Oliver Anthony making the obvious point and expressing the self-evidently true grievance: how the GOP candidates on the stage tried to wrap themselves in and identify with Rich Men North of Richmond" even though, as he says, they're the ones (but not only them) who it's about: https://t.co/SMxTqDoQxo
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 26, 2023
August 26, 2023
Oliver Anthony is aggravated to see conservatives acting like he's one of them.
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As I wrote here, yesterday, independents like me would be in the GOP if it was so wonderful.
Politicos don't champion a song by an ornery black guy punching up to all these grifters controlling things, they champion a song by an ernest white guy punching down on his fellow Americans who need welfare.
Good for him, for not being their ugly stereotype, and fuck them for always wanting to be that asshole.
Attacking his own fans? That proves he’s more woke than any of us realized.
He probably felt like he needed to say something after the left started attacking him for being liked by conservatives, but if he were smarter, he’d take advantage of the opportunity to talk about what he hoped those candidates meant by supporting him.
Lord knows they all just wanna have total control
Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do
And they don't think you know, but I know that you do
He’s right, of course. He can take heart from his own lyrics though…. I hope he keeps writing on this theme, and scrambles over the events that are discouraging. We need his persistence.
Funny that the MAGA crowd seemed to exempt their rich hero from this song.
I am guessing Oliver's viral moment is about to end, as the pundits who orchestrated that moment no longer have use of him.
Good. That needs to be driven home. It's about ALL of them.
Good. That needs to be driven home. It's about ALL of them.
Putting off to the side the question of OA's sincerity, this is one genius career move. He has guaranteed that he won't be a flash in the pan.
"America’s future rests in a thousand dreams inside our hearts. It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire: New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen." -- Abraham Lincoln
Corrupt men keep the poor man down, rich men lift the poor man up.
Yup.
sadly - only rich people can rule.
if you are not rich going in - you get rich quick ala- Clinton, Obama, Reid, Biden...
“That song has nothing to do with Joe Biden…”
Oh boy, Oliver put his foot into it now!
Dropped out of school, deadbeat jobs, depression and alcoholism. Yeah. I can see how it’s all the fault of rich guys north of Richmond.
Well, to be fair, regardless of who the song blames, add in a dead dog, and that's country. Now he's just blaming a rich guy instead of his ex.
Add in a unique set of skills, a thirst for revenge, and an entertainingly baroque secret organization, and you have John Wick.
He seems to be talking about the politicians that were on the stage (and off) and all of the media. Most of us feel the EXACT same way. They enrich themselves off of the lies they tell us, and we are supposed to just sit here and take it.
Oliver Anthony is just another whiner, always looking for someone to blame because he doesn't magically have whatever he thinks the world supposedly owes him. Why would any true conservative think that message should resonate?
I have only read the lyrics to the song, and it was blatantly obvious it was about both parties.
Yes, one party sought to co-opt it. And the other party chose to say it was the new "right wing darling" - but it didn't change the songs lyrics or meaning.
Oh please, Crack. The Conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Leftists, and Libertarians all pander hard to black people. Trump did. Evangelicals do. There isn’t one political Party or political movement that doesn’t actively seek out black participation.
Just stop whining.
I can guarantee you that no one on that debate stage gives a crap about that song, or has even paid any attention to it unless one of their staff made them take note. And if that happened, I can guarantee you they still don't get it. It's no surprise that the GOP establishment still doesn't understand that the people who end up voting for them do so primarily because they're viewed as the least offensive of two offensive choices.
But Oliver Anthony's song has been sung before. It's the song of the left behind, the salt of the earth people who just work hard, barely make it by, and wonder if they're even a part of this thing. And these people come in all colors, from all religions, located all over the world. There is a segment of humanity that will always exist at that level and nothing coming out of Washington DC- or Berlin or Paris or Lagos or Mexico City for that matter- is going to change that for any group of people. It's still going to come down to the individual doing what they can to move forward. Some will, some won't.
He seems uncomfortable with it all, but Oliver Anthony just opened a door for himself to move forward out of where he's been. Will he be a greater hero if he refuses to step through that door or if he moves on out of there?
If you interpreted his song to be about Democrats only and not both parties, then you are not very bright. He shouldn't need to spell it out, but I guess he does.
I can see the gaslighting about the Democrat/Left reaction is starting. You all were attacking Oliver, not saying Republicans were misinterpreting the song.
There were ways to get that message across, and then there was the actual way he did. Now he won't even get the full 15 minutes. Who's his PR consultant, Alissa Heinerscheid? Dude may as well have emblazoned Dylan Mulvaney on his guitar.
We well recognize that the leadership of the current Republican Party has been caught off guard by a game of musical chairs, thinking that they had worked their way to the top of the party of the rich, only to have the Democrats embrace that demographic, and to find that the Democrats are able to serve the rich far better. Both parties hate Trump for making this plain. This is why Trump must be imprisoned, why he was charged with a crime by the DoJ that carries a possible death sentence.
