You've never met America, and you oughta pray you never do.
June 2, 2016 10:38 PM   Subscribe

Charlie Daniels' latest promotional video for the National Rifle Association contrasts strongly with the more easygoing persona on display when he recorded Uneasy Rider...

While his early work showed some affinity for the counterculture of the day, he's been rather outspoken about his somewhat conservative views for some time now.

Enjoy his "Response to a Non-Existent But Typical Liberal Hate Letter"

Here's The Devil Went Down to Georgia because it would be wrong of me to post about the CDB without linking that and Legend of Wooley Swamp. Predictably his current take on this aesthetic is more fire and brimstone, but decent enough for what it is.

Previously
Previouslyer
posted by Trinity-Gehenna (87 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
We have steel-workers?
posted by mikelieman at 11:20 PM on June 2, 2016 [18 favorites]


And here I thought I was immune to Poe's Law.
posted by lastobelus at 11:33 PM on June 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Everything in that video -- every word he says -- screams "parody!" And yet, by God, it is not a parody. What would have seemed like a lazy crock of pop-country, reality-show stereotypes ten years ago has apparently incised and reified the dividing lines of the American electorate. Maybe that's not actually true -- maybe this is just absurd trolling that will appeal to no more than a fringe of the population. But if it is true, if the identity politics on display here are really digging in that deep... well, I just wish that 'civil discourse' weren't receding into pipe dream status. Then I wonder how much 'civil discourse' has actually occurred over the course of American history.
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 11:46 PM on June 2, 2016 [14 favorites]


This man is unaware of his incompetencies.
posted by an animate objects at 11:49 PM on June 2, 2016 [18 favorites]


Hmm, to this European this feels like out-and-out satire. I'll be a little bit sad if it isn't.
posted by Harald74 at 12:03 AM on June 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


I believe this is the greatest country in the world. The history of the world, to be exact. I really do. I’ve never been to Europe, and I don’t speak any foreign languages. I don’t know anything all about history, I never studied it. I don’t read books. I don’t speak to anyone outside of a very small circle of like-minded friends. And because of that, I am certain that I am right.
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 12:03 AM on June 3, 2016 [25 favorites]


BTW, it seems like a majority of Americans work in retail or in offices, so "real Americans" as per the linked video seems to be a vanishingly small minority.
posted by Harald74 at 12:06 AM on June 3, 2016 [7 favorites]


Hmm, to this European this feels like out-and-out satire.

OK, I'm back from browsing the NRA YouTube channel. It's ALL satire, right? Guys? Guys?
posted by Harald74 at 12:12 AM on June 3, 2016 [11 favorites]


I really just cannot fathom the mindset that thinks this is a good idea. Even if we take as a given the hilariously simplified conception of the Muslim world as basically undifferentiated NPC enemies in a video game, the whole goal of terrorists is, in many ways, to provoke this sort of aggression. Reacting this way is literally letting the terrorists win. They want a fight. Why would you give it to them? I know this dude and everyone like him has seen a kung-fu movie before. Have they learned nothing?
posted by Scattercat at 12:36 AM on June 3, 2016 [11 favorites]


Stephen Colbert tackled this ad the other night..
posted by Paul Slade at 12:51 AM on June 3, 2016 [20 favorites]


Reacting this way is literally letting the terrorists win. They want a fight. Why would you give it to them?

Because the NRA wants the same thing. They want the polarisation of the world, to allow their particular cultural hegemony to flourish. In practical terms their enemy is not "the ayatollahs" but moderate and liberal society. Not letting the terrorists win isn't as important as making sure that other Americans lose.
posted by howfar at 1:17 AM on June 3, 2016 [68 favorites]


Charlie Daniels to Harry Reid "the truth of the matter is that I am more afraid of you and your ilk than I am of the terrorists". Kinda sums it up.
posted by howfar at 1:22 AM on June 3, 2016 [7 favorites]


It's like a beer ad turned up to 11.

