Republicans shocked to learn 'American Idiot' is political
January 2, 2024 7:49 PM Subscribe
In a NYE performance, Green Day performed their classic hit "American Idiot" with a minor twist: they substituted the lyrics "MAGA agenda" for "redneck agenda." Conservatives are still, somehow, surprised. Still, the song's themes resonate today: we certainly haven't managed to vanquish American reflexive xenophobia or fix deceptive media outlets yet. As we approach the song's twentieth anniversary, it's hard not to feel a sting of failure when contemplating just how far we haven't come.
I find it fascinating that within just a few years of the album's release it had become a sung-through rock musical that ended up on Broadway and even won some Tony awards!
Not finding any good filmings of it in my short search, but I did find this Green Day – American Idiot (Full Music Documentary) [1h]
But yes, I had heard they'd made a lyric change, I didn't realize it was just ONE word. Wow.
posted by hippybear at 8:04 PM on January 2 [2 favorites]
Not finding any good filmings of it in my short search, but I did find this Green Day – American Idiot (Full Music Documentary) [1h]
But yes, I had heard they'd made a lyric change, I didn't realize it was just ONE word. Wow.
posted by hippybear at 8:04 PM on January 2 [2 favorites]
I guess I should be clear -- Billy Joe wrote the book and lyrics for the musical and Green Day wrote the music. They were VERY directly involved in making this into a theater project.
posted by hippybear at 8:07 PM on January 2 [7 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 8:07 PM on January 2 [7 favorites]
👍
posted by clavdivs at 8:08 PM on January 2 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 8:08 PM on January 2 [1 favorite]
I’ve seen multiple recent references to conservatives complaining that Rage Against The Machine has “gotten political”.
posted by migurski at 8:09 PM on January 2 [36 favorites]
posted by migurski at 8:09 PM on January 2 [36 favorites]
Oh good grief. Okay, here's the documentary I was looking for: Broadway Idiot [1h20m]
posted by hippybear at 8:12 PM on January 2 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 8:12 PM on January 2 [4 favorites]
I’ve seen multiple recent references to conservatives complaining that Rage Against The Machine has “gotten political”.
On one hand, ha. On the other hand, the number of present day Trump supporters I knew back in high school/college days when they were Fugazi fans is . . . upsetting.
posted by thivaia at 8:13 PM on January 2 [22 favorites]
On one hand, ha. On the other hand, the number of present day Trump supporters I knew back in high school/college days when they were Fugazi fans is . . . upsetting.
posted by thivaia at 8:13 PM on January 2 [22 favorites]
That happens regularly. Tom Morello has been actively tweeting since forever, and every so often a chud gets served his tweets and is aghast.
posted by Scattercat at 8:13 PM on January 2 [7 favorites]
posted by Scattercat at 8:13 PM on January 2 [7 favorites]
Way back in 2012 Morello had to write an essay explaining to apparent fan Paul Ryan that he was "the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades."
posted by usr2047 at 8:41 PM on January 2 [48 favorites]
posted by usr2047 at 8:41 PM on January 2 [48 favorites]
This is almost enough for me to forgive them for nearly killing me when I worked security at their infamous Boston free concert/riot. (Seriously, being in the middle of a punk riot wearing a security uniform was a "exhilarating" experience. My payment - 1 cold bottle of MGD - because the security company had to scramble a bunch of additional guards in and I was a young dumb college kid)
posted by drewbage1847 at 8:43 PM on January 2 [11 favorites]
posted by drewbage1847 at 8:43 PM on January 2 [11 favorites]
Morello had to write an essay explaining to apparent fan Paul Ryan that he was "the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades."
This just reminds me of some quip someone made in reaction to someone else being similarly surprised: "What machine did they think we were supposed to rage against, our microwaves?"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:52 PM on January 2 [21 favorites]
This just reminds me of some quip someone made in reaction to someone else being similarly surprised: "What machine did they think we were supposed to rage against, our microwaves?"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:52 PM on January 2 [21 favorites]
This just reminds me of some quip someone made in reaction to someone else being similarly surprised: "What machine did they think we were supposed to rage against, our microwaves?"
Another quip: "Must have been a printer."
