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Man, I'm as Conservative as they come, so I hear where you're comin' from, and I agree that Lindh should rot in Hell for betraying his country.

But cut Earle a little slack. He's always been one to embrace the anti-hero, and he's right -- the way Lindh arrived at Islam is a uniquely American path of leftist rebellion. Pick the most far-flung thing from the mainstream and embrace it with all your might, eh?

Earle has penned some GREAT tunes. I love the lyrics to "Copperhead Road"...

Well my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only came to town about twice a year
He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad
He headed up the holler with everything he had
It's before my time but I've been told
He never came back from Copperhead Road

Now Daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge
Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound
Well the sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road

I volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first,'round here anyway
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
And I came home with a brand new plan
I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico
I plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
Well the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
I learned a thing or two from ol' Charlie don't you know
You better stay away from Copperhead Road...

Another one I always liked:


I'm an American, boys, and I've come a long way
I was born and bred in the USA
So listen up close, I've get something to say
Boys, I'm buying this round
Well it took a little while but we're in this fight
And we ain't going home 'til we've done what's right
We're gonna drink Camden Town dry tonight
If I have to spend my last pound

When I first got to London it was pourin' down rain
Met a little girl in the field canteen
Painted her name on the nose of my plane
Six more missions I'm gone
Well I asked if I could stay and she said that I might
Then the warden came around yelling turn out the lights
Death rainin' out of the London night
We made love 'til dawn

But when Johnny Come Lately comes marching home
With a chest full of medals and a G.I. loan
They'll be waitin' at the station down in San Antone
When Johnny comes marching home

My P-47 is a pretty good ship
And she took a round coming cross the Channel last trip
I was thinking 'bout my baby and letting her rip
Always got me through so far
Well they can ship me all over this great big world
But I'll never find nothing like my North End girl
I'm taking her home whh me one day, sir
Soon as we win this war

Now my granddaddy sang me this song
Told me about London when the Blitz was on
How he married Grandma and brought her back home
A hero throughout his land
Now I'm standing on a runway in San Diego
A couple Purple Hearts so I move a little slow
There's nobody here, maybe nobody knows
About a place called Vietnam

I don't particularly care what he has written. When he wrote a song defending a traitor, he lost any respect I would have had. I guess it would have been too corny to write a song about those who died on 9-11. After all, there is nothing anti-heroic and wonderfully rebellious in that, is there? It is only people who will never see their loved ones again. No biggy. But, let us celebrate some worthless kid who turns his back on his country. If you think that Lindh made some principled decision and should be respected for what he believes in, and that this guy should be respected for writing a song glorifying that, then you are as full of crap as Earle.

"Pick the most far-flung thing from the mainstream and embrace it with all your might, eh?"

Your description would be more appropriate of an individuals journey to becoming a christian conservative. Is there anything more rebellious than becoming a true christian conservative?

Earle, like many similiar Hollywood "rebels", smack of fake rebelliousness. It took more courage for Toby Keith to record his Courtesy of the Red White & Blue, than Earle to record his pap.