Shoulda saved it for the Super Bowl!
posted by madajb at 1:24 AM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm fairly sure Charlie does not surf.
posted by clavdivs at 1:59 AM on June 3, 2016 [14 favorites]


Assholefilter.
posted by acb at 3:18 AM on June 3, 2016


Sadly it's a big number. Pricks.
posted by howfar at 3:18 AM on June 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


BTW, it seems like a majority of Americans work in retail or in offices, so "real Americans" as per the linked video seems to be a vanishingly small minority.
This is intentional.
posted by clorox at 3:20 AM on June 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


Is this some kind of deep cover parody? I was almost believing the NRA video was real, but that "Simple Man" song is too much. "Now I'm the kinda man that'd not harm a mouse" followed by violent fantasies etc. Although I really like the countryside shots in black-and-white in country videos, even if it is a bit of a cliché.
posted by L.P. Hatecraft at 3:30 AM on June 3, 2016


Stephen Colbert tackled this ad the other night..

Absolutely wonderful. "Freedom's safe word is 'pumpkin patch.'"
posted by Guy Smiley at 3:44 AM on June 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


Well, that's sure one badass violinist. The terrorists better pray they never have to defend themselves against his superior fiddlin' skills.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 3:45 AM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


I wonder if Daniels even realizes that the Devil wins in "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:45 AM on June 3, 2016 [12 favorites]


Although I really like the countryside shots in black-and-white in country videos, even if it is a bit of a cliché.

All the white trees make me think it's filmed in infrared. Beautiful shots but a strange choice.
posted by xris at 4:02 AM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


>Non-Existent But Typical

There's no moron like an oxymoron.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 4:10 AM on June 3, 2016 [10 favorites]


It's Archie Bunker, all over again... my Dad loved it because he agreed with Archie, as did most of his Generation, and if you got the joke, it was funny from the other side as well.
posted by MikeWarot at 4:15 AM on June 3, 2016 [4 favorites]


the Devil wins in "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."

wait what
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:16 AM on June 3, 2016 [10 favorites]


dear charlie

1 - the ayatollahs of iran aren't behind the terrorists of today - do try to keep up

2 - i didn't work 16 years in a midwestern factory to have some overfed fiddler in a glorified cowboy suit tell me what a real american is

3 - i'm more likely to get killed by a methed out real american than a terrorist and so are you

4 - ronnie van zant was much more truthful about redneck bar experiences in gimme three steps than you were in uneasy rider

5 - the devil can be very helpful in a musician's career - just ask your buddy ted
posted by pyramid termite at 4:18 AM on June 3, 2016 [56 favorites]


Charlie, Charlie you disappoint me so. Every time you do this you degrade the memories of "Trudy," and what Southern Rock was really about. Skynyrd, the Allmans, and Marshall Tucker were all liberal Carter supporters.
posted by jonmc at 4:33 AM on June 3, 2016 [15 favorites]


Daniels has an estimated net worth of $20 Million. He graduated High School in 1955, and 10 years later was writing songs for Elvis Presley and playing bass for Bob Dylan.

What the ever loving FUCK does Charlie Daniels know about being an average American?!?!?! Factory worker's more "real" than office workers? He wouldn't know the first damn thing about being a factory worker OR an office worker. He's a privileged white guy living the life of a 1%-er.

Fuck you, Mr. Daniels.
posted by Frayed Knot at 5:05 AM on June 3, 2016 [54 favorites]


Wow, he's got clichés all over his clichés.
posted by davebush at 5:09 AM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


ummm, hey Chuck, they sure as hell have met America. All the kids who get suckered in to fighting your Republican limp cock wars in the middle east are from your so-called "heartland". You know, the kids who can't get jobs in the steel mills because it's all imported from China, can't make a living wage on a corporate factory farm and sure as hell can't make a dime with their impressive alligator wresting skills. So why don't you shut your mouth and save these rants for your embarrassed grandchildren at the holiday dinner table.
posted by any major dude at 5:15 AM on June 3, 2016 [10 favorites]


the Devil wins in "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."

wait what
posted by DoctorFedora


Not sure if this is the argument that Faint of Butt would make, but I've always thought that:

1. The devil's fiddle solo is interesting and unconventional, taking fiddle-playing to somewhere new and interesting with great proficiency, while Johnny's is just a lazy jukebox rehashing of the greatest hits of fiddlin'. The devil kicks his ass.