America has never been perfect, but now that we have abandoned our aspirations, like a game of Jenga, you keep pulling out planks, and collapse is inevitable.
“Funny that the MAGA crowd seemed to exempt their rich hero from this song.”
Indeed. I always thought it was crazy that Trumpists ever thought an elitist rich man like Trump cared about the plight of the poor and working class American. He used them for his own quest for power, as do the ones Oliver Anthony sings about. My guess is he is as disgusted by Trump as are a majority of Americans.
"Oliver Anthony is aggravated to see conservatives acting like he's one of them."
Category error. Don't conflate conservatives with either Republicans or "people on conservative news". We are usually forced to vote Republican (there are only 2 people on the ballot after all). Thank God we are not forced to watch "conservative news".
The artist has no provenance in the interpretation of the art, that is why it is art, because it speaks to individuals.
So whomever consumes the art gets to say what it means to him. I can interpret Wagner how I will, not how Wagner did.
Anthony is an advocate for working people and against corruption in DC, Republicans may be part of the problem but identifying with him is a sign that at least one party gives a damn and agrees that there's a problem.
This guy's CIA.
But wait, didn't the left tell us that OA was manufactured by the GOP to stir up anti-government sentiment? He wasn't a grassroots viral event.
His voice, his delivery, and the rain falling on the cab of his truck is very soothing.
There is a political and media establishment that thrives north of Richmond consisting of Ds and Rs, and then there are the unwashed to which OA's song speaks. Where is Jean Valjean when you need him?
Someone needs to tell Mr. Anthony that the reason the Republicans are embracing him is because the Democrats are attacking him and would ban his music if they could.
@Crack:
Hate to be the one to break it to you buddy, but it's not always about you...
Caving to the Woke red-guard mob is never good. Grow a spine.
We see it all the time with the celebrity wimps who come out against trans-madness - only to knuckle under so they are not canceled by the vile speech-crime red-guard left.
You don't have to fall in love or worship the team you vote for.
Look at all the masses of hive-minders who do not mind Joe Biden's corruption.
No, he isn't. His comments have been given the usual treatment of egregious misrepresentation.
I don’t think anyone on the stage would have brought it up. It’s just another example of Fox’s attempts at faux populism and in line with their other lame crap with which they cluttered up the “debate” instead of focusing on the issues that their own polling showed conservative voters wanted to hear about. Fox used to be a news channel that focused too much on the horse race aspect of politics. Now it’s just a weird faux populist Twitter feed impersonating a news network.
I’ve never listened to the song all the way through. His singing voice annoys me.
And I’m not familiar with his economic philosophy.
I am guessing Oliver's viral moment is about to end, as the pundits who orchestrated that moment no longer have use of him.
How clueless you are! Nobody made Anthony. Nobody can unmake him. He had four songs in the Top Ten on iTunes including the top three for weeks yet Rich Men was the only one Fox mentioned. They mentioned it every day. People liked the song. People of all kinds were moved by its earnestness and rootsy style and Americans are united in their disgust at DC. Try watching the reaction videos on YouTube to see who is moved by Anthony’s song. I don’t understand the “I reject this song because icky people like it” pose but it sounds just as phony as Fox’s populist stance if not more so.
I’ll sing YOUR praises if in fact “conservatives” can cancel the song or the artist but we both know they can’t. You just write stupid shit to crap on Althouse commenters.
The Republican Party will take about 75% of the White working class and another 50% of the Latino working class in the upcoming election. I think the anti-war rhetoric and closing the borders is fueling the shift.
Inga - Trump ushered in a great economy - and blacks were aided the most.
Yeah he's a billionaire - but Trump cares more about the little guy than your fake fraud crook money-grubber of a president. Certainly more than rich fraud Pelosi.
To be fair, it was Fox News that set that up. They introduced the song, right at the start of the debate.
Fox News - probably Murdoch himself - wanted to kick things off with that softball culture question to DeSantis. Then the next question was hammering Chris Christie over New Jersey’s state bond ratings from 20 years ago. Nice kickoff.
Good luck in 2024, Fox.
Indeed. I always thought it was crazy that Trumpists ever thought an elitist rich man like Trump cared about the plight of the poor and working class American.
Trump did more to improve the lives of the working poor than any other president in the last 70 years.
Excellent and concise from someone like me: If you interpreted his song to be about Democrats only and not both parties, then you are not very bright. He shouldn't need to spell it out, but I guess he does.
The Uniparty runs DC. Lot of insiders on that stage were asked to comment on it. It was more farcical than a typical SNL episode.
Richmond is a formerly blue collar town that is filled with law, finance, and government jobs that pay well.
rhhardin said...
“Corrupt men keep the poor man down, rich men lift the poor man up”
That’s very good. You need to write a song about that.
Which party tries to free and take care of the working class? It certainly is no longer the democrat party.
The democrat party seeks power, one-party rule, speech crimes, offers mob corruption in their DOJ, all while they approve of crime, spike national dept, cause inflation, kill off local energy to cater to the Wealthy white John Kerry Climate propaganda machine that will do nothing to stop "climate change" only cut us off at the knees.
