There are days when I just don't understand myself. I am usually unabashedly conservative. I believe in social justice, but also that people do better with a hand up than a "handout." I support life in all forms, from conception to the final breath. I don't understand how people can be "pro-life" on the issue of abortion, but for the death penalty.
While I support the rights for hunting guns and collections, I don't understand how assault rifles, AK-47's, machine guns and other guns of mass destruction should be allowed. I find that the idea of "if they take away one liberty (gun) they'll take away all gun rights." I was an avid hunter many years ago and have no problem with hunting for sport. I took the requisite gun safety courses and enjoyed target shooting, skeet shooting, and hunting. I don't recall a time when a machine gun would have been necessary.
That leads me to my current confusion and dilemma. It seems that many of my favorite musicians tend to skew much farther left than I'll ever be. When I think about my favorite singer-songwriters, from Harry Chapin (God rest his soul), to Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Jackson Browne, and Neil Young, I have to ask myself, am I being hypocritical? Do I just like the music, or am I a closet social liberal? Or is there something much deeper than just labeling myself?
I don't think that President Bush is a "bad person" like so many hard-core liberals believe. I conjecture that he did what he thought was necessary based on information available. I do think, however, that he has been grossly mislead by his higher-ranking advisors, notably his Secretary of Defense (Why didn't we send in adequate numbers of soldiers to get the job done quickly? How could we so grossly underestimate the insurgencies that ensued? What half-truths and outright lies are we being fed? among other questions) and Vice-President Dick Cheney (How many hands in the pot do you have? Are there still financial interests in Halliburton and why are they involved in everything that even smells of Iraq?)
So now, Mr. Young has his new song "Let's Impeach the President" that has come out on the heels of his "Prairie Wind" album that was life-affirming and soul-searching about how precious life is. Neil brazenly sang "Let's Roll" about United Flight 93 shortly after the tragedy of 9/11, but now he is calling the President on the carpet. Bruce sang his melancholy and deeply personal accounts of 9/11 and its aftermath on "The Rising" but now takes pot-shots at the President any time he is in front of an audience.
I don't know, perhaps as I become older, I am less jaded on some issues and more on others. Life has a way of changing our perspective and maybe I have a certain allegiance to the musicians that shaped some of my life's journey. I do know that the last Springsteen concert I saw in Madison, was my least favorite of his. Way too much politics without offering solutions. At least when I went to the U2 concert I knew where Bono stood and there were some potential solutions offered.
So gentlemen, sing your songs, raise up the chorus, and along the way offer more than just diatribe. I'll still listen to the music, but I don't have to agree with the lyrics or the banter that offers venom, but no antidote.
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