2. On a theological level, the devil definitely tricks him into wallowing in the sin of pride. Johnny's a spiteful dick and a poor winner. The devil's laughing his ass off just after the song ends.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 5:16 AM on June 3, 2016 [40 favorites]


I'm not going to link to "Uneasy Rider '88," which I don't see here so far, but it's probably his most embarrassing song, a gay panic song about beating up people in a gay bar. It's absolutely disgusting.

As a kid, I really liked Charlie Daniels, I was really, really excited to see him at the North Carolina State Fair, and I still enjoy some off the Decade of Hits cassette I had as a kid, but it's been a long time since "Wooley Swamp," and Daniels is basically a caricature of a country singer these days. Even his rhetoric is hideously out of date "Flower Child"? "The Ayatollahs"? I sort of wish I could live in the world he does, where our peacenik president is out there on some Appeasement and Apologies for American Imperialism World Tour, but it's a bad rehash of ideas from the 70s that weren't even true then.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:20 AM on June 3, 2016 [6 favorites]


I haven't listened to Charlie Daniels since 1979 and I won't start now. Besides I thought he was dead.
posted by terrapin at 5:31 AM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


Stephen Colbert tackled this ad the other night..

Ah, Colbert. You still got it...
posted by 1head2arms2legs at 5:41 AM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


We have steel-workers?

Well, we have ex-steel workers, all about the same age as Charlie Daniels. A key age range for subtly racist lunacy.
posted by dis_integration at 5:47 AM on June 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


Almost everyone has a demented uncle just like this. It's an endearing feature of family reunions, but a strange choice to represent a powerful political organization.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:52 AM on June 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


Almost everyone has a demented uncle just like this.

The NRA, Fox, and the Republican Party are pretty much dementia driven at this point.
posted by leotrotsky at 5:57 AM on June 3, 2016 [4 favorites]


Charlie graduated in ' 55? I had no idea he was that old. Maybe this is all dementia.
posted by jonmc at 6:01 AM on June 3, 2016


The generation that realizes 'oh, hey- this shit ain't cool at all' still has to wait until the generation before them dies off.
posted by Mooski at 6:02 AM on June 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


Yet another promotional item that proudly informs the world that there are a number of Americans that eat bullshit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, proudly and patriotically.
posted by juiceCake at 6:04 AM on June 3, 2016 [8 favorites]


the ha-ha funny thing is Obama's predecessor in office and these right-wing yahoos he mobilized into attacking Iraq did more for the Iranians/Shiites, despite putting them on the Axis of Evil list, than any other president I can think of.

'course, said predecessor allegedly wasn't even aware of the Sunni/Shia divide in 2003.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 6:04 AM on June 3, 2016 [5 favorites]




Based on many of the NRA videos I've seen, this one included, the 'terrorists' best way to defeat the NRA is to wait 10-15 years and let the shock troops known as 'Coronary Disease' and 'Diabetes' do the heavy lifting for them.
posted by splen at 6:05 AM on June 3, 2016 [13 favorites]


In keeping with what howfar said, here is Doug Muder's semi-classic Terrorist Strategy 101:
For Questions 1 and 2, assume you are a violent extremist. In other words, there is some issue (it doesn't really matter what) for which you are willing to take up arms and kill people, even innocent people.

Question 1: What is the first and biggest obstacle between you and victory?

If you answered "People on the other side of my issue," go sit in the corner. That answer is completely wrong. If you assume terrorists think that way, everything they do will seem like total insanity.

The first and biggest obstacle to your victory is that the vast majority of the people who sympathize with your issue are not violent extremists. They may agree with you in principle. They may even sound like violent extremists late at night over their beverage of choice. But when the hammer comes down, they won't be there. There are weeds in the garden and final exams coming up and deadlines at the office. Good luck with that car bombing. Call me next time, maybe things will have settled down by then.

Most people, most of the time, just want to get along. They'll accept a little inconvenience, ignore a few insults, and smile at people they hate if it allows them to get on with their lives. Most people on both sides of your issue just wish the issue would go away. If you're not careful, those apathetic majorities will get together and craft a compromise. And where's your revolution then?

So your first goal as a violent extremist is not to kill your enemies, but to radicalize the apathetic majority on your side of the issue. If everyone becomes a violent extremist, then you (as one of the early violent extremists) are a leader of consequence. Conversely, if a reasonable compromise is worked out, you are a nuisance.

