George W Bush: Punk icon?

This article is loaded with inacuracies and incomplete information.

I'll try to take care of a few of them before posting this article (It's raining outside and I don't want to lose my post because of a power outage...)

Michale Graves is the Bush-friendly face of punk rock. He is the front man for the band Gotham Road

Michale Graves was also lead singer of the band The Misfits from 1995-2000. More people are probably familiar with that band.

Gotham Road is one a roster of bands who are anti-anti-establishment - though they represent a small percentage of the punk scene. They are not raging against the machine - they are raging for it.

Liberal Political Correctness IS THE NEW ESTABLISHMENT. It was in the 1970s when Leggs McNeil created a magazine named Punk (which became the defacto name of a genre of rock music). Hippies were still around as was liberalism. The punks saw through the liberal hypocrisy (read Leggs' oral history of punk called Please Kill Me). Even the MC5 (who, along with the Velvet Underground, were one of the first punk rock bands as opposed to 60s garage punk bands) talked a game of PC politics but didn't walk the walk.

"Is there a better man for the job? There definitely might be, but from the candidates that we have to choose from in America right now, there's no better man than George Bush."

At least someone gets it.

"I don't find anything punk about promoting higher taxes and more handouts to people," Rizzuto says. "I would see the conservative viewpoint as being more punk than a liberal one, because a conservative viewpoint places a lot of emphasis on personal responsibility."

D.I.Y. is punk's anthem. DO IT YOURSELF. How does sucking on the national dole/social net teat promote that? Even Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols railed against it.

When Punk Rock emerged in the 1970s, it identified with youthful rage and rebellion. It was an anti-establishment subculture whose politics often tended to the left. The Sex Pistols embraced nihilism and anarchy, whilst bands like The Clash espoused leftist views.

Bollocks. Literally.

FYI, punk was WELL underway before the Sex Pistols and the Clash were ever formed. Punk Magazine began its' publication January 1st 1976, it was formed in response to a growing scene in New York. The Ramones played (along with the Stranglers and the Damned) at a July 4, 1976 concert in England. In the audience where future members of the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and other bands (Billy Idol's Generation X?). The left has tried to co-opt punk the way they co-opted rock and roll after rock and roll ghettoed folk music. As Lester Bangs says, rock and roll is the genuine folk music.

Johnny Rotten wrote the lyrics for the Sex Pistols' songs so we can ignore any political statements from manager Malcolm McClaren (who took the New York Dolls out of dresses and put them in red uniforms in front of a communist flag for the Florida gigs he had the band play when he managed them before returning to England to form the Sex Pistols). John Lydon (aka Rotten) has written an autobiography, it is a good read. I don't want to misinterpret or misreport what he says so I will speak in general terms. He did not advocate genuine anarchy. It was a cheap rhyme. He even says these days he doesn't even entirely oppose the royals (nor disco). Bodies is a song about abortion but when asked he says it is neither pro- nor anti-abortion (although the lyrics strike many on the right and left of being against abortion). John was a school teacher (art) before he was a singer. He's smarter than some critics give him credit for. He lives in the US these days. He's not a Republican. He's not a Democrat either. He may be more along the lines of a libertarian (little l) but he's probably not one to admit it.

In Lester Bangs' Psychotic Reaction & Carborator Dung there is a lengthy piece on The Clash. John Lydon slagged the Clash for rehashing Marxists claptrap. The British fans interviewed in Lester Bangs' article on the band(circa 1978) were ignorant of any political message in the songs; they said they liked to dance to them. Even Mick Jones didn't care to discuss the politics of the songs (at the time).

Around 200 liberal and left-leaning bands, including crossover groups like Green Day and Foo Fighters, have teamed up under the banner of punkvoter.com with the goal of ousting President Bush in the November election.

This is the real reason there has been an explosion of conservative punk websites online. All are genuine. They exist to counteract the mistaken interpretation by today's suburban MTV punks that to be punk means to be a far leftist.

I'll continue this discussion below.

ping.