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:02 PM on January 2 [15 favorites]
Another quip: "Must have been a printer."
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:02 PM on January 2 [15 favorites]
Drewbage, I was at that show!
posted by ducky l'orange at 9:31 PM on January 2 [6 favorites]
posted by ducky l'orange at 9:31 PM on January 2 [6 favorites]
Ducky, and somehow we both survived. (I get a kick out of reading the articles because I was one of the dummies up front hauling young girls over the barricades to keep them from getting crushed. Never been so happy to see riot police)
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:53 PM on January 2 [5 favorites]
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:53 PM on January 2 [5 favorites]
Rage against the machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts...
posted by kaibutsu at 11:09 PM on January 2
posted by kaibutsu at 11:09 PM on January 2
In other news:
Republicans shocked to learn.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 12:08 AM on January 3 [32 favorites]
Republicans shocked to learn.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 12:08 AM on January 3 [32 favorites]
Rarely is the question asked.
posted by flabdablet at 12:48 AM on January 3 [11 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 12:48 AM on January 3 [11 favorites]
Oh no! First, famously apolitical Rage Against the Machine goes woke and now Green Day? What's next? Thank god they can still blast Born in the USA to demonstrate their moral and intellectual superiority over the rest of us! I mean, can you even imagine? Politics in art? How dare they?!
Seriously, I don't know why this kind of thing surprises me every single time it happens because it happens pretty much constantly.
posted by Mister_Sleight_of_Hand at 2:22 AM on January 3 [8 favorites]
Seriously, I don't know why this kind of thing surprises me every single time it happens because it happens pretty much constantly.
posted by Mister_Sleight_of_Hand at 2:22 AM on January 3 [8 favorites]
If this is anything like the last time around with American Idiot, Trump comes back to win and retires to a life of noble rehabilitation. Maybe he'll try his hand at poetry.
posted by kingdead at 4:11 AM on January 3 [3 favorites]
posted by kingdead at 4:11 AM on January 3 [3 favorites]
Or he could play it at his rallies and do a little dance.
you can do whatever you feel
posted by flabdablet at 4:29 AM on January 3 [2 favorites]
you can do whatever you feel
posted by flabdablet at 4:29 AM on January 3 [2 favorites]
I always thought Green Day were posers trying to rip off the Clash, but now I understand we were all always just posers trying to rip off the Clash.
posted by rikschell at 5:04 AM on January 3 [24 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 5:04 AM on January 3 [24 favorites]
“Hans…are we the American Idiots?”
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:30 AM on January 3 [49 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:30 AM on January 3 [49 favorites]
I always thought Green Day were posers trying to rip off the Clash, but now I understand we were all always just posers trying to rip off the Clash.
It's not the show that matters but the posers you meet along the way
posted by thivaia at 6:27 AM on January 3 [3 favorites]
It's not the show that matters but the posers you meet along the way
posted by thivaia at 6:27 AM on January 3 [3 favorites]
MAGAfools dancing to "Killing in the Name..." while draped in a Thin Blue Line flag
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:48 AM on January 3 [5 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:48 AM on January 3 [5 favorites]
I think conservatives are always predictably shocked at stuff like this because they get told so often, by politicians and preachers and conservative media, that their ideas are much more popular among the general public than they actually are.
Nixon had the Silent Majority, Pat Robertson had the Moral Majority, Sean Hannity has some catchphrase that escapes me at the moment...
Meanwhile, the majority in a very gerrymandered House is down to two seats, Republicans have been underperforming in elections since 2018, Roe v Wade turned out to be a very motivating issue, and even the Rich Men North of Richmond guy is like 'uh, you are literally the people I wrote the song about.'
A big part of what Trump's running on is a sense of inevitability, even preordination, but this is something that neither he nor his followers either have earned or remotely deserve.
posted by box at 6:58 AM on January 3 [25 favorites]
Nixon had the Silent Majority, Pat Robertson had the Moral Majority, Sean Hannity has some catchphrase that escapes me at the moment...
Meanwhile, the majority in a very gerrymandered House is down to two seats, Republicans have been underperforming in elections since 2018, Roe v Wade turned out to be a very motivating issue, and even the Rich Men North of Richmond guy is like 'uh, you are literally the people I wrote the song about.'
