Posted on 08/17/2005 1:57:37 AM PDT by smoothsailing
Family has lived with street name long enough
By KERRY DOUGHERTY, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 16, 2005
Naming a public place after a famous, living person is fraught with peril.
After all, a celebrity's ability to make mischief doesn't die until he does.
Take Mick Jagger for instance.
He may look like a fossil, but the old boy can still rock. And outrage.
The Stones' latest CD won't be out until September , yet it's already making headlines. One cut in particular, "Sweet Neo Con," has Bush supporters steamed.
Some call it "profane." Others say it's "anti-American." Here, you be the judge:
You call yourself a Christian
I call you a hypocrite.
You call yourself a patriot
Well, I think you're full of
Ooops. Enough of that. Clearly this isn't a song that will be played on the floor of the next Republican convention.
Those of us who don't like the Stones won't buy the CD. Or tickets to see the ancients when they play Charlottesville in October.
Avoiding Mick Jagger is easy for you and me.
It's not so easy for French and Inna Mackes.
Stop for a second and ask what you'd do if you were offended by the latest Mick Jagger song and yet you lived on Jagger Court in the Kempsville section of Virginia Beach.
Move?
Maybe. But the water views from the Mackeses' back yard are splendid. Plus, they just bought the house next door as an investment. On top of that, the cul-de-sac is kid-friendly and they have three children.
Ironically, French Mackes was once a Stones fan. He even saw them in concert in the early 1980s. And when he bought his house three years ago, French said he found the neighborhood street names humorous. There's Joplin Lane, Hendrix Drive and Guthrie Street. Woody and Arlo each have their own court.
Mackes is no longer amused. "I'm a big supporter of the military," he said. "My wife, Inna, and I are offended by Mick Jagger's new anti-American song during this time of war."
Because of that song, Mackes no longer wants to share every envelope he receives with Jagger. Nor does he want to see that street sign after a long day at work. He wants a new moniker.
Last Thursday, the Mackeses were minding their own business and watching the evening news in their living room on Jagger Court. When they saw a story about the controversial "Sweet Neo Con" song, they decided they'd lived with Mick Jagger long enough.
By the next night, the systems analyst had fired off letters to City Council members asking them to redub his street "Pat Tillman Avenue" in memory of the Arizona Cardinals football player who volunteered for the Army Rangers and was killed in Afghanistan in April 2004. Mackes put a Ronald Reagan stamp on each letter and dropped them in the mail.
He didn't stop there. He also wrote a letter to the editor and e-mailed members of the media.
When I talked to him Monday, Mackes said that if the council moved quickly to rename the court to honor a fallen U.S. soldier, it might send a message to the BRAC Commission that this was a town that would rather honor the U.S. military than British rockers.
Before we hung up the phone, I simply had to ask French Mackes about another name.
His.
After all, it wasn't so long ago many red-blooded Americans were ridding themselves of all things French.
Did he ever think of changing that one?
"Nah, I never did," Mackes said, laughing , noting that he was named for his father. "It's funny, but when my son was born four years ago, we at first planned to name him French D. Mackes III.
"Then I thought about France's policies and decided against it."
French Mackes of Jagger Court. A man who knows a thing or two about names.
© 2005 HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com
Old Grampa Mick reduced to singing folksongs of protest. How totally passe. I envision a block of about five thousand fans at his first concert suddenly producing American Flags and chanting USA!, USA! until they drive the old fool off the stage.
FYI Mick, Neo-Con is just liberal for Jew or Jew-lover. Just another Euro Anti-Semite, Oy.
Are you serious? Can you elaborate?
Mick is not anti-American, anti-Bush, anti-Blair, or anything of the sort. They wrote a song, that's all.
Right, with the proper equipment
When is the stones concert in Charlottesville? Sounds like a good place for a big FREEP......
Have you read the lyrics? I think fat Linda Ronstadt collaborated.
Sure. Just read this garbage.
http://www.middleeast.org/launch/redirect.cgi?num=308&a=38
or do a yahoo search for "jewish neocons".
Wow----It's amazing they keep track of something like that!!
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