At the heart of this activism is voter registration. "One of the messages we're trying to get to people is please go out and vote against George Bush," says Justin Sane, the lead singer of a group called Anti-Flag. "But also we're trying to say to people, it's important to be involved in politics so you know what's going on, or one day you might wake up and realise that it affects you."

BS. They only want Democrat voters. Get Bush out of office, yadda yadda.

They want conservatives to register to vote like they wanted to include the absentee military ballots in the Florida vote totals (to make sure that NO voters were disenfranchised).

I may have been born in the morning but it wasn't yesterday morning.

Some critics see the emergence of conservative punk as a symptom of just how polarised the US has become in this election year.

It's only polarizing because the conservatives finally have a voice. The silent majority is silent no more. 8 years of Bill Clinton, even more of liberal political correctness, an attempted theft of the 2000 election, the 9.11.2001 attack, the blatant media bias all contribute to an energized activism. We still don't riot in the streets the way liberals do, we love America and generally respect law enforcement too much for that.

Read my profile page for my response (created this week) to the garbage the left has been pumping. I've been here for several years but this is the first time I've had a "profile".

"This country is as politically attuned as it has ever been," says Anthony DeCurtis, a rock critic for Rolling Stone Magazine. "Often there's a kind of wilful lack of awareness about political issues in the United States - a sense of 'What difference does it make?' "But that attitude does not really seem to be applying right now and punk rock is reflecting that."
There is little precedent in the US for Republican punk rock, though there are some exceptions.

Rolling Stone Magazine is the house organ of DNC supporter Jann Werner. He bailed out Salon this Winter so that they could circumvent Campaign Finance Reform laws by calling campaign ads "news".

Here is the obligatory Salon Stock Deathwatch:

Last Trade: 0.12 Trade Time: May 13
Day's Range: 0.12 - 0.14 52wk Range: 0.02 - 0.40

I won't accept political analysis about what types of people listen to what kinds of music from this magazine. Britney and boy bands are on the cover regularly. The magazine is out of touch on music Mojo Magazine is far better (although it has dropped in quality in the last year). I don't count on them being any more in touch on politics, let alone the culture war.

I was never a fan of punk when I was in high school, being a huge metal guy back in the 80's. But I did notice that when it came to the politics of the time, it always seemed that the metal and punk people I knew were big supporters of Reagan and his standing up to the evil empire. It was the limp-wristed pop fans who were pro-communist, pro-left. I'm glad to see that punks today are standing up once again against the leftist MTV co-op machine.

Johnny Ramone, the guitarist for The Ramones, has fiercely supported the Republican Party for years. When the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, Johnny took to the microphone to offer his thanks, saying "God Bless President Bush, and God Bless America."
For many the idea of George W Bush being supported by punk rockers is a contradiction in terms. But for others, there is something about this phenomenon that makes a perverse kind of sense because of the Bush administration's hawkish posture.

Johnny didn't support President Bush in his Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction speech because he has a "hawkish posture". He supported the President of the United States because he has a tough job and these are very tough times. It's the right thing to do.

Here's Johnny list of his 10 favorite conservatives (possibly outdated but still online at the RAMONES official website:

Ronald Reagan
Richard Nixon
Charlton Heston
Vincent Gallo
Ted Nugent
Rush Limbaugh
Sean Hannity
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Bob Barr
Tom Delay

Johnny has been a conservative. He even convinced Joey Ramone to vote for Ronald Reagan (twice?). This is why Joey felt betrayed about President Reagan when he visited the cemetary in Germany ("Joey" is Jewish).

Dee Dee grumbled about Johnny but he also was man enough to admit that Johnny had a tough job trying to keep the band in line and get them to places on time. While Dee Dee wanted his drugs he also didn't like his addiction to heroin and struggled to keep clean (he'd still smoke pot). If he had gotten the drug laws eliminated he would have been dead a lot sooner. I've read 2 of Dee Dee's autobiographical books (the second was compiled from his journals up to the time he died). In his second book (which includes some references to 9.11.2001) he has no love for Europe and the antiAmericanism he encountered there in the 1990s, pre-George W. Bush Iraq War..., (here he was in a legendary founding punk band and he still wasn't treated with respect by young punks). He was born in Germany and grew up there but on his final return he did not feel there was anything to return to (although he liked some of the hillside, he hated the people). Dee Dee may not have been a conservative at the end of his life but again he could hardly be called a liberal or a Democrat. C.J. Ramone is a little on the left politically although I have not spoken with him in years (he was the accessible member when the band would tour). C.J. worked at the WTC cleanup site and does some admirable things.