Question 2: In radicalizing your sympathizers, who is your best ally?

No points awarded for "the media" or "sympathetic foreign governments". In radicalizing your apathetic sympathizers, you have no better ally than the violent extremists on the other side . Only they can convince your people that compromise is impossible. Only they can raise your countrymen's level of fear and despair to the point that large numbers are willing to take up arms and follow your lead. A few blown up apartment buildings and dead schoolchildren will get you more recruits than the best revolutionary tracts ever written.
posted by rorgy at 6:07 AM on June 3, 2016 [45 favorites]


I am simultaneously laughing and cringing at this video. My 65 year old dad has turned into the target audience of this message. He has a stack of NRA magazines on his coffee table with cartoon caricature of Hillary on the cover. The Fox News watching angry white old people crowd will eat this up with a spoon without a hint of how silly it looks to us here on Metafilter. I can practically hear my dad saying "You're god damn right, Charlie Daniels!"
posted by Fleebnork at 6:14 AM on June 3, 2016 [4 favorites]


The original Uneasy Rider is a really fun song. Too bad he's such a garbage person.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:14 AM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


Based on many of the NRA videos I've seen, this one included, the 'terrorists' best way to defeat the NRA is to wait 10-15 years and let the shock troops known as 'Coronary Disease' and 'Diabetes' do the heavy lifting for them.
Slow down there buddy, do you really mean that?
posted by L.P. Hatecraft at 6:25 AM on June 3, 2016


This is some early season Simpsons level comedy.

"Hi, I'm Charlie Daniels. You might remember me from such NRA promotional videos as ' Guns: Your baby's best friend' and 'Background Checks are for Commies and Homosexuals.'"
posted by bondcliff at 6:31 AM on June 3, 2016 [12 favorites]


Yea, I did have the impression that the CD portion of CDB used to be less crazy-right than they are nowadays but I never had any real basis for that.

It makes me sad to see the 'Long Haired Country Boy' version of him, if that was ever truly relevant, turn into more and more of a caricature of everything that makes the right unpalatable these days.
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:34 AM on June 3, 2016


The real question here is if he can identify a portobello mushroom.

Skynyrd, the Allmans, and Marshall Tucker were all liberal Carter supporters.
"And it's a Saturday Night Special and you know what you can do with it too, yeah!"
Not a song that gets a lot of play around the NRA offices, I imagine.

(The surprisingly petty things that people shot each over last month.)

Well, I still like a lot of your songs, Charlie, and you can't stop me, so there :-p
posted by octobersurprise at 6:35 AM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


I will not hear the words of anyone making a speech or being interviewed while wearing a cowboy hat*.

Likewise, if they're wearing sunglasses**.


---------------------------
*   Exception: They wear a hat because they've lost their hair to chemotherapy.
** Exception: Stevie Wonder.
posted by Herodios at 6:46 AM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


I am tired of people who made things I enjoyed earlier in my life revealing themselves as monsters and retroactively ruining those memories.

At least in this case, other bands have covered Devil Went Down to Georgia so I can always listen to those versions.
posted by emjaybee at 6:54 AM on June 3, 2016


At least in this case, other bands have covered Devil Went Down to Georgia so I can always listen to those versions.

Exhibit A
posted by Twain Device at 7:14 AM on June 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


Well we went down to Georgia, we were looking for some fun
Instead we met the devil with a fiddle and a gun
And he said I'm the baddest fiddler anywhere in the land
And when he proved it to us, well, we let him join the band


-Camper Van Beethoven, 1986
posted by hydrophonic at 7:15 AM on June 3, 2016 [14 favorites]


The generation that realizes 'oh, hey- this shit ain't cool at all' still has to wait until the generation before them dies off.

This never happens. It's a delusion. There's a replacement crop of bigots and sociopaths in every generation.
posted by thelonius at 7:18 AM on June 3, 2016 [28 favorites]


Satan gave me a taco, and it made me really sick
- Beck, 1994
posted by the phlegmatic king at 7:18 AM on June 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


England is a cup of tea
France, a wheel of ripened brie
Greece, a short, squat olive tree
America is a gun.
posted by acb at 7:18 AM on June 3, 2016 [5 favorites]


"weak-kneed, Ivy League friends..."