Apropos of the Glenn Greenwald tag let me remind the slow people here that he is also not a conservative just an old fashioned journalist. Why aren’t you guys rejecting this reporting like you did his other recent takes?
My guess is he is as disgusted by Trump as are a majority of Americans.
Maybe, but he made no mention of Trump and Trump wasn't on that stage.
My guess is he'd say his song is a lot bigger than Donald Trump too.
Do you think if Trump vanished off the face of the earth tomorrow that the RMNOR wouldn't immediately replace him with someone new for you to hate and fear?
Blogger Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
I don’t think anyone on the stage would have brought it up. It’s just another example of Fox’s attempts at faux populism and in line with their other lame crap with which they cluttered up the “debate” instead of focusing on the issues that their own polling showed conservative voters wanted to hear about. Fox used to be a news channel that focused too much on the horse race aspect of politics. Now it’s just a weird faux populist Twitter feed impersonating a news network.
How distressed will you be, to know that I agree with this?
I figured he meant politicians/elites.
I don’t even care, anymore.
I’m voting Trump.
Declaration and Constitution? Otherwise the very model of woke with principles of diversity, inequity, exclusion (DIE). Why would anyone want to be associated with that?
Apropos of the Glenn Greenwald tag let me remind the slow people here that he is also not a conservative just an old fashioned journalist.
I'll always think of Greenwald as the man who introduced the term "sock puppet" to me.
Don't ya love how the hive-mind left went from "Hate this guy! He's a paid prop!" to... 'oh wait - he just bashed conservatives running for office??!?... perhaps he's OK after all.'
lol.
Inga (6:55) is taking Oliver Anthony’s quote out of context. The entire quotation is: “But it was funny kind of seeing the response to it, like that song has nothing to do with Joe Biden. It’s a lot bigger than Joe Biden. That song is written about the people on that stage, and a lot more, too, than just them.” [Emphasis mine]
For the benefit of others who are equally impaired as to their reading comprehension, the song has everything to do with Joe Biden, but it also elitists (funny how union boss Inga thinks she isn’t one of them) from both parties who get or got rich by making life ever more rough for people who work for a living.
I get it.
A “Fox” tag would be appropriate here IMO. They played the song and asked for comments at the “Debate” not Republicans. The hosts. The network.
Indeed. I always thought it was crazy that Trumpists ever thought an elitist rich man like Trump cared about the plight of the poor and working class American.
The Dullard proves once again that she has no idea of reality in politics. His policies made a big difference in the lives of many lower middle class and working class people. The people you support are grifters and far leftists whose policies are driving us off a cliff.
Blogger rhhardin said...
Corrupt men keep the poor man down, rich men lift the poor man up.
That only applies to rich men who make their money outside politics.
I’m One of the ‘Rich Men North of Richmond.’ Luck, my friend is where opportunity meets preparation.
I predict a significant drop in the number of daily streams of "Rich Men North of Richmond" after Oliver Anthony's comments about GOP presidential candidates.
"Corrupt men keep the poor man down, rich men lift the poor man up."
Odd trick, that, given that rich men are often corrupt men.
Michael K reposted rhhardin:
“Corrupt men keep the poor man down, rich men lift the poor man up.”
And then Michael K added:
“That only applies to rich men who make their money outside politics.”
By definition if rich men made their money inside politics they are corrupt. How do you make money from politics without being corrupt?
The reason I think it’s such a good point is because it’s harder and harder to differentiate between those who are rich by creating wealth and those who are rich by using their connections, insider information, intimidation, etc.
“His[trump] policies made a big difference in the lives of many lower middle class and working class people.”
Bullshit. That you still believe this is telling. Cultism is hard to break. You love him because he speaks to the vile hatred in you, you are the epitome of an elitist. And senility doesn’t help you either.
Maybe he should write another song about that… how something once touching the imagination of the population, the wrong people get a hold of it, and use it for their own ends.
Wait… is that what the rich north of Richmond song is about?
“Do you think if Trump vanished off the face of the earth tomorrow that the RMNOR wouldn't immediately replace him with someone new for you to hate and fear?”
The right wing has been scrambling to find a new cult leader to replace Trump, it doesn’t speak well for them. Ron DeSantis… no,RFK Jr…no, Vivek Ramaswamy… who is next?
"Oliver Anthony is aggravated to see conservatives acting like he's one of them."
In the clip he mentions "people in conservative news" and the Republican politicians at the debate. He doesn't specifically reject "conservatives" as a whole.
In the song he is rejecting what some call the "uniparty" or the "establishment," which is led by those Rich Men North of Richmond.
In the header, are you, like those he criticizes, trying to claim his anti-establishment views as matching your own by attaching his criticisms to all those who identify as "conservatives," the lifelong foils of a liberal feminist?
Maybe he does reject all of what he considers "conservatism," but not in that clip. And the lyrics damn sure reflect the type of conservatism that represents the worldview of many of us who claim the label, whether we meet his definition or not.