A big part of what Trump's running on is a sense of inevitability, even preordination, but this is something that neither he nor his followers either have earned or remotely deserve.
posted by box at 6:58 AM on January 3 [25 favorites]
On the other hand, the number of present day Trump supporters I knew back in high school/college days when they were Fugazi fans is . . . upsetting.
I've been saying for a while that a lot of my generation (GenX) took the anti-authority part to heart but didn't really evaluate what authority we were rebelling against or why. So what does that look like? Applying it indiscriminately and ending up angry, individualistic, resisting societal values if there's even a whiff of "enforcement" even if that enforcement is just "we don't want to hang out with you if you behave like that," reflexive distrust of ALL media/government/scientific establishment without any critical thinking, getting sucked into conspiracy theories, screaming at managers in retail stores for doing their jobs... It's depressing.
posted by misskaz at 7:29 AM on January 3 [30 favorites]
I've been saying for a while that a lot of my generation (GenX) took the anti-authority part to heart but didn't really evaluate what authority we were rebelling against or why. So what does that look like? Applying it indiscriminately and ending up angry, individualistic, resisting societal values if there's even a whiff of "enforcement" even if that enforcement is just "we don't want to hang out with you if you behave like that," reflexive distrust of ALL media/government/scientific establishment without any critical thinking, getting sucked into conspiracy theories, screaming at managers in retail stores for doing their jobs... It's depressing.
posted by misskaz at 7:29 AM on January 3 [30 favorites]
FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT A RICH DONOR OR CORPORATE LOBBYIST
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:57 AM on January 3 [7 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:57 AM on January 3 [7 favorites]
misskaz: didn't really evaluate what authority we were rebelling against or why
The analysis to confirm who you're fighting and why is one which looks at who has the power and/or stands to gain -- and it's a crucial piece of stultifying a population to have people feel like they're having impact without it troubling those in power.
The ragebait directs you to attack specified targets for "let's you and them fight" instead of opposing the man.
"Reader, I hated the man until I became him."
posted by k3ninho at 8:30 AM on January 3 [1 favorite]
The analysis to confirm who you're fighting and why is one which looks at who has the power and/or stands to gain -- and it's a crucial piece of stultifying a population to have people feel like they're having impact without it troubling those in power.
The ragebait directs you to attack specified targets for "let's you and them fight" instead of opposing the man.
"Reader, I hated the man until I became him."
posted by k3ninho at 8:30 AM on January 3 [1 favorite]
MAGAfools dancing to "Killing in the Name..." while draped in a Thin Blue Line flag
They completely lack awareness. Like those cops displaying thin blue line Punisher logos. Da Fuq? Have you ever even looked in the direction of the book?
posted by Mitheral at 10:18 AM on January 3 [2 favorites]
They completely lack awareness. Like those cops displaying thin blue line Punisher logos. Da Fuq? Have you ever even looked in the direction of the book?
posted by Mitheral at 10:18 AM on January 3 [2 favorites]
misskaz, I saw this happen with COVID too. Some yahoo I knew from the music scene back in the day suddenly got mad that he couldn't get ice cream or whatever without wearing a mask. He actually wrote on social media, "You are all a bunch of sheep - what happened to QUESTION AUTHORITY???", blocked us all so we couldn't respond, and then - I shit you not - he moved to Arizona.
posted by queensissy at 11:11 AM on January 3 [3 favorites]
posted by queensissy at 11:11 AM on January 3 [3 favorites]
Does this mean I can look forward to the second coming of the Bush era’s conservative punk movement?
As for those wayward Fugazi fans, I guess they didn’t get the earlier memo about how you got to know who your enemy is.
posted by house-goblin at 11:22 AM on January 3
As for those wayward Fugazi fans, I guess they didn’t get the earlier memo about how you got to know who your enemy is.
posted by house-goblin at 11:22 AM on January 3
My sense is there's a lot of money invested in keeping Americans focused on the wrong issues. I wonder sometimes if the popular appeal of being a totally selfish asshole is because the people encouraging it in a big way in our culture actually are that way themselves and see it as the best way of being, or if they're cynical manipulators that fully understand the harm they causing but do it anyway because appealing to peoples baser, tribal instincts makes it easier to hang onto the reins of power...
posted by signsofrain at 11:34 AM on January 3 [4 favorites]
posted by signsofrain at 11:34 AM on January 3 [4 favorites]
It's easy enough to guess, in this context, that some people consider themselves fans of a Brand / Celebrity / Intellectual Property as a signifier of tribal identity first and foremost. Other aspects of the BCIP in question -- like the symbolism in a plot, the themes or meanings of lyrics, the labor practices that make a gadget possible, or the overall pleasure of experiencing a cultural product -- are not considered much or at all.