Fuck you Charlie Daniels. Fuck you up your short-sighted, ignorance-worshiping, xenophobic, cro-magnon, gun-fellating ass. I'm so goddamn tired of stupidity being deified.
posted by prepmonkey at 7:29 AM on June 3, 2016 [14 favorites]


Wow. That's really something. Not just made by one or two guys, either; this is a bunch of people who feel passionately about things.

Hey, funny commenters and despairing readers:

If you've ever analyzed literature, or talked about the implications of a plot development of a piece of pop culture, or felt misunderstood by people in the small town where you grew up: this video is a prime opportunity to understand what's really in the heart of people who are different from you, what motivates them, and what dominates their thoughts. You have skills and insight to offer, and it would be great if some people could try to think about this in a slightly more complex way. This is a kind of key and it could give insights into ways to communicate.
posted by amtho at 7:32 AM on June 3, 2016 [4 favorites]




amtho, I come from "these type of people" basically all there is to understand is that they are afraid. Fear is highly resistant to logic, creates and feeds hate, and I would even say it's somewhat addictive. Fred over at Slacktivist frequently points out that there are lots of people who get angry when you tell them that something they're afraid of is an urban myth. Feeling like you are the underdog hero who is being oppressed or threatened is something lots of people really enjoy. It's also an excuse not to deal with your own issues or shortcomings.

This video is an incoherent rant based on that fear and hatred. It has almost no relation to reality and everything to do with Daniels and his cohort being unwilling to accept the world as it really is.

I do feel compassion for people in that trap, because what a terrible mental place that is to be in; however, this kind of mindset leads to violence, every time. It's not just sad and pitiful, it's dangerous.
posted by emjaybee at 7:55 AM on June 3, 2016 [31 favorites]


Satan wins in the song because as soon as he accepts the bet (fiddle of gold against your soul) he has sold his soul. I doubt Mr. Daniels realizes that.
posted by Billiken at 8:06 AM on June 3, 2016 [4 favorites]


I understand the NRA's place within the US political sphere, but I still find it very odd when they officially present a video with the message - "Hey terrorists, we think our smarty pants president sucks. We can shoot you."
posted by davebush at 8:20 AM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


Also, Charlie, you seem to have forgotten that your old colleague Ronnie Van Zant, wrote 'Saturday Night Special' one of the most damning (and rocking) anti-gun songs ever. So you're kind of pissing on his legacy.
posted by jonmc at 8:22 AM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


this video is a prime opportunity to understand what's really in the heart of people who are different from you, what motivates them, and what dominates their thoughts.

Assumes facts not in evidence. Is it a communiqué from the heart of people different than me? Might it tell me what motivates them and dominates their thoughts or is it an ad packaged and produced to sell resentment? When I analyze a piece of literature, the first thing I ask about the rhetoric is what it's trying to do.

Bit of a shame that there's not more of Terry Morett's American Gun Album online. There's "America Was Born With A Gun In Its Hand" and "Thank You Smith & Wesson" and a few more, but there's no "We're rednecks (and we're gonna keep our guns)" or "Gun Totin' Women," the two best cuts on the record. A record, btw, that was recorded in Hollywood in 1984.

I hear some talk of guns and butter
That's something I can do without
If men are only blood and iron
O Doktor Doktor, what's in my shirt?

posted by octobersurprise at 8:24 AM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Daniels believes absolutely nothing of what he said in the video. He does this stuff for the same reason he does "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" for the ten thousandth time: it's what his audience expects.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:28 AM on June 3, 2016


Around 2003 or so I was attending a work-related trade show in Tennessee. Charlie Daniels was the key entertainment of the night, in a room with several hundred law enforcement and first-responders as the attendees. He started whipping the crowd into a "USA! USA! USA!" frenzy during a lyric about Flight 93 and then proceeded to rant and get the crowd all fired up about 'Merica and freedom and everything else...

It scared the hell out of me. I couldn't wait to get out of that room.

I wish this stuff was parody.
posted by Thistledown at 8:32 AM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


This never happens. It's a delusion. There's a replacement crop of bigots and sociopaths in every generation.