I see you feel strongly about all this. And it looks like I got some new bands to listen to.

Cross-referenced list of conservative punk websites (some sites may contain adult language but then you are probably of voting age anyway...):

Punk Voter Lies
http://www.punkvoterlies.blogspot.com/

Liberty Punk
http://libertypunk.blogspot.com/

Anti-Anti-Flag.com
http://www.anti-anti-flag.com/index.php

GOPunk.com
http://www.gopunk.com/

Dr. Balls Underground Review
http://drballs.blogspot.com/

PopShot.net (politics subsection)
http://www.popshot.net/features/cat_politics.html

"...it is hard to read the philosophy of communism because it’s so wrong-headed – once you’ve got individualism, its opposite doesn’t make any sense."

thanks.

I, too, know plenty of conservative punks. The kids who pay attention to world events tend Republican (as in life). When a punk singer says God Bless the soldiers, it's not irony... like in rock or pop or hiphop or... actually country and punk are about it, only they that have the guts to buck the dominant Blame America culture.

I don't like to see this largely apolitical music co-opted by the dictatorial extremists at media sites like this one:

AK Press

They embrace anarchist-socialism. Revisionist history is ugly and a lie. I believe in truth.

To tell kids that it is "uncool" to be a conservative is to tell them to conform. How anti-establishment is that?

They shouldn't just question authority. They should question the Pied Piper who tells them to question authority.

Here are some samples from the Punk Rock category:

RazorcakeMuch more than just a punk zine. Considerably more than just a music zine. Razorcake tackles both of those, plus a hefty slice of (left wing, of course) politics, and a healthy dose of life for us ordinary folks.

It's All Lies: Leaflets, Underground Press and Posters - The Fusion of Resistance and Creativity in Israel An overwhelming collection of flyers/posters/protest art and graphics from the Israeli radical movements of the past 30 odd years. The editors have managed to reproduce (on fancy slick paper) hundreds of pieces of propaganda translated in both Hebrew and English in one oversized left-bound volume. Bigger, better, and more diverse than either Flyposter Frenzy or BAMN, this book celebrates resistance to the apartheid state of Israel and shows that within its borders there are caring, thinking, questioning individuals who are ignored in the West's Pro-Ariel Sharon media. These are the notes and protests of the Israeli John Browns. As timely , informative, and important as a book can be. Comes with a multimedia CD containg 30 Israeli punk bands, the book as a PDF, and a film. "A very impressive work. Belongs right there with achievements of anarchist and enlightenment over many years." [Noam Chomsky]

Sons Of Spartacus - ANGELIC UPSTARTS The grandfathers of left-wing 'street-punk' and Oi! are back, with a brand new record, recorded in 2002. Mensi and the boys (well, middle-aged men, it has to be said) rock through 15 new anthems, which could've as easily been lifted from "2,000,000 Voices". Yup, its that good, and just as vital.

The Hardcore/Punk Guide To Christianity A detailed, critical, and often very witty examination of Christianity and its teachings, and why they have no place within the punk scene. A timely exposition. The omission really being that the author forgot to add that, simply put, God doesn't rock. "This essay is for everybody within the hc/punk scene, Christians and nonChristians alike, but it was primarily written for the nonChristians who think that it's OK for Christians to proselytize in hc/punk."

