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Jethro Tull Frontman makes stupid remarks about U.S. & Bush
(edited for brevity)
"Americans are in a dreadful pickle at the moment, being theyâre the villains of the planet as far as roughly half the population of the world is concerned. Half the world pretty much hates Americans."
and now, pretty much half of us hate you Ian.
Ian Anderson —the Scottish-born, English-bred singer-songwriter who usually leads Jethro Tull, but is now in the midst of a thought-provoking solo tour — insists he isnât America bashing. Heâs just telling it like it is. Anderson will admit, though, to being less than a fan of President Bush — or British Prime Minister Tony Blair, for that matter. "Bush and Blair havenât got the faintest clue what a real war is," Anderson says. "As a couple of guys who have at their disposal considerable forces in the way of weapons of mass destruction, it seems somewhat cynical to be engaging in an act of invasion on foreign soil without the sanction of the international community and with guns blazing. Frankly, I hope both of them have an early demise."
I wonder if he was as bitchy w/Clinton when he attacked Bosnians without UN permission
Why is the skin flute-twirling rocker behind the â70s FM classics "Aqualung," "Locomotive Breath" and "Bungle in the Jungle" suddenly waxing political? Actually, it isnât so sudden. Anderson has always been that most rare of rockers — an articulate one — as evidenced by his lyrics, interviews and song introductions. His "Rubbing Elbows With Ian Anderson" tour, coming to Red Bank on Friday, is the musicianâs chance to finally let it rip verbally. In each city, Anderson will invite a local radio or TV personality and several audience members to join him onstage for an evening of conversation and music. Thereâll be Q&As, acoustic performances of Tull songs and, most interestingly, a local musician performing an original song backed by Andersonâs band. The format sounds either novel or nutty or just plain stupid. Anderson says it can be a little of both.
Iâll take the latter
The question of which topics emerge during the "Rubbing Elbows" chat segments is what sets Anderson off on a diatribe about the ongoing American-led war in Iraq. "I like to sound the audience out a little bit," Anderson says. "I usually bring your president into the conversation at some point, and perhaps Tony Blair. I like to hear the audience divided, as they always are, over the pros and cons of Bush policy and the Iraq so-called war." Anderson scoffs. "I mean, you know, to call it a war is to attempt to dignify a spurious invasion as something that sounds rather grand. As a career-molding war for you-know-who. I mean, to call it a war is just a disgrace.
you're right oh Rommelian one, it wasnât a war it was a pummeling.
"But thatâs not an area that I go into in any depth (during the shows) because Iâd get my pussy ass kicked by some American barbarian. For a lot of people, thatâs dangerous talk, because they are keen supporters of flag-waving nationalism and, dare I say, retribution and revenge, which is what they see this as being. I find that utterly deplorable and incomprehensible because Iâm that fucking stupid. I hate to see the American flag hanging out of every bloody station wagon, out of every SUV, every little Midwestern house in some residential area. Itâs easy to confuse patriotism with nationalism."
| It's easy to confuse reflexive dissent with thought... |
This, Anderson warns, is one reason America has become unpopular overseas. "Unfortunately, the way the world sees it," Anderson says, "we donât look kindly on the flag-waving stuff anymore. In Europe, the only time you see flag-waving is at soccer games when people beat the (excrement) out of each other. A lot of flag-waving goes on there.
Yes, Soccer, the best reason to pull out the flag and fire bomb the opposing teams grandstands!
"But most of the time, we keep the flag-waving out of normal society these days, because we know that it just engenders old animosities — we old Europeans who are a little sadder and wiser as a result of having the (excrement) beaten out of us a number of times, and our cities and national monuments destroyed, because we wouldnât stand up the first time. Weâre probably a little more sanguine about this than the very sensitive American psyche, which has not experienced or had to endure these offenses on its home turf."
| But twice in the last century sent its blood and treasure to help clean up the mess on Euroturf... |
Some Americans may disagree in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, though 56-year-old Anderson is referring to the bombing of England and other European countries during World War II.
| Yes. I've read about when the Germans bombed London and the Brits just shrugged it off and went back to negotiating... |
"I sympathize with the American people," never mind I just called you a bunch of xenophobic facist bastards two paragraphs ago and hate your Hitleresque president he says, "who I have the highest regard for as being warm, invitational and mostly pretty good ambassadors around the world. The fact that they, we, count them as being the bad guys — flag-waving ainât gonna do it. We have to work over the next two or three generations, not the next two or three months or two or three years. Weâre talking about a multi-generational, skillfully worked job of re-education socialism, of stepping out into the world gently and showing a kinder and a more human face i.e. turn into a bunch of cake eating prancers. We have to correct the misunderstandings. We have to correct the prejudices. And we wonât correct them by sending in the tanks and the guns and the bombs and the missiles. Which has never done any good except stopping slavery, facism, nazism, and communism. We are all going to have to learn that sad lesson — that what was done in Iraq is the wrong thing. We had Saddam Hussein pretty much under control.
| Except for his penchant for domestic corpse production, of course... |
"The lesser of evils at the time was to play the game; send the weapons inspectors back in; do the stuff via the United Nations. To do what was done by Blair and Bush is, I think, a great sin for which I suspect both of them will pay in terms of career and reputation in the way that it is written up in history. But some folks, just like Sigfried and Roy, will do anything for the show-biz buzz. And the show-biz buzz of being out there doing the big, spectacular Las Vegas show with a bunch of poor animals — you know, so Bush and Blair will do the same thing for the different buzz that comes with the power of political leadership. These are powerful forces that folks are playing with. To have that power is something you canât take lightly. You have to realize there are people out there whose lives you may affect by what you do."
Ian Anderson, I always just thought your band sucked - now I have a good reason to despise you. Flute playing wanker.
Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-14 |
