God Bless the U.S.A. was written by Lee Greenwood. It's his intellectual property. So it's fair he's mad that Stall Brook Elementary in Bellingham, Massachutes wanted to change the lyrics of the song to "We Love the U.S.A." for an April 12th assembly.
Greenwood made a statement, "Maybe the school should have asked the parents their thoughts before changing the lyrics to the song," Lee says. "They could have even asked the writer of the song, which I of course would have said you can't change the lyrics at all or any part of the song. The most important word in the whole piece of music is the word God, which is also in the title 'God Bless the USA.'
"We can't take God out of the song, we can't take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance, we can't take God off of the American currency," he continues. "Let us also remember, the phrase 'God Bless the USA' has a very important meaning for those in the military and their families, as well as new citizens coming to our country."
First off, beyond his jingoistic, schmaltzy, patronizing songs Lee Greenwood has no other intellectual property because he is riddled with a David Barton understanding of American History.
Barton, is famous for being the go-to-historian of conservatives when they want someone to make up a historical "fact" which coincides with a current position of the Right-Wingers. For instance, Barton proclaimed, "As far as the Founding Fathers were concerned, they’d already had the entire debate over creation and evolution, and you get Thomas Paine, who is the least religious Founding Father, saying you’ve got to teach Creation science in the classroom. Scientific method demands that!"
Yes! A full 70 years before the publication of On the Origin of Species and 40 years before Darwin sailed on the HMS Beagle, the Founders rejected evolution. Even the Lamarackian Evolutionary Theory wasn't published until 1809, the year Thomas Paine died and Charles Darwin was born. I could be charitable and say perhaps Barton wants to claim the Founders were knowledgable of the Taxonomical classifications of Carl Linnaeus, but, that's not what Barton means because David Barton is liar for christ.
As for Greenwood's statements about god and the currency and the Pledge, well, the blight of the Dominionist liars for christ strikes again.
Written in 1892, the original pledge is I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Hmmmm, looking for god in there... In fact, god wasn't added until 1954.
Paper Currency did not have In god We Trust, until 1957.
Greenwood is a classic Republican, he reimagines American history to fit his blinkered Right-Wing fantasies, he's been married 4 times, and while he talks tough and proud about the American military he dodged the service and Vietnam.
But, hey conservatism isn't concerned with truth but, with a continuously bizarre parade of performance art designed to rouse the limbic systems of the faithful.
11 comments:
You're right, Gene, he is a classic Republican: There's an absolute truth to be known about America, and you don't know it, but they do. This is what the Founding Fathers called the "Lee Greenwood knows all sortsa shit" doctrine, and they framed it front and center in their greatest creation, The Bible. Now get off Ronaldus Magnus' lawn, fleabag hippie.
Classic. That demented Barton quote just smelled too fishy to me, but no, he really said it. Ugh!
As for the Pledge, I'm amazed that conservatives will recite socialist propaganda like that.
Toma,
What the far right seeks in a evangelical theocracy in American.
I am sayin, "One Party, One People,
One religion. We heard something similar to that back in the 1930s
from a man named Adolf Hitler - Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Deuschland". I don't have a problem with God or Jesus - It is their fucking fan club that I can't stand. How dare anyone attempt to tell We The People how to live or what to believe. "Well, we know what is bests"...
You thmpers are all over gay marriage - You don't approve of gay marriage; don't marry a faggot.
You are against porn; don't read porn. You hate women; beat your meat cause you ain't gettin laid.
Oh, and Saint Santorum has decreed that you cannot wear the color pink. So toss those panties...
Sarge
The ancient Greeks discussed evolution, so called, and it had been debated throughout history. It didn't start with Darwin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_evolutionary_thought
"In God We Trust" has been stamped on some US coins since the middle 1800's.
As for the rest of it, it's your opinion and you're entitled to it...
Oh come on Silverfiddle! Barton was referring to the creationism versus evolution debate as we know it today (man evolved from the primate). The founding fathers did not already have THAT whole debate. I'm with Grung_e_Gene in declaring Barton a liar and conservative Christians ignorant.
Silverfiddle, the Greeks also discussed Atomic Theory, would you say if the Founders rejected the Greek Model of the Atom it thus disproves Little Boy and Fat Man?
Right-Wingers are quite specious in their biblical and Founding Father arguments.
The Constitution establishes the Post Office, Article I, Section 8, Clause 7, the Postal Clause, "To establish Post Offices and post Roads".
Yet, the Republicans are rapidly dismantling the Post Office and destroying good American jobs, especially for Veterans by trying to privatize the profitable aspects of the Post Office.
But, since all these things went down in the 1950's under Ike, in exchange for keeping the god on money and in the Pledge let's also go back to Ike's Tax Rates and Policy.
All this is well and good but who doesn't get a tingle when God Bless the USA is playing.
Other than commies that is.
Truth 101,
Overt, over-the-top displays of piety, like patriotism , strike me as the person is attempting to compensate for some real or perceived deficiency.
It's akin to when Ted Haggard, or Larry Craig or Marcus Bachmann declaring themselves super-duper, totally not gay heterosexuals.
Lee Greenwood is compensating for his chicken hawk past with his songs...
Now, those that like them probably are not and those that don't like his songs are probably kenyan marxist nazi socialist secular progressive atheist anarchist occupiers...
God how I wish someone would do a song about Keynesian marxist socialist pinko secular atheists Gene.
Now that would really make me tingle.
@ Truth 101 : I am with you man !! Too much sheeple here,and when I read other comments here,I am thinking on an other song :Run Like Hell( Pink Floyd) Decent people will better do this when this zombienation is coming up in the states.And no,I'm NOT American
Too bad Maria. We could use Americans like you.
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