There's nothing particularly genius or profound about making this guess about a few fans' feelings about Green Day (or RATM or Springsteen et al). But consider that these are the few tribal signifiers they have been caught out in a contradiction on; there are surely others that they hold dear for similar reasons, with similar (lack of) depth and understanding.
Like thin-blue-line merch. Like beatification of the founding fathers and military veterans. Like TFG and the American flag itself. Like (ironically, tragically) an abiding faith in "individualism."
posted by Western Infidels at 11:57 AM on January 3 [2 favorites]
There's nothing particularly genius or profound about making this guess about a few fans' feelings about Green Day (or RATM or Springsteen et al). But consider that these are the few tribal signifiers they have been caught out in a contradiction on; there are surely others that they hold dear for similar reasons, with similar (lack of) depth and understanding.
Like thin-blue-line merch. Like beatification of the founding fathers and military veterans. Like TFG and the American flag itself. Like (ironically, tragically) an abiding faith in "individualism."
posted by Western Infidels at 11:57 AM on January 3 [2 favorites]
Predicted as soon as we saw the lyric change on TV that some people would be surprised by it, ala Rage Against the Machine.
My dad: but it's Green Day? The band from Berkeley, CA who wrote this song against Bush era conservatism? Don't they understand that Green Day are the coastal elites they hate so much?
Me: Nah.
Thanks Green Day, Springsteen, Tom Morello, etc for periodically reminding some people that they aren't the cool countercultural rebels that they think they are.
posted by subdee at 12:08 PM on January 3 [8 favorites]
My dad: but it's Green Day? The band from Berkeley, CA who wrote this song against Bush era conservatism? Don't they understand that Green Day are the coastal elites they hate so much?
Me: Nah.
Thanks Green Day, Springsteen, Tom Morello, etc for periodically reminding some people that they aren't the cool countercultural rebels that they think they are.
posted by subdee at 12:08 PM on January 3 [8 favorites]
I always felt like the important aspect of band like Green Day and RAtM for so many young dudes who grow up to be old dudes is the anger in the music. Doesn't matter to them who the anger is directed towards - just that "I'm angry and so this music!"
The fact that they're not angry at the same things just doesn't register.
posted by drewbage1847 at 12:14 PM on January 3 [10 favorites]
The fact that they're not angry at the same things just doesn't register.
posted by drewbage1847 at 12:14 PM on January 3 [10 favorites]
I've been saying for a while that a lot of my generation (GenX) took the anti-authority part to heart but didn't really evaluate what authority we were rebelling against or why
What are you rebelling against? What you got?
Another case where 'the government can't tell us rebel kids what to do' fell kinda flat is during COVID.
Yes, I mean the alternative is that they don't object to the lyrics at all, maybe see themselves as the 'chosen whites' and definitely feel that those who die are 'justified' (to pick on RATM), in the same way that Rush Limbaugh was aghast at the idea of sexual consent and liberals are like 'yeah, duh'. And that's why I think the most clearly enunciated line in that song "...I won't do what you tell me" is in hindsight kinda thoughtless.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:23 PM on January 3 [1 favorite]
What are you rebelling against? What you got?
Another case where 'the government can't tell us rebel kids what to do' fell kinda flat is during COVID.