On the other hand, it's just a song and it's just a blog post so neither should be interpreted as Holy Writ.
General MacGregor's interview with Tucker pointed something out. A person who works their entire life then retire on $1400 Social Security a month can watch illegals walk in to America and get $2200 a month, free room and board school and healthcare on HIS/HER dime.
Who is responsible for that travesty?
Rich Men North Of Richmond.
Blogger Gahrie said...
. I always thought it was crazy that Trumpists ever thought an elitist rich man like Trump cared about the plight of the poor and working class American.
I actually understand that viewpoint. What I find odd is that anyone would ever think it only applied to Trump and not to every rich politician - regardless of party - who has run for President.
Trump did more to improve the lives of the working poor than any other president in the last 70 years.
An absolutely true statement in my experience. May have been by accident or may have been he didn't care enough about some policies to cancel them just to show he could as Biden has appeared to do. Not everyone, or even a majority, of Americans wanted everything done by Trump to be undone.
“Born in the U.S.A.” became an American anthem (and a Reagan re-election theme) notwithstanding Springsteen's left-wing politics.
Richmond has its corrupt rich men as well. It’s the capital of Virginia.
Should be Rich Men North of Norfolk.
Some people have fully transitioned from left/right to insider/outsider view of the world, some are on the journey, and some are desperately trying to ignore the possibility. His song to me seemed so obviously coming from the outsider viewpoint that it was jarring to see talking heads still pushing the left/right view trying to interpret it through that lens.
He only thinks he knows what the song is about :)
Politicians using current pop culture to advance their candidacies? HOW DARE THEY!
What next, promising voters things they have no intention of doing!? /s
"The Dullard proves once again that she has no idea of reality in politics."
This is charitable. Today's lefties, like Igna, know they are gaslighting. They extend Krauthammer's adage that conservatives "think liberals are stupid."
We now KNOW they are stupid, evil and shameless.
The right wing has been scrambling to find a new cult leader to replace Trump, it doesn’t speak well for them. Ron DeSantis… no,RFK Jr…no, Vivek Ramaswamy… who is next?
You're proving my point.
So, whiny-doofy talent show wannabe.
I was right the first time, and am a little surprised that he still garners so much attention.
But then I'm a self-made elitist myself, and I suppose he's young enough to turn his life around.
Igna:"You love him because he speaks to the vile hatred in you ...."
Hatred of whom? Calling out ignorance and malevolence like yours does not equate with hatred.
There isn't enough conservative hatred, so lefties have to invent it.
"His[trump] [sic] policies made a big difference in the lives of many lower middle class and working class people.”
Bullshit. That you still believe this is telling.
No, not bull - statistics. Look it up. Wage growth in the lower quintiles was higher than in the upper, and disadvantaged Black people benefited most.
Cultism is hard to break.
You said a mouthful, sister. Just... the problem here is not the cult you were thinking of, I'm afraid.
"Corrupt men keep the poor man down, rich men lift the poor man up."
Odd trick, that, given that rich men are often corrupt men.
Who has done more to improve everyone's life (including the poor) over the last fifty years: Sam Walton, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, or the government?
My interpretation of his song was that it was critical of the political class in Washington D.C. as a whole- Democrat and Republican. Now, it may be that Anthony himself is a full-blown progressive, in which case he is ignorant at best and hypocritical at worst.
However, he doesn't get to control the interpretation of the song others make. He only gets to critique it. If he is a progressive, I hope he is greatly pissed of that conservative voters are using his song against him and his fellow progressives.
Inga said: "Indeed. I always thought it was crazy that Trumpists ever thought an elitist rich man like Trump cared about the plight of the poor and working class American."
Yep. It's because they've been bamboozled.
The Bad Doctor retorts: "The Dullard proves once again that she has no idea of reality in politics. His policies made a big difference in the lives of many lower middle class and working class people."
How, exactly? He didn't bring back jobs from China, and Trump's tax cuts for working people will expire at the end of 2025, while at least some of the tax cuts for wealthy corporations will not. Why didn't Trump make the tax cuts on working people permanent? Seems like a grifter's sleight-of-hand trickery to me.
Gahrie said: "Trump did more to improve the lives of the working poor than any other president in the last 70 years."
Can you quantify that with stats from the last 70 years showing how the working poor were benefited by Trump's policies more so than any other president's policies in that time?
Robert Cook said...
"Corrupt men keep the poor man down, rich men lift the poor man up."
"Odd trick, that, given that rich men are often corrupt men."
No they are not.
but it also elitists (funny how union boss Inga thinks she isn’t one of them) from both parties who get or got rich by making life ever more rough for people who work for a living.
Which is why I pointed it out in the debate thread. And why Chris Christie, et. al. slamming Vivek for not having government experienced seemed so obtuse.
“'Born in the U.S.A.' became an American anthem (and a Reagan re-election theme) notwithstanding Springsteen's left-wing politics."