Wipe Away My Eyes: A History - Underground Culture And Politics, 1979-1999 In the true traditions of the zine culture, comes this mammoth attempt to document (in, of course, a very singular and personal way) the underground scene of the 80s and 90s. And what a magnificent job it is. Articles, essays, rants, woodcuts, cut-ups, all built around dozens of interviews with the likes of Dan Sinker, Gabe Zeck, Guy Piccioto, Ian Mackaye, Jane Graham, John Marr, Larry-Bob Roberts, Mimi Nguyen, Paul Lukas and dozens more, present an incredible snapshot of, and incision into, the do-it-yourself radical culture, social movements and communities. Oversize, 250 pages, and a bargain at twice the price.

Peops: Portraits And StoriesPeops visually and verbally documents the artists, activists, writers, anarchists and musicians Fly met during a nationwide tour with her band, God Is My Co-Pilot. The result is a memorable gallery of all manner of characters eking out an existence, and occasionally finding joy, on the edges of modern capitalist culture. 100 color and black and white illustrations, with a foreword by Trina Robbins, and an introduction from Seth Tobocman. Lots of the folks drawn (and their stories) are familiar - Sue Coe, Eric Drooker, Peter Bagge, Michelle Tea, Lynnee Breedlove, Aaron Cometbus, Peter Kuper, Michael Albert - lots aren't. All are engaging, and - of course - beautifully sketched.

Tales Of A Punk Rock NothingA work of genius. Or at least, a highly inventive, authentic, and thoroughly entertaining 'novel' following the travails and adventures of a young modern punk rocker - as seen through his diary entries, letters, fanzines, flyers and associated detritus. Being in a band, doing a zine, the allure of DC, Food Not Bombs and political activism - it's all here.

I, Sh*thead: A Life In Punk Without a doubt, certain bands are pivotal - essential - to the history of punk, and hardcore. Dead Kennedys. Black Flag. Bad Brains. Minor Threat. And, of course, Canada's DOA. Joey 'Sh*thead' Keithley formed DOA in 1978, and its not hyperbole to claim that their first two LPs - 'Something Better Change' and 'Hardcore '81' , together with their trailblazing (international) touring , helped define,and set the standard, and sound, of punk. Not only are DOA still doing it 25 years later, but better yet, Mr Sh*thead is an incredibly articulate, generous, witty raconteur, possessed with incredible powers of recall. This is 'Get In The Van' , 'Banned In DC' and 'Philosophy Of Punk' jammed into one hefty action-packed volume. Illustrated throughout, of course, with dozens of photos, flyers, and record sleeves, Joey takes us through the first 10 years of punk in North America, and the world. The joys and disasters of touring, recording, rioting, doing it yourself, creating a scene, a movement, and changing the world. An engrossing, illuminating, inspiring hellride on the crazy train of punk rock and political activism. If you don't believe me, just check out Jack Rabid's introduction.

Don't believe the hype. West Coast hardcore has more in common with industrial music than with "punk". If they clock "10 years" of punk any later than 1979 then Iggy and the Stooges are going to be offended. What a joke.

Pretty In Punk: Girls' Gender Resistance In A Boys' Subculture A superb subcultural investigation - from a punk author - which manages to weave personal narrative, interviews and history with critical theory and analysis. This is about women in punk. From a female perspective. What attracts girls to male-dominated youth subcultures like punk? What role does the subculture play in their perceptions of themselves, and in their self-esteem? How do girls reconcile a subcultural identity that is deliberately coded 'masculine' with the demands of 'femininity'? From the origins of punk, to why girls decide to go punk, to patterns of resistance to gender norms and the tactics girls use to deal with violence and harassment, this is a great book.

If they don't devote at least a chapter to Poison Ivy of the Cramps, then they have totally missed one of punk's (real PUNK) first lady's.

American Heretics: Rebel Voices In Music A collection of rather excellent lengthy, in-depth interviews with Ian Mackaye, Henry Rollins, Fat Mike, Jello Biafra, Rage Against The Machine, Chuck D, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Case Chaos of Amen, and At The Drive In. All of them are very articulate. Most are pretty smart too!

