Meet the pro-Bush punks

IROC it · Jul 21, 2004

Interesting find... hadn't seen it here.. I wonder why???

Meet the pro-Bush punks

link to article

The most anti-establishment of music genres is being used in support of the US Republican party. Dorian Lynskey reports

Wednesday July 7, 2004
The Guardian

(picture)
Gotham Road's Michale Graves: 'the cool thing now is to hate the government'

One would have thought punk's capacity to shock was exhausted when, in the 1980s, GG Allin defecated on stage and either ate the result or flung it at the audience. Today, punk has come to mean safe, multiplatinum groups such as Blink-182 and Green Day, and Ashton Kutcher playing pranks on celebrities on MTV. There is one tattooed, mohawked New Yorker who knows how to outrage the punk scene: Nick Rizzuto - and he votes Republican.

"Conservative punk is not generally what people think of when they hear of a punk," says Rizzuto. A smart, articulate 22-year-old, he founded the Conservative Punk website six months ago, and has since received hate mail from disgusted punks, excited phone calls from the Republican party and intrigued coverage from the US media. To his critics he's a crank bringing punk's good name into disrepute - but to his supporters he's the fearless voice of a formerly silent minority.

Raised on the Clash and the Dead Kennedys, the vast majority of today's punk bands lean towards the left, and Bush and Iraq have radicalised the scene once again. Horrified by the closeness of the 2000 election result, "Fat Mike" Burkett of the Californian band NOFX founded Punkvoter, the leftwing voter registration organisation, and convinced 200 bands to lend their endorsement. "The last time I saw anything like this was during the Vietnam era with Nixon," says Al Jourgensen of Punkvoter supporters Ministry, whose latest album boils with anti-Bush sentiment.

Yet, the politics of punk have never been clear-cut. In late-1970s Britain, as the Clash were fronting Rock Against Racism, Oi! bands such as Skrewdriver were backing the National Front. In America, early punks spat in the face of liberalism, establishing a precedent for extreme views. Today, the militantly abstinent, purity obsessed hardcore punks known as straight-edgers oppose drug use with a zeal that would make an evangelical Christian applaud.

The fact is, the meaning of the word punk is no longer clear. Andy Greenwald, author of Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers and Emo, argues that while punk once meant something specific, that's no longer the case. "People now feel like you can be a punk anything," he says. "If everyone else is saying don't make money, it's pretty punk to say, well, I'm going to make money. If everyone on the punk scene is liberal why not be a punk Republican?"

It's this frustration with the punk scene's liberal orthodoxy that fires the conservative punks. "You could say we're anti-anti-establishment," says Michale Graves, Conservative Punk columnist and frontman of Gotham Road. "I think in American mainstream culture the cool thing to do now is to hate the government and speak out against the war."

It's certainly easy to see how a Republican musician might feel like a scorned minority. Johnny Ramone, punk's sole big-name Republican, became the right-wing's answer to Michael Moore or the Dixie Chicks when the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years ago, and he announced from the podium: "God bless President Bush, and God bless America." The right-wing website Free Republic recently attempted to out "conservative" celebrities; its brief list of confirmed Republican musicians outside the country-music scene comprises Ramone, anti-drugs/pro-NRA rock veteran Ted Nugent, and actor/songwriter Vincent Gallo.

Rizzuto insists there are many more who are reluctant to make their opinions public. "I'm very wary of mentioning these guys on the record, especially in a European newspaper. They have to worry about being blacklisted from playing certain clubs and from playing Europe altogether." This may sound paranoid but Graves says his European tour was cancelled after the promoter read a New York Times article about his politics.

Rizzuto has always felt like an outsider. He turned conservative after 9/11, while he was studying at the famously liberal State University of New York in New Paltz.

From a certain angle, punk's individualistic creed and me-against-the-world rhetoric overlap with conservative values. "On some level punk is inherently libertarian," says Greenwald. "You don't tell me what to do, I won't tell you what to do, I'm just going to worry about myself." Follow that logic and Bush's bullish approach to foreign policy - basically, screw what anyone else says, I'll do what I like - seems quintessentially punk.

Such thinking is anathema to most punks. While Punkvoter's Rock Against Bush CD can boast the likes of Offspring and Sum 41, Rizzuto concedes that the few bands that support Conservative Punk, including Drawback, Style Over Substance and Nation of Suspects, aren't exactly household names. But this demographic, however small, is promising territory for Republicans. Right-wing commentators have coined phrases such as "gonzo conservative" and "South Park Republican" to describe young voters who like tattoos, swearing and Donald Rumsfeld. Conservative Punk has already inspired sympathetic sites such as GOPunk and Anti-Anti-Flag, and Rizzuto hopes to compile a benefit CD in aid of Students for a Free Iran.

Conservative Punk and Punkvoter regard each other with what might be described as polite hostility. "We're all for people expressing their opinions but it just sits a little weird to see anybody in the punk world be pro a guy who's done a job on tearing away civil liberties," says Punkvoter's political director, Scott Goodstein. "It's not a new thing for punk to be reacting against what folks don't like in the government, but punks in favour of the government is weird."

Rizzuto counters that by saying he opposes Bush on abortion and has turned down work with Republican activists. "We don't even go as far as to say vote for Bush. Our independence is what sets us apart. We have posted pieces that are critical of Bush. My preference in this election just happens to be Bush over Kerry."

His response to critics: "As punks we should be most accepting of different beliefs. We should be a diverse crowd." If you didn't know better, you'd call that liberal.

rimbaud · Jul 21, 2004

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Punk isn't Republican (don't worry, it isn't Democrat, either). And the "right-wing" early "oi" punk movement it is trying to use as an example? They were called skinheads. They didn't vote Republican, either.

Of course, my 11-year old niece thinks she is punk because she wears an armband...even it got commercialized.

RocketMan Tex · Jul 21, 2004

Originally posted by rimbaud
That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Punk isn't Republican (don't worry, it isn't Democrat, either). And the "right-wing" early "oi" punk movement it is trying to use as an example? They were called skinheads. They didn't vote Republican, either.

Of course, my 11-year old niece thinks she is punk because she wears an armband...even it got commercialized.
Click to expand...

Remember in the 1980s, when people thought they were punks just because they wore parachute-pants?

plcmts17 · Jul 21, 2004

From a certain angle, punk's individualistic creed and me-against-the-world rhetoric overlap with conservative values. "On some level punk is inherently libertarian," says Greenwald. "You don't tell me what to do, I won't tell you what to do, I'm just going to worry about myself." Follow that logic and Bush's bullish approach to foreign policy - basically, screw what anyone else says, I'll do what I like - seems quintessentially punk.
Click