Yes, I mean the alternative is that they don't object to the lyrics at all, maybe see themselves as the 'chosen whites' and definitely feel that those who die are 'justified' (to pick on RATM), in the same way that Rush Limbaugh was aghast at the idea of sexual consent and liberals are like 'yeah, duh'. And that's why I think the most clearly enunciated line in that song "...I won't do what you tell me" is in hindsight kinda thoughtless.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:23 PM on January 3 [1 favorite]
I've been saying for a while that a lot of my generation (GenX) took the anti-authority part to heart but didn't really evaluate what authority we were rebelling against or why.May we never forget the generation of "Nothing Is More Punk Than Fiscal Conservatism" bros.
posted by verb at 12:29 PM on January 3 [6 favorites]
I always thought Green Day were posers trying to rip off the Clash, but now I understand we were all always just posers trying to rip off the Clash.
Isn't it the truth though! The whole main riff from "Basket Case" is just the whole main riff from "Capital Radio" by the Clash, and also, well, Billy Joe's singing voice ain't quite how they make accents in Pinole, CA.
posted by kensington314 at 12:30 PM on January 3 [1 favorite]
Isn't it the truth though! The whole main riff from "Basket Case" is just the whole main riff from "Capital Radio" by the Clash, and also, well, Billy Joe's singing voice ain't quite how they make accents in Pinole, CA.
posted by kensington314 at 12:30 PM on January 3 [1 favorite]
That's not a criticism of Green Day though. I was just listening to "Kerplunk" the other day.
posted by kensington314 at 12:47 PM on January 3 [3 favorites]
posted by kensington314 at 12:47 PM on January 3 [3 favorites]
The pop-punk accent comes from SoCal punks trying to sound like Berkeley punks trying to sound like London punks trying to sound like New York punks.
Metafilter: we were all always just posers
posted by team lowkey at 3:57 PM on January 3 [14 favorites]
Metafilter: we were all always just posers
posted by team lowkey at 3:57 PM on January 3 [14 favorites]
"Don't wanna be an American Idiot ...."
Let's face it no one wants to be an American idiot, not even members of the the redneck/MAGA agenda .... anyone listening to the beginning of the song's going to hear that, agree with the first line, and start head banging, maybe not listening to the rest of the song as maybe they ought to have.
I know I bounced along to Stand Down Margaret for months before I realised it was about Thatcher.
So I can sort of understand how it happens, doesn't stop it being funny - but again so many Republicans have got great mileage out of Born in the USA maybe the laughter is deserved.
Lived in Berkeley/Oakland for 20 years from the mid 80s so GD was just part of the environment, we left the US in '04, went to TTITD and didn't come back, drove across the country, took the kids on a big geography lesson round Europe/Asia (there was 6 months between school years going in NZ) - bought AI in London and it became our leaving America theme (we watched the election on CNN in India and were glad we were going)
posted by mbo at 9:55 PM on January 3 [1 favorite]
Let's face it no one wants to be an American idiot, not even members of the the redneck/MAGA agenda .... anyone listening to the beginning of the song's going to hear that, agree with the first line, and start head banging, maybe not listening to the rest of the song as maybe they ought to have.
I know I bounced along to Stand Down Margaret for months before I realised it was about Thatcher.
So I can sort of understand how it happens, doesn't stop it being funny - but again so many Republicans have got great mileage out of Born in the USA maybe the laughter is deserved.
Lived in Berkeley/Oakland for 20 years from the mid 80s so GD was just part of the environment, we left the US in '04, went to TTITD and didn't come back, drove across the country, took the kids on a big geography lesson round Europe/Asia (there was 6 months between school years going in NZ) - bought AI in London and it became our leaving America theme (we watched the election on CNN in India and were glad we were going)
posted by mbo at 9:55 PM on January 3 [1 favorite]
they steal everything.
they don't care it is not for them
they know it is about them
they took it, it's theirs now
"Back to Ohio" is irrevocably known as Rush Limbaugh's bumper music, and the world's wildlife is no better off.
posted by Rev. Irreverent Revenant at 2:32 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
they don't care it is not for them
they know it is about them
they took it, it's theirs now
"Back to Ohio" is irrevocably known as Rush Limbaugh's bumper music, and the world's wildlife is no better off.
