tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16745091.post6617406212880198799..comments2023-05-11T13:09:49.760-04:00Comments on Differences & Repetitions: Dee, me, & the PMRCTed Striphashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277064012517739981noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16745091.post-59264694027899200162007-12-19T10:03:00.000-05:002007-12-19T10:03:00.000-05:00Dear Judge Fudge (a candy aficionado?),What a funn...Dear Judge Fudge (a candy aficionado?),<BR/>What a funny and smart post! First, I'm sure if you do have friends in Hoosier country, they'll tell you that the small city of Bloomington (where Striphas lives) doesn't count in the predominantly red state. Like Jesse Helms used to say about Chapel Hill/Carrboro in North Carolina, even good red states have college towns that vote blue (actually, his comments were less friendly--something about a fence and a zoo, I believe). I mean, the non-sell out musician, John Mellencamp--and his former supermodel-turned-rockstarwife--live here. (Talk about someone who can rock!)<BR/><BR/>Second, Bush II is a horrible president for many reasons, but he definitely is a horrible conservative, as you say. I can't believe the RAND Institute couldn't think up a better candidate who actually stood for smaller government (including ending corporate welfare, which RAND eloquently points out is a conservative issue). The Republican Senator of Indiana, Richard Lugar, actually is one of the most sound Republicans in Congress. He actually shows up to vote, first of all. He also takes seriously some of the most pressing issues of our times, including energy security, believes foreign diplomacy still matters, and more. Indiana gets a bad rap nationally, but I'd take Lugar over any Republican candidate for president running today. (Though I'll be voting blue, whoever that is, so that might not count for much.)<BR/><BR/>Hope you have a fun and food-filled Christmas and New Year too!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16745091.post-64623276551878831772007-12-19T00:18:00.000-05:002007-12-19T00:18:00.000-05:00Wait...You mean to tell me that you're a progressi...Wait...You mean to tell me that you're a progressive living in Indiana? How have my right-thinking Hoosier buddies not exiled you to Illinois yet? I'm teasing, of course.<BR/><BR/>I'm a Republican who was attracted to the party during my teen years because of their limited government, don't tread on me philosophy. George W. has pretty much sold out our party and shot those ideas to hell to appeal to the extreme religious creeps in the party. However, before it was hijacked, the GOP's philosophy worked well with what Dee Snider was fighting against in the 1980's: Less government intrusion and more freedom. I wish more people in the party still thought like Dee Snider, and I. I guess we're what P.J. O'Rourke calls the "Republican Party Reptiles."<BR/><BR/>Anyway, that's my two cents. If you haven't been totally disillusioned by the fact that Dee would probably rather support Rudy than Hillary, you should pick up Twisted Christmas. It's the only Christmas album I can tolerate, and it proves that Dee and his buddies still rock.<BR/><BR/>Here's hoping that you and yours have a great Christmas!<BR/><BR/>The JudgeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16745091.post-10721261664144613992006-12-21T17:54:00.000-05:002006-12-21T17:54:00.000-05:00Yahenda,
Thanks for leaving your comment and for ...Yahenda,<br /><br />Thanks for leaving your comment and for including the link to YouTube. Snider's comments about not voting blindly along party lines are intriguing and astute. Still, it seems clear that he tends to support Republican candidates and issues more than democratic ones.<br /><br />As for Eddie Vedder, he and Beth Liebling divorced in 2000, and he is now married to model Jill McCormick.<br /><br />Finally, the issue at stake for me isn't so much disappointment per se as it is the social roles that celebrities like Dee, Eddie, and others play in US/global culture, and the way in which their celebrity images play in (and out) of political process.Ted Striphashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09277064012517739981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16745091.post-24259814825310885822006-12-21T16:45:00.000-05:002006-12-21T16:45:00.000-05:00I urge you guys to search youtube for the Dee Snid...I urge you guys to search youtube for the Dee Snider interview with Strombo on CBC's 'The Hour'... He makes it clear there that he is neither Republican nor Democrat and says plainly that to vote along party lines is to be an idiot and that he simply votes on the issues and always has. Seriously, save your disappointment for the celebrities who've earned it, you'll have no problem picking one.<br /><br />PS - as I recall the woman Eddie Vedder married (I think her name was Beth...?) was his high-school sweetheart, regardless of her figure.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04431569515718959149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16745091.post-42133771144091227902006-11-20T16:12:00.000-05:002006-11-20T16:12:00.000-05:00Herr Professor,
Thanks for your comment, and inde...Herr Professor,<br /><br />Thanks for your comment, and indeed I hear you. Whenever it comes to celebrities, I always try to bear in mind that, like us, they're human and prone to contradiction. I guess what's at stake for me is, to what extent does someone let that contradiction get the better of her/him? <br /><br />I'm thinking, for example, of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, who once critiqued the unrealistic body images that fashion models put forth in various societies--only recently to turn around and marry a fashion model. While I don't understand his apparent reversal, I don't think that trumps all of the activist work he does with respect to gun control, a woman's right to choose, environmentalism, and so forth.<br /><br />Snider, as you rightly point out, is another matter entirely....Ted Striphashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09277064012517739981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16745091.post-41550649553992362122006-11-16T11:37:00.000-05:002006-11-16T11:37:00.000-05:00There is nothing like this story to obliterate the...There is nothing like this story to obliterate the idealism we might have felt about those bands who frightened our parents during out teenage years. I, too, was shocked initially to hear about Snider. I guess I shouldn't have been, though; it seems that he was just another celebrity who spoke about principles (re: the PMRC) but was more concerned about profits.<br /><br />Now I'm going to return to my work on a conference paper and try not to wonder which icon of my youth will disappoint me next.Professorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04337315010043804805noreply@blogger.com