I nodded my head sadly while I read that. You're right; it's wishful thinking that we just need to outlive the hateful old people in charge - there's a bumper crop of hateful young people waiting to take their place.

I still wish, though.
posted by Mooski at 8:54 AM on June 3, 2016 [4 favorites]


I had no idea he was that old. Maybe this is all dementia.

Yeah, that's the way to go. Everyone knows that geezerhood takes over the central nervous system and makes old farts go out and stock up on ammo of high velocity and weapons big of bore. Oh, Jesus, no. I don't wanna be a Trumper Thumper, but I just can't help myself....I wanna be a steel worker, I wanna be callused of hand and itchy of trigger finger....I wanna wear the latest cammie patterns and drive hand-painted 4WD vehicles....I wanna shoot many terrorists...recoil, recoil....my daughter shoots machine guns and my wife knows 53 ways to strangle you with common everyday kitchen items....help me help me help me....

Thoughtless children, don't let them gore your ox.
posted by mule98J at 8:58 AM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


Ronnie Van Zant, wrote 'Saturday Night Special' one of the most damning (and rocking) anti-gun songs ever.

Anti-pistol song. It didn't say a thing about the equally ubiquitous "thirty-thirty" used for deer and hogs for 120 some years. I still love to listen to that song, even if I do own more revolvers than rifles.
posted by ridgerunner at 8:58 AM on June 3, 2016


I wanna wear the latest cammie patterns and drive hand-painted 4WD vehicles

I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy

posted by octobersurprise at 9:07 AM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


That guy's a good actor. I wonder what it would cost to get him to say the opposite? Because I kind of get the feeling with a teeny bit of persuading and the right paycheck, he could be brought to say anything...
posted by From Bklyn at 9:22 AM on June 3, 2016


this kind of mindset leads to violence, every time.

All the more reason to try to think about what's behind it.

I just realized that my previous comment might have been read as somehow supporting angry railing against ... stuff. Actually, what I meant is that this is a real force to be addressed, and represents real (and arguably universal) human tendencies.

Emjaybee mentioned fear. That's worthwhile information. Squinting at this and moving on might not be as constructive as thinking about that fear, it's sources, and how to start thinking about dealing with that fear. Scorn and laughing at people won't make them less afraid (although it is comforting and can be energizing to people who can laugh together).
posted by amtho at 9:59 AM on June 3, 2016


To all y'all who think or wonder whether this all is a parody, or satire, or what have you ..... sorry, nope. I live in a three-county region that has a Charlie Daniels Park, a Charlie Daniels Museum, a Charlie Daniels Veterans and Military Families Center, and a Charlie Daniels Parkway. So sadly, no joke.
posted by blucevalo at 11:17 AM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


We have steelworkers?

Yes, but steel mill technology and employment has changed a lot. "Mini-mills" are mostly nonunionized and (I think) irregular employment, and they're chewing up the big old mills like US Steel.

Best article I could find. I've read a terrifying book about one of the first mini-mills, a startup story with a lot of workplace deaths in it. Can't remember the title, though.
posted by clew at 12:13 PM on June 3, 2016


Actually, what I meant is that this is a real force to be addressed, and represents real (and arguably universal) human tendencies.

Sure, on a macro scale, people have always acted out of fear, xenophobia, tribalism, or zealotry. These are all very real, very troublesome behaviors and every polity—particularly every free, liberal polity—must manage them to remain stable. On the much more concrete scale of this video, tho, what's to be addressed? If Daniels' performance is representative of genuine feelings of grievance, then nothing anyone writes here will mitigate, or satisfy them. And if it's a calculated effort to incite grievance (which it is, IMO), then it's pointless to address.

Squinting at this and moving on might not be as constructive as thinking about that fear, it's sources, and how to start thinking about dealing with that fear.

Given that it isn't clear what that "fear" is, even to those who feel it, or what it means to "deal" with something so hopelessly vague, squinting at it and moving on is at least as constructive as taking seriously the paranoid ramblings of a wealthy entertainer, probably more so. Swapping video links—definitely more constructive.

Speaking of which, I'm shocked that I forgot my perfectly apropos favorite song until just this moment — take it away, Country Dick Montana —

Well we'll ask the lord to
forgive us for all our sins;
and we'll look at the latest in
gold-plated firing pins.

