wow - the reactions, so similar.

The distance between what we're thinking, and what they're hoping they can believe we're thinking, is really getting bigger, isn't it?

Josephbleau said...

"Jeeps today are not cheap."

If you think you need a Jeep, buy a Toyota.

LilyBart said...


After four years of 'resisting' the 2016 election, and hysterics about Trump and his supporters, they 'win' the power, and NOW they say they want "unity".

I plan to give them the same unity they gave for the last four years.

Kirk Parker said...

"I wouldn't cross the street to piss on Bruce Springsteen if he were on fire."

Well... maybe if you chugged a few glasses of kerosene first.

Joanne Jacobs said...

I wondered who the old guy in the ad was. So, that's what Springsteen looks like these day? (He is a bit DeNiro-ish.)

The narration was as empty as the landscape. I was hoping to see some Clydesdales.

gadfly said...

So Trump made nostalgia a no-no and replaced it in the hearts of his fake patriots with hate and intolerance.

There is another famous building in Kansas - Topeka as a matter of fact, that is home for hate and intolerance- famously called the Westboro Baptist Church. It certainly would be a perfect location for the Trump library.

Big Mike said...

Leave it to famous blogger James Lileks to notice that the asshole lit a candle in a wooden church and left without blowing it out. That’s a good way to burn down a church.

Danno said...

Kirk Parker said...
in response to- "I wouldn't cross the street to piss on Bruce Springsteen if he were on fire."

"Well... maybe if you chugged a few glasses of kerosene first."

I'd look for someone with a strap-on of charcoal lighter fluid, shaped as a dick.

Joe Smith said...

"I'd look for someone with a strap-on of charcoal lighter fluid, shaped as a dick."

I see you've been to San Francisco...

Lurker21 said...

Bruce seems to want all the confectionary People magazine stuff: The dog, the loving couple, the kids, the beach. I never thought of Trump as an all-work, laser-focused President before, and he wasn't, but I'm glad he gave us a break from all the PR bullshit.

Trump wasn't one for the arts -- no wonder since the artists hated him -- but this association of all the frilly "heartwarming" BS manipulation politicians use with art and music and poetry is a little questionable to me. I don't know if I want "normal" and "boring" but I do like it when politicians for once stop pretending to be things that they aren't and stop trying to wrangle our votes with emotionally manipulative gimmicks.

Same thing with

We have lost our mojo, our fun, our happiness, our cheering on of others, the shared experience of humanity that makes it all worth it. The challenges and the triumphs that we shared and celebrated, the unique can-do spirit that America has always been known for.

It's a nice expression of the liberal malaise under Trump, but if Bruce was unhappy and wasn't sharing anything with his fellow citizens was it really Trump's fault?

chickelit said...

A worthwhile critique of the Springsteen and a timely reminded of just how stubbornly partisan he has been for decades: link

Reunited to one side is all.

Scott M said...

Wherein Jeep (and Springsteen) convince me to never buy another Jeep (or Springsteen album).

Bilwick said...

Statism is neither calming nor soothing, as its myriad victims (those who survived, that is) could tell you.

TestTube said...

The fake call for unity thing has been done...and done...and done.

Remember "No Labels"? Or that Stewart-Colbert tour?

TestTube said...

You want to sell cars? Open up the economy.
You want to unite America? open up the economy.