The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Rolling Stone Has Become the SPLC?

Posted on | November 4, 2023 | Comments Off on Rolling Stone Has Become the SPLC?

One sentence in this Rolling Stone article caught my attention:

Dolly Parton knows Kid Rock can be, uh, polarizing but she decided to release “Either Or,” her duet with the Bud Light-blasting personality anyway. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Country Music (and Rock & Roll) Hall of Fame member said she could accept Kid Rock for who he is. The recording will feature on her upcoming Rockstar album.
“Of course I did that before the controversy that he had, but somebody was talking to me the other day, ‘How could you do this [song] with Kid?’” she said. “I said, ‘Hey, just because I love you don’t mean I don’t love Kid Rock. Just because I love Kid Rock don’t mean I don’t love you.’ I don’t condemn or criticize. I just accept and love.” (Note: It’s unclear which controversy Parton was referring to when she said she recorded it “before the controversy,” since Billboard has a timeline of Rock gaffes that goes back to 2004.)

(Hat-tip: Instapundit.) If you tune into tonight’s episode of The Other Podcast (7 p.m. ET), you’ll probably hear my friend John Hoge, who used to be a recording engineer in Nashville, share some Dolly Parton anecdotes which (as usual with John’s anecdotes) won’t have anything to do with the point I’m trying to make, which is that many journalists nowadays seem to think it’s their job to act like Grand Inquisitors pursuing heretics. Like the Southern Poverty Law Center, they compile dossiers on people who’ve somehow strayed into Wrongthink, so that they can expose these Thought Criminals and destroy their careers.

Let’s be clear about what the glib phrase “cancel culture” actually means: The Left wants to prevent anyone who disagrees with them from earning a living in any occupation that has cultural or political influence. If you look at the climate on university campuses, you see what we’re facing if this neo-Stalinist project succeeds. “Cancel culture” is a very serious thing, and its methods are being enthusiastically embraced by journalists like this Rolling Stone writer who gleefully exults, “A-ha! We have here a list of every ‘gaffe’ that Kid Rock ever made!” To wit:

May 2011: Defends Use of Confederate Flag
Rock was slammed for his notorious use of the Confederate flag onstage and accused of racism by protesters, which he defended was an act of homage to his idols Lynyrd Skynyrd. “I’ve never flown that flag with any hate in my heart. Not one ounce,” Rock said after receiving an award from the NAACP’s Detroit chapter for his work in the community. “I love America. I love Detroit, and I love Black people.”

Love that adjective “notorious.” Some first-class objectivity there. It would be both unnecessary and tedious for me to recount here what I’ve explained before that, in the 1970s, when Lynyrd Skynyrd toured the world with a giant Confederate battle flag as their stage backdrop, the flag was seen as signifying a regional identity, not a symbol of racist belief.

Jimmy Carter was president, OK? He was the first president from the Deep South elected in a long, long time, and expressions of Southern pride were not remotely controversial in the 1970s, when the whole family tuned into CBS on Friday night to watch The Dukes of Hazzard, with Bo and Luke Duke riding in the General Lee.

Maybe it was Daisy Duke that most of us tuned in for, but the point is, nobody in 1979 was looking at that and yelling, “White supremacy!”

Is it surprising that Kid Rock, who was 7 years old when The Dukes of Hazzard began its seven-season run on CBS, should think the Confederate flag is cool? He grew up in the Detroit suburbs of Macomb County, Michigan, and nobody ever accused him of racism — “RAAAAACISM!” — until he openly supported the Republican Party.

But sure, anyone associated with that flag is a racist.

Oh, y’all expected us to forget that one, did you? In their attempt to turn America into a one-party totalitarian dictatorship, Democrats emulate Stalin in their efforts to re-write history and erase any “problematic” issues from the past that might impede their ambitions. But while we’re expected to forget anything that reflects unfavorably on the Democratic Party, liberal journalists emulate the SPLC in compiling dossiers on their chosen enemies, chronicling every “gaffe” and controversy that might aid their character assassination campaigns.

Dolly Parton wants no part of this vindictive agenda:

Speaking of God, Parton invoked her faith in the interview as the reason why she doesn’t like cancel culture. “I think that’s terrible,” she said of cancel culture. “We all make mistakes. We don’t all get caught at it. But also when somebody makes a mistake, it depends on who they are. That’s what God is there for.
“Now I happen to believe in God; I’m a faith-based person, so therefore I am able to see it like that,” she said. “A lot of people don’t, but even still, everybody deserves a second chance. You deserve to be innocent until you’re proven guilty. Even when you’re proven guilty, if God can forgive you, so can I. If God can forgive you, we all should forgive one another.”

Amen, sister! And speaking of forgiveness, forgive me for reminding you of the Five Most Important Words in the English Language:

HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR!



 

Category: Music, Racism

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