The Anarchist And The Devil Do Cabaret: Using Theatre, Music And Comedy For Radical Social Change An incredible collection of writings from the indefatigable anarchist racontour, sex(ism) workshop producer, activist and poet. Loosely based around a European tour with his anarchist cabaret band - Rhythm Activism - this is much more than a collection of journals. Though it is partly that. With wit, candor,and the skill of a true storyteller, Nawrocki weaves simple tales of life, history, travel, resistance and revolution into a coherent tapestry of a life on the road, a life of revolt, and a life steeped in history, tradition, and culture. Truly wonderful.

The Philosophy Of Punk: More Than Noise, 2nd edition This is the first book to give an inside look at the thriving subculture as an important present day movement and a way of life. Covering such topics as skinheads, fanzines, anarchism, homosexuality and, of course, punk rock! Includes over 70 photos, new layout, graphics and text.

Gag.

Rock, You Sucker - POLITICAL ASYLUM A greatest hits (did they have any hits!?) collection of the almost legendary Scottish anarcho-punk/rock/folk band. 21 tracks culled from all of their various vinyl and demo releases. The devilishly handsome and fiendishly intelligent singer/songwriter is a founding member of AK Press, so if you don't purchase this in massive quantities, it'll destroy his already fragile artistic ego. Its actually pretty good. Imagine Rush and Husker Du fighting it out with the Mob and Zounds.

The Diamond Signature The Diamond Signature is what Penny Rimbaud considers his most important work. It formed the basis for the band CRASS, who literally revolutionized both punk rock and politics in a blistering seven year career, which found them reviled by the mainstream, and revered by hundreds of thousands in the underground they helped to create. "An emor-mous-ly ambitious and sonorous work of the eye-magination."--Lawrence Ferlinghetti

The People's Papers Project, Volume One Two twenty something punker activist writer types present their American Studies master's these in a zine format. Alabama grrl zine writer, Ailecia Ruscin weights in with "A Quest For A White, Southern, Female, Antiracist Subjectivity: The Contradictory Positions Of Southern White Women In The Civil Rights Movement", while Clamor co-editor Jason Kucsma gives us his "Resist And Exist: Punk Zines And The Communication Of Cultural And Political Resistance In America." Both are decent writers, manage not to sound too ridiculously academic, and serve up some thought-provoking, and engaging stuff.

Jerusalem Calling: A Homeless Conscience in a Post-Everything World Israeli by birth, American by association and homeless by conscience, Shalit is uniquely qualified to blast all stereotypes of Jewish identity. Punk, the religious right & Middle Eastern politics are all subjected to his biting humor and philosophical analysis. Can there be a secular non-Zionist Israel? And did Nirvana sell out? Part travelogue, part political and cultural analysis, part rollicking good read. An editor of Punk Planet and Bad Subjects.

Yours For The Revolution Young anarcho-punkers Penelope and Eugene hit the road. Along the way, the encounter an extraordinary woman named Liberty who invites them to become part of a movement dedicated to organizing workers, and changing society for the better. The State, however, has other ideas, and attempts to frame them in Philadelphia for assassinating the mayor, and boming City Hall. A coming of age story melded in the Crimethinc tradition, and set in the very near future. Edited by the author of Evasion, this is the first in a two art adventure novel.

Soy, Not Oi! An authorized reprint of the classic vegan cookbook. Over 100 recipes designed to destroy the government, complete with musical notes to accompany the chef. A sure-fire winner for every revolutionary palate.

No more Red Dupes.

and one to grow on... This one title more than any other explains the unifying PC mindset at AK Press:

The Sexual Politics Of Meat The groundbreaking work that introduced the idea that the eating of meat and the oppression of women are intimately connected. Welcome to a feminist ethics of vegetarianism.

Note: they slight this same author on another her books with this bigoted comment: "If you can get past the odd lapse into God, this is essential, and provocative reading."

Rock and Roll / Punk Rock PING!

I invite you to offer any fact checking corrections to my rebuttal (try not to be too harsh). I'm putting the link to this one on my profile page...

