Did you know?
4:39 p.m. - 2003-03-24
Guess what?
We're at war.
Really? No shit?
No shit. If you don't believe me, just turn on your t.v. OR, better yet, turn on your radio and flip it to a country station. C'mon...I know that the idea of listening to even one second of a country song makes most of you want to puke, but just do it. I dare you. Furthermore, if you do force yourself to be subjected to the noise, I'll bet you a dollar (because that's about all the money I have these days) that within three minutes you'll hear a song about the war. Many of the lyrics that I've heard go something like this:
*insert heavy nasal twang, banjo music, and a harmonica*
"Ah'm sick of these liberal folks sayin' we're wrong / We're the U.S. of A. and we're mighty strong / We'll use our big guns and kill that mean man / and we'll blow up Iraq cuz we don't give a damn."
I swear, I think those were the words to the song that I heard yesterday. So I pushed "seek" on my radio, and it landed on another country station. I won't bore you with those lyrics, though, because they're almost identical to the ones above.
What you WON'T hear are the Dixie Chicks, because one of them made a comment about President Bush being a not-so-great guy. So most of the country stations in the U.S. have stopped playing their music. 'Course, you probably already knew that, if you keep up with the news. Most likely, you don't care, because who the hell listens to country music anyway? Well, let me make a confession. Sometimes I do. Mostly it's because there are approximately two decent radio stations around here, so sometimes I spontaneously flip through the dial.
To be honest, there are a few country musicians/bands that I enjoy. The Dixie Chicks pretty much top that list. Their music is good, the lead singer is incredible, and I like them. A lot. And that the goddamn radio stations would ban them from airplay really irritates the shit out of me. The general pro-war sentiment that I hear from people down here makes me want to puke my fucking guts out. For example, one of the D.J.'s on one of the country radio station made the comment that, "You know what I think? I think we should just send the Statue of Liberty back to France because they're not supporting us now. I mean, we've always supported them. So we should just send it back." Christ Almighty. You know that whole stigma of stupidity that's attached to southerners? Well, it's pretty much right on the mark. (Except for me, of course.) ;-)
Oh, and while I'm ranting, let's not forget that my dad wouldn't wear a Joe's Crab Shack shirt today because it has a big peace sign on it. Yeah, you know the slogan. "Peace, Love, and Crabs." It's not that he's against peace or love (or crabs), but rather that he thinks some wacko redneck would shoot him in the head with his deer rifle. And judging from the general attitude down here, there might just be reason to worry. Over a fucking peace sign. It makes me want to go get the damn thing tattooed on the tip of my nose.
To top it all off, some old lady came in my classroom today and went on and on about "those weirdo hippy kids at Berkley. You know, the college in California?" (Yes ma'am. I know what the fuck BERKLEY is.) "I mean, they're staging protests and not going to class because they don't believe in the war. I mean, can you imagine? I just don't understand them. You'd think at a fancy school like that they'd have enough sense to know that the President is doing the right thing. We NEED to go go war. They just ought to lock them up in jail, as far as I'm concerned."
I gagged, then nodded politely and gave her a half-smile. I wasn't about to get into a debate with some elderly teacher about what an idiotic statement that was. I didn't have the time or energy.
*Sigh* This is the reason that I try not to get out much. (At least not in this town.) My home is a much saner place. I prefer being alone with my candles, books, incense and pets. I have peace of mind here. I can practice magick, I can read a Wicca book, and no one bothers me. It's wonderful.
I think Brother is staying the night with me again. It was actually fun to be around him. He can be an obnoxious little prick from time to time, but he's really not a bad person. I told him that he's welcome to stay with me whenever he wants. He's currently living with my parents, and he hates it. (I don't blame him, but he's got twenty times the amount of freedom that I had there, so it can't be that bad.)He's 19, still living at home, and working for my dad. But that's what he chose to do. He dropped out of college to take over the business, so he doesn't have anyone but himself to blame. But I can't help feeling sorry for him, because my father can be the biggest asshole on the face of the earth. He seriously needs to be on medication.
Hmm...well, I guess that's all. I know I've babbled, but if you made it this far, at least I kept you occupied for a few minutes. Now go ahead and get on with your life.