Well, my two main men are
Jesus and old John Birch.

So I'm going on down to
the gun sale at the church.

posted by octobersurprise at 12:48 PM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


emjaybee: “At least in this case, other bands have covered Devil Went Down to Georgia so I can always listen to those versions.”
“The Devil Went Down to Georgia”—Mariachi Mexicanisimo de Atlanta (Previously)
posted by ob1quixote at 1:07 PM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


Does the phrase, "Urban Warzones," inspire anyone else's nape hairs to stand on end like my own? It's just a fucking clip of Chicago. I didn't realise freedom implied fantasies of gunning down urban dwellers.
posted by constantinescharity at 1:32 PM on June 3, 2016 [5 favorites]


. "Mini-mills" are mostly nonunionized and (I think) irregular employment, and they're chewing up the big old mills like US Steel.

Artisanal Steel. Fuck everything and everyone.
posted by mikelieman at 1:55 PM on June 3, 2016


Given that it isn't clear what that "fear" is, even to those who feel it, or what it means to "deal" with something so hopelessly vague

So, if one cared enough, and if one had the time and resources, I guess one possible course of action would be to try to clarify what that "fear" is and what it would mean to "deal" with it. Or, come up with other courses of action that could lead to rapport instead of more conflict. I'm not saying that the video is "right" or anything, just that there are more constructive ways of proceeding than proclaiming "stupid people scare me and are stupid and dangerous" and then moving on to something more comforting.

People are complicated, and scary, but we can be brave and smart enough to at least start to address them in ways that could lead to good outcomes -- and to persuade others to do so, also. At least that's my hope.

I'm certainly not going to hold myself up as a paragon of tolerance and/or positive action; I myself am pretty confused about what a helpful reaction would really be. But I'm thinking about it and casting around for ideas, at least, and trying to discipline myself not to treat people badly (which is difficult since I'm really impatient and worried).
posted by amtho at 2:10 PM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


Some time around ten years ago I used to read Charlie Daniels' blog as a sort of masochistic entertainment. Back then I thought his postings seemed like some very calculated but cartoonish pandering to an audience that couldn't be satisfied with just Two Minutes Hate. It seemed like he'd found his niche as a hillbilly Ann Coulter. I'm not going to watch the video.
posted by polecat at 3:21 PM on June 3, 2016 [2 favorites]


Don't get distracted by the message's address to "the ayatollahs."

Like any other kind of cult propaganda, this message is tailored first and foremost to what its members have been trained to respond to.
posted by doctorfrog at 3:45 PM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


I didn't realise freedom implied fantasies of gunning down urban dwellers.

Yeah, "urban" is pretty much a dogwhistle for "black" here, isn't it? Murdering black people is a pretty big part of plenty of NRA members' fantasies of "freedom".
posted by howfar at 3:55 PM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


Regarding the "urban war zone bit", I can't help[ but remember the lines from 1995's Same Ol' Me:

I recall once upon a time
You could stand right up and speak your mind,
But these days that just ain't considered cool

You can't say this, you can't think that,
You can't even cuss a alley cat
Without gettin' in trouble with the danged ACLU


So, you know, I'm going to guess he's talking about alley cats. Real problem in these cities. Surely that's the only reasonable conclusion.
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 4:47 PM on June 3, 2016


> Artisanal Steel. Fuck everything and everyone.

Did you actually read the link? Running an arc furnace to melt scrap steel is hardly "Artisanal" - This is so they can run at less than peak demand and maybe potentially make a profit.
posted by MysticMCJ at 6:06 PM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


Don't get distracted by the message's address to "the ayatollahs."
It's a personal message from an American Ayatollah.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:25 PM on June 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


Reviving this again just because:

New York's NPR station has a weekly program hosted by The New Yorker, where they're talking to Mike Weisser, aka "Mike The Gun Guy" over on Huffington Post. (The segment itself is worth a listen - Weisser is really good about laying out the history of the NRA and how they have started playing on peoples' fear to sell guns, and I get the sense that that's part of why he no longer sells them himself.)

But - during the segment, they play this ad for his comment. And in the segment, after Weisser listens to it, he laughs hysterically.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:24 PM on June 26, 2016


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