Well, back in my day (let me light up my pipe and tip back my rocking chair) punk was a purely leftist, hate Reagan deal. There were some rare conservatives in the movement but most of the kids were probably apolitical and just liked the music. I laugh at the all the "hip" musicians who go on about how much they hate George Bush (Pearl Jam, Ani Difranco, and even Morrissey has some anti-Bush stuff on his new CD) because it reminds me of how you had to hate Reagan to be a punk in the 80's. Every band had their Reagan song, everyone incorporated some anti-Reagan element. The new musicians are just as dopey as we were then, worse even. To show your hipness quotient you have to go on about how you hate the president. It's really pathetic, not to mention pathetically unoriginal and boring.

punk goes way back before then. like early to mid sixties
i have over 3500 albums and specialize in psych and punk from all over the world, and even then political rants leaked into their songs. check out the sonics from seattle area.

p.s. although you were more likely to get a social message as opposed to political.

sadly, that majority must now sacrifice their children until enough blood has been let that maybe -- just maybe -- God and the Iraqi people will forgive us in the end.

I love your home page. Baby-killer supporter, Michael Moore's hypocrisy knows no bounds. He should know about bloodletting.

I'm very aware of the Sonics and some sixties garage punk bands as well as the Elektra Nuggets album. It had liner notes by Lenny Kaye which contained the term "punk" which was seized on by the New York crowd of the early 1970s.

While there was some "Poor boy born in the rubble" tough guy, cops are down on me, type lyrics in the Standells songs, the Standells didn't write their songs, Ed Cobb (of the Four Preps) did.

There was a Rolling Stones, bad boy, stance adopted by a lot of bands in the mid 60s. Genuine political protest came later (and many of the songs from that era are completly devoid of politics, apart from maybe free sex and drugs).

The Monks included a stray comment about Vietnam in the lyrics of Black Monk Time but they were American ex-GIs who only played/recorded in Germany. The comment about his "brother died in Vietnam" is really more symbolic than literal, Gary didn't have a brother who died there.

No when you hear discussion of "punk" to far too many people it started in England in the 1970s or else they are talking about hardcore punk. It's like trying to say that "Heartbreak Hotel" and "In The Year 2525" are both "rock and roll". They may both be "rock" songs but they aren't both "rock and roll". The roll is gone in the hippy tune.

As difficult as it is to find a solid political (and especially leftist, say "Great Society" booster) content in mid-60s songs, it is virtually non-existant in 1950s rock and roll (especially wild rockabilly which is the punk of the 1950s).

brillient analysis and on the spot quick.
i know my obscure groups as well as anyone, i'm impressed.
(how about them plastic bald munks cowels those guys wore.
what a hoot.

Bodies is a song about abortion but when asked he says it is neither pro- nor anti-abortion (although the lyrics strike many on the right and left of being against abortion).

I don't see how anyone can claim it isn't, it's about as blisteringly anti-abortion as anything this side of an Operation Rescue pamphlet. Perhaps he means it wasn't for or against anti-abortion laws.

-Eric

Thank you for going to the trouble to explain this. I am clueless about music of the last 30 years, so I appreciate the detailed information.

Feel free to share examples from your collection, where appropriate. I'm done sounding off about the article, now we can talk about how conservatives can like punk and there be no "hypocrisy".

The Ramones sure liked 60s garage punk (and they covered some songs) as did the Fleshtones, the Cramps, the Dictators (all New York bands pre-1976 even if it took several years to get albums released).

The New York Dolls were an influence on at least some of those bands and apart from that ill advised commie pose that Malcom Mclaren suggested, they were more about costumed dress (as womens) singing rock and roll (old and new).

Maybe the Stooges were political, maybe not.

The Velvet Underground were leftists, Nico later did some material in concerts that seemed too close to celebrating Nazism.

The Monks (covered over decade later by The Fall) weren't leftists in the modern sense either. One of the members (Eddie) even married a girl who escaped from Eastern Europe. They opposed communism.

I'm of the mind that it is against abortion. Everything I've seen from the left hates the song as being anti-abortion. Johnny denies that it leans either way when he was interviewed for the documentary on the making of the Never Mind The Bollocks album (a great documentary on DVD and something that almost make the case for it being a rock and roll album rather than a "punk" album in the modern sense).