Because the conservatives listened only to the refrain and the deceptively rousing tune, but ignored (or didn't bother to learn) the rest of the lyrics:
"Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just to cover it up, now
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., now
Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hands
Send me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said, "Son, if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said, "Son, don't you understand, now?"
I had a brother at Khe Sanh
Fighting off all the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms, now
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., now
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A., now
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A., now"
“Category error. Don't conflate conservatives with either Republicans or "people on conservative news". We are usually forced to vote Republican (there are only 2 people on the ballot after all). Thank God we are not forced to watch "conservative news".”
Bingo!
I was having this conversation with my sons just last night. Anthony is Barry McGuire. A somewhat shallow and simplistic popster whose sudden (and likely brief) success marks the moment when the sensibility of a nascent counter-culture is recognized as highly marketable.
There’s going to be a shit-ton more of this stuff, as the highly marketable is never ignored. And the more there is, the more explicitly targeted (at Establishment Democrats) some of it will be.
What you see is what you get. I looked at the "pickup truck" video and saw a man without much in the way of educational credentials (high school dropout followed by later GED). And yet he's obviously thought deeply about what he had to say and was articulate. He's not particularly "owned" by any political party.
I doubt that he's going to be poor anymore. There's some way on pay per view or pay for play that means money will roll towards his pockets.
I've lived in Southern California for almost 70 years now. I've sometimes agreed with folks who think that the best thing for the United States would be to put a zipper on the eastern California border and let California sink in the Pacific. The only better thing would be to put a zipper on the Acela corridor and let it sink in the Atlantic. The residents of those two places have lost their way.
I’ve never listened to the song all the way through. His singing voice annoys me.
Me too. I thought he was satire from the elitist left at first…guess he still could be…
…and what century is it that politicians still need theme songs? 23 skidoo!
The right wing has been scrambling to find a new cult leader to replace Trump, it doesn’t speak well for them. Ron DeSantis… no,RFK Jr…no, Vivek Ramaswamy… who is next?
The Dullard does not mention that the left has had its cult leader since 2008. If you doubt it's a cult, see this.
Inga - The Economy under Trump was strong and healthy- Not bullshit.
It's only bullshit to you because you are a hivemind joke.
Bullshit. That you still believe this is telling. Cultism is hard to break. You love him because he speaks to the vile hatred in you, you are the epitome of an elitist. And senility doesn’t help you either.
Gas in 2020 at $2. a gallon, Interest rates at 2%, unemployment before Covid, More here.
During Trump’s first three years in office, median household incomes grew, inequality diminished, and the poverty rate among Black people fell below 20% for the first time in post-World War II records. The unemployment rate among Black people went under 6% for the first time in records going back to 1972.
Dullards tend to be dull.
Blogger Mark said...
"Funny that the MAGA crowd seemed to exempt their rich hero from this song."
This is a tremendous blindspot on both sides of the aisle, but especially on the Left.
I grew up in a blue collar household and neighborhood within sight of the Manhattan skyline. Very, very few people I knew were reflexively opposed to rich people, but you could tell when someone was uncomfortable around blue collar folks or contemptuous of them a mile away.
You can despise Trump's politics all day, but Trump clearly has a lot of experience with and is neither uncomfortable nor contemptuous of working class folks. In fact, the vibe he gives off is affection and respect, at least as it is received by blue collar people. If you swing a hammer, you know who respects you and who doesn't.
In contrast, so many politicians and people of wealth/education seem to have cartoonish or contemptuous views of workers. I think a lot of blue collar people can imagine having a genuine two-way conversation with Trump, while most politicians and academics seem interested in talking at workers rather than talking with them.
Is it really so hard to treat people with basic respect?
@Spiros — Yes, and notwithstanding the song’s lyrics. The obtuseness was rather embarrassing.
This guys whining sounds no different than every artist ever- they aren’t reacting the way I want them to…wah!
At some
point deep in humanity’s past Grog stormed off in a huff because the other cave dwellers misunderstood the mural…
Oliver Anthony has no answers and names no names in his dirge. A song about the rich abusing the poor is not really political at all. And if he wanted to attack MAGA, he didn't but I suppose that since Trump used to be richer than most politicians, he could have named names.
Hopelessness piled atop hopelessness brings us back to Romans 24:
For in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is no hope at all.
Roy Clark and Buck Owens sang Gloom, Despair, and Agony On Me back in the days of Hee-Haw:
Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Easy to sing, easy to remember.
Blogger Gahrie said...
. I always thought it was crazy that Trumpists ever thought an elitist rich man like Trump cared about the plight of the poor and working class American.
Donald Trump has always given off the vibe that he sort of feels bad for the sorry existence anyone who isn't Donald Trump (except maybe some celebrities). But, perhaps paradoxically, that vibe communicates to many people that Trump doesn't look down on them BECAUSE they are working class, or "un-educated," or black, Latino, poor, etc.: just because they're not Trump. And since everybody is not Trump, it's a weirdly democratic attitude.