posted by Rev. Irreverent Revenant at 2:32 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
(Songs about Ohio that are not associated with Rush Limbaugh include:
The Band - Look Out Cleveland
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio
R.E.M. - Cuyahoga
Gillian Welch - Look at Miss Ohio
The Mountain Goats - Going to Cleveland
Sun Kill Moon - Carry Me Ohio
Songs: Ohia - Blue Factory Flame
Bruce Springsteen - Youngstown)
posted by box at 8:00 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
The Band - Look Out Cleveland
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio
R.E.M. - Cuyahoga
Gillian Welch - Look at Miss Ohio
The Mountain Goats - Going to Cleveland
Sun Kill Moon - Carry Me Ohio
Songs: Ohia - Blue Factory Flame
Bruce Springsteen - Youngstown)
posted by box at 8:00 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
More songs about Ohio, for no particular reason:
Atom and His Package - No Way DNA
John Hiatt - Lilacs in Ohio
Jim Gill - Oh Hey Oh Hi Hello
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:12 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
Atom and His Package - No Way DNA
John Hiatt - Lilacs in Ohio
Jim Gill - Oh Hey Oh Hi Hello
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:12 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
Hey, I live in Cleveland, Ohio.
That Band song is about Cleveland, TEXAS
The Band, also 4/5 Canadian and none of them fought in the American Civil War
ANYWAY...
posted by SystematicAbuse at 11:33 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
That Band song is about Cleveland, TEXAS
The Band, also 4/5 Canadian and none of them fought in the American Civil War
ANYWAY...
posted by SystematicAbuse at 11:33 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
(I used to live in Cleveland, Ohio, and I legit thought the Band song was about the Ohio one. I am aware that the song makes reference to 'Houston,' but there's a Houston in Ohio, and how many songs are there about Cleveland, Texas?
I'm not always a real close listener. Sorry about that.)
posted by box at 11:54 AM on January 4
I'm not always a real close listener. Sorry about that.)
posted by box at 11:54 AM on January 4
You may be right, Box. I have no actual proof. I just always figured if it was about the Ohio Cleveland there would be some references to the river being on fire or what have you
posted by SystematicAbuse at 12:15 PM on January 4
posted by SystematicAbuse at 12:15 PM on January 4
Maybe consider songs fROMOHIO?
posted by house-goblin at 1:59 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
posted by house-goblin at 1:59 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
(I mean, if we're doing Ohio songs - Cleveland Rocks? My City Was Gone?)
posted by fingers_of_fire at 7:39 PM on January 4
posted by fingers_of_fire at 7:39 PM on January 4
This is very heartening news! Born in the USA came out three decades ago, and conservatives still seem to think it's right up their alley, right next to the "Boot In Your Ass" song. But this! This! This implies that conservatives have thought!
I am excited to see what may come from this shocking new development in the future.
posted by Flunkie at 7:51 PM on January 4
I am excited to see what may come from this shocking new development in the future.
posted by Flunkie at 7:51 PM on January 4
This is very heartening news! Born in the USA came out three decades ago
Flunkie, apparently part of what you flunkied on was math because four decades is the time length we're discussing here.
If Born In The USA had only come out three decades ago, Reagan and his ilk could never have used it for their ends, and it would have come out around the Clinton Whitewater scandal years.
I'm so so sorry to tell you this, Flunkie... but you're a full decade off with how long in the past things are.
Don't feel wrong. I'm struggling with this too. Things that should have been recent were long ago and things that happened ages ago were just before the pandemic. My time sense is screwed.
Are there support groups for us? I have no idea.
posted by hippybear at 8:23 PM on January 4 [2 favorites]
Flunkie, apparently part of what you flunkied on was math because four decades is the time length we're discussing here.
If Born In The USA had only come out three decades ago, Reagan and his ilk could never have used it for their ends, and it would have come out around the Clinton Whitewater scandal years.
I'm so so sorry to tell you this, Flunkie... but you're a full decade off with how long in the past things are.
Don't feel wrong. I'm struggling with this too. Things that should have been recent were long ago and things that happened ages ago were just before the pandemic. My time sense is screwed.
Are there support groups for us? I have no idea.
posted by hippybear at 8:23 PM on January 4 [2 favorites]
My sense is there's a lot of money invested in keeping Americans focused on the wrong issues.
O RLY
posted by flabdablet at 10:29 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
O RLY
posted by flabdablet at 10:29 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
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Super rare.
posted by chronkite at 7:55 PM on January 2 [37 favorites]