Contrast the people on stage at the Republican debate, and Biden, Hilary, Obama, Romney -- pretty much EVERY national politician -- who communicate the sense that they look down on people because they don't belong to the correct socio-cultural class (cf. basket of deplorables, clinging to guns and religion, 47% on the dole, etc.).
There is also the other prong, that Trump at times disrespects and looks down upon the managerial class from which the other national politicians either come from or (more commonly) pretend to come from. The people in that class, particularly those whose self-worth is entirely bound up with their class membership (often because they don't have children), hate Trump with a fiery passion for refusing to respect them.
And the insult stings even more, because Trump at least pays lip-service to respecting working-class people ("We have the greatest miners. You know how great our miners are? The best!"). In other words, in Trump's mind being someone with "deputy associate" in your title or having a couple of letters after your name doesn't make you any better than being a miner or a construction worker: after all NONE of these people are Donald Trump.
But even if that's all Trump thinks about the working class it is, by comparison, more respect given to them by a president or presidential candidate than has happened since probably the 1950s (remember, most working-class people are not union members, so sucking up to the rich and powerful leaders of unions is NOT the same thing as actually respecting working-class INDIVIDUALS).
I don't know a lot of Trump voters here in Massachusetts, but the ones I do know, who are all in the trades and other hands-on occupations (mason, electrician, owner of small building-supply store, civil engineer, telephone lineman) don't seem to have illusions that Trump would love and care about them if they weren't his supporters, but even if he thinks they're inferior to him, he doesn't think they're inferior the people who disrespect them.
I was thinking about commenting that the usual hypocrisy of the crowd that is all "only listener interpretation matters" when a Lefty harpie starts screeching about being offended is on display. Upon further reflection it's really not. Supporting both the idea that unintentionally meanings are offensive and that speakers can control interpretation deny the agency of the listener to determine meaning and especially control their reaction.
Tina Trent said...
Oh please, Crack. The Conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Leftists, and Libertarians all pander hard to black people. Trump did. Evangelicals do. There isn’t one political Party or political movement that doesn’t actively seek out black participation.
Not blacks who oppose their beliefs
Gahrie and RoseAnne - Trump did not do more to improve the lives of the working poor than any other president in the last 70 years. More jobs were added during the last two Democrat administrations.
This is from the NYT:
In January 2020, there were about 152 million nonfarm jobs in the country — about seven million more than existed in January of 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the number of jobs has been growing since 2010. In fact, the country gained more jobs — about eight million — between 2014 and 2017, the last years of the Obama administration. And since the pandemic began, between 10 million and 20 million jobs have been lost.
And from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Nonfarm employment rose by 4.8 million in 2022, . . . The largest calendar-year gain in the history of CES occurred in 2021 (+7.3 million), the year immediately following the onset of the pandemic. As of December 2022, nonfarm employment had expanded by 2.2 million above its February 2020 (or pre-pandemic) level."
Born in the USA is a pretty good description of exactly where the working class people are today, and it’s the Democrats who have brewed up another war, but this time the appeals of Biden to blind patriotism and hatred of the “orcs” is falling on deaf ears. Dollars to donuts that Springsteen is voting for the guy pushing WW3, simply because he has a ‘D’ after his name.
Labor and environmental arbitrage, immigration reform, wars without borders, progressive prices, Mengele in clinics, diversity, political congruence, redistributive change, secular religion, conflation of logical domains, wicked solutions, too. We didn't start the conflagration...
The people who enthusiastically support our involvement in a border dispute on the other side of the world are the people least likely to end up fighting in it, the Democrats are the party of the affluent, not the kind of people who join the military for economic reasons, not to say that Lindsay Graham and Mitch McConnell aren’t just as to blame, and Trump has seldom been more right than he was about that scumbag, John McCain, who can be seen on video in the movie Ukraine On Fire, promising weapons to Nazis, and who leaked that bogus dossier to the press to further his war.
gadfly said...
"Gahrie and RoseAnne - Trump did not do more to improve the lives of the working poor than any other president in the last 70 years. More jobs were added during the last two Democrat administrations."
You're conflating two different things.
Under Trump there was more black employment than in the previous 50 years. That is huge.
Next time this guy sings at a concert, I expect the audience will chant,
"Fed! Fed! Fed!"
Also important to remember that Anthony never presented himself as a hero of the Right. The Left assumed he was an enemy and the conversation has proceeded from there.
Gahrie and RoseAnne - Trump did not do more to improve the lives of the working poor than any other president in the last 70 years. More jobs were added during the last two Democrat administrations.
A great example of how statistics can be fun but don't always address the question.
Who got those additional jobs? Did people need two jobs to try and equal what they used to earn from one? Were the jobs part-time or full-time? Where were those jobs created in the US? East coast or west? North or South? Lots of questions could be asked of the information provided even without getting into whether those jobs were actually created or simply coming back to work post-pandemic.
And what of the factors that "improved lives" (or don't) not related to employment - price of gas, inflation, etc. - which you didn't cover.
Wendybar. We are in agreement once again. Who says lightning never strikes in the same place twice. I assume Trump is not excluded from the group of which you speak.
"if you are not rich going in - you get rich quick ala- Clinton, Obama, Reid, Biden..."
Twenty-eight years ago, Ilhan Omar was living in a refugee camp in Kenya.
Three and a half years ago we were reading how hard it was for Ilhan Omar to find affordable housing in DC.
Today, Ilhan Omar's net-worth is estimated to be $83M.
What's the secret to her success and in what country did it occur?
"Odd trick, that, given that rich men are often corrupt men."
Having worked directly with, and for, scores of millionaires -- including one who became secretary of the treasury, you know, the guy who signs the money -- to believe what you wrote tells me you get your info on the rich solely from TV and movies.
Corruption is not the norm. In fact, they abhor the corrupt and get rid of them as quickly as possible (quietly), as they pose an existential threat to their business models.
But hey, TV and movie writers need protagonists, so...
BTW, how's that writer's strike going? It's about to enter its fifth month. Does anyone even notice it?
People who knowingly took a shot of......something, call others cultists.
I dont think they know what the word cultist means.
"Democrats who have brewed up another war, but this time the appeals of Biden to blind patriotism and hatred of the “orcs” is falling on deaf ears."
Russia invaded a sovereign nation. You cool with that? As someone of Polish ancestry, I'm certainly not.
People say that Ukraine is a proxy war between the West and Russia. No, it's not. It's a proxy war between the US and China.
I said:
"(Trump) didn't bring back jobs from China, and Trump's tax cuts for working people will expire at the end of 2025...."
A postscript to my comment above from a previous post. This thought was gestating in the back of my mind but I was hasty and didn't take the time to let it ripen. When Trump's tax breaks were implemented, he probably assumed he would win a second term--honestly or otherwise--and he would end his role as the President in early January 2025. BOOM! His "wondrous" tax boon to working stiffs was set to sunset after his second term had ended, leaving the next president, Dem or Republican, to be blamed for the post-Trump tax increases.
He's not just a grifter and liar, he's a conniving little shit, almost certainly setting up the tax break that way solely to showcase his "beneficence," knowing his unknown successor would blamed for the pending tax increases, making him look even that much "more great" in retrospect (to his credulous cult and anyone not paying attention).
Trump: He always leaves one even more disgusted on further consideration.
Russia invaded a sovereign nation
What nation is that?
Butkus51 said...
"People who knowingly took a shot of......something, call others cultists.
I dont think they know what the word cultist means."
They heard one of their "news" propagandists use it so now they use it.It's trendy for them. They couldn't explain why they use it.
"Politicos don't champion a song by an ornery black guy punching up to all these grifters controlling things, they champion a song by an ernest white guy punching down on his fellow Americans who need welfare."
Because maybe is a better song? Sorry not sorry.
If you are not from the rural working class milieu then accept that there are things that you don't understand. He's not "punching down on his fellow Americans who *need* welfare." He's expressing frustration about his deadbeat brother in law that has been on public disability for ten years and spends his days fishing and hunting. He is registering his frustration at his cousin who has five different kids from five fathers and lives on the public dole. Meanwhile, he busts his ass to put food on his table all the while being told he is a racist, white man that no one should give a shit about because *he* is the problem.
And, that's the thing the left will never understand. He (and men like him) *do not want your fucking welfare check.* He wants opportunity and to be treated with dignity. Public handouts are emasculating. Being told "you didn't build that take my free money" will never connect with him.
Now go listen to your paint-by-the-numbers angry rap song that is the same as every other paint-by-the-numbers angry rap song. Yawn.
Cook - Despite Trumps flaws - his economic policies were outstanding. Chi-Com Democrat party covid brought it all down. On purpose.
"What nation is that?"
You're funny. No, really.
Free Manure While You Wait! said...
"Odd trick, that, given that rich men are often corrupt men."
Having worked directly with, and for, scores of millionaires --
. . . Corruption is not the norm. In fact, they abhor the corrupt and get rid of them as quickly as possible (quietly), as they pose an existential threat to their business models.”
Please tell those rich, honest millionaires that they are going to have to get involved in politics to help save this country. On the whole rich honest men don’t get involved in politics. They don’t need handouts and they are clever enough to work around the impediments that government puts in front of hard working people. So the politicians are left to their own devices to hand out our money to cronies and family.
Crack Emcee said “Politicos don't champion a song by an ornery black guy punching up to all these grifters controlling things” Thank you for posting the link.
So we're agreed that Oliver Anthony isn't the troubadour of the toiling masses the world has been waiting for.
Seems like a good time to revive S & G's "The Boxer."
As for Trump's tax breaks, Robert, how did he arrange things so that his and Congress's successors can't make different arrangements if they choose? Is this like Trump's unchangeable plan to get out of Afghanistan?
Presidents must be even more powerful than we thought.
"A great example of how statistics can be fun but don't always address the question."
One question not included in your list is- how many of those "jobs added" were ones that were previously lost due to prior ChinaBatFlu lockdowns? Perhaps those should not be counted, if one had any intellectual integrity?
Good for Oliver Anthony. I am sick and tired of both the left and the right trying to politicize every song, movie, novel, etc.
he would end his role as the President in early January 2025. BOOM! His "wondrous" tax boon to working stiffs was set to sunset after his second term had ended, leaving the next president, Dem or Republican, to be blamed for the post-Trump tax increases.
You mean likle Bill Clinton's retroactive tax increases ? Those tax increases? Hillary was smart enough to take her bonus in the previous calendar year to avoid them.
Nice try, commie.
Hey, Crack… your tune - from the throw down through the roll out - is pretty damn snappy, Pappy.
I thought what he was getting at was a deeper version of Breitbart's "Politics is down stream from culture". Our politics won't get better until we treat each other better. So many people immediately looking at what he's saying solely through a political lens pretty much proves his point. He starts his shows with a scripture reading from a worn, taped up Bible. I'm thinking he's something of a minor prophet.
"On the whole rich honest men don’t get involved in politics. "
So which TV shows do you watch?
Also important to remember that Anthony never presented himself as a hero of the Right. The Left assumed he was an enemy and the conversation has proceeded from there.
Correct. I would've never heard of him - or the song - if the left hadn't blown a gasket about it and tried to have him cancelled. And all because they didn't like the lyrics.
Bunch a fascist toddlers.
Sure Inga, Trump is just like the Establishment Elites, that's why they're cutting down every law in England to get him
https://youtu.be/PDBiLT3LASk?feature=shared
God damn you're stupid
"Oliver Anthony is aggravated to see conservatives acting like he's one of them"
It's probably already been said, but don't you really mean 'conservative politicians'?
If you don't, then shame on you for not paying attention. Most voting conservatives know exactly where Anthony is coming from, and identify with it, strongly.
Free Manure While You Wait! said...
Twenty-eight years ago, Ilhan Omar was living in a refugee camp in Kenya.
Three and a half years ago we were reading how hard it was for Ilhan Omar to find affordable housing in DC.
Today, Ilhan Omar's net worth is estimated to be $83M.
Twenty-eight years ago she was 12 years old. Three and a half years ago, and even today, affordable housing is hard to find in D.C. Several internet sites estimate Omar's current personal net worth to be $3 million, not $83 million.
You must have missed the news that Trump posted his arrest photo on Xitter, begged for money, and got $7 million in just one day to be used as he sees fit. Oh yes, grift in the finest sense of the word.
lonejustice said...
"Good for Oliver Anthony. I am sick and tired of both the left and the right trying to politicize every song, movie, novel, etc."
Then quit making it necessary.
It's just a song. Don't read too much into it. Besides. It ain't rock.
Quiz
Who is the artist thet had hits on the rock, pop and country charts. All at the same time.
GOPe = uniparty
he's right
Temujin said...
"But Oliver Anthony's song has been sung before. It's the song of the left behind, the salt of the earth people who just work hard, barely make it by, and wonder if they're even a part of this thing."
Made me think of Woody Guthrie, especially:
This land is your land, and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me
I thought what he was getting at was a deeper version of Breitbart's "Politics is down stream from culture". Our politics won't get better until we treat each other better.
@Lyle Sanford, except ever since Barack Obama, who introduced it, the unstated political policy of the Democrats has been to sort people into identity groups and set them at each others’ throats. Consequently politics and culture has been a feedback loop.
I have no objection to his pox on both parties stance, given how many Republicans mysteriously get rich in Washington, not to mention how the Republicans seem to be in love with failure theater. There are good politicians in Washington, but I suspect they are a small minority.
Anything worth corrupting for money will be corrupted for money. No exceptions.
@Big Mike - My guess is he wouldn't disagree with that, but might say it's only part of the story. If your only lens is politics, I think you miss his intent when he said to reach out to people around you "even if they're different". Maybe the only way to end a feedback loop is to change channels. That's kind of what I thought back in the 60's, when I was closer to his age.
Inga talking about cults.
Have another shot.
”You mean likle Bill Clinton's retroactive tax increases ? Those tax increases? Hillary was smart enough to take her bonus in the previous calendar year to avoid them.
“Nice try, commie”
Hey, Clinton was a self-serving shit, too!
Bad try, fascist.
”You mean likle Bill Clinton's retroactive tax increases ? Those tax increases? Hillary was smart enough to take her bonus in the previous calendar year to avoid them.
Nice try, commie.”
Hey, Clinton was a self-serving shit, too!
Poor try, fascist.
I live close to the area Oliver Anthony is in. Many of my friends are just like him. They couldn't make peace with the education system, dropped out, and now, have to claw their way back up without a credential which our society seems to love. A diploma.
They despise ALL politicians. The government, federal and state, is nothing but a millstone tied to their success, to slow it down.
My friends have, mostly, made their way the same way he has, through the building trades.
Anthony says he has been offered 8 million to pursue a singing career. That window is open, for now, but it will close soon. I wish him great success, whatever he chooses.
There is nothing worse than our current form of governance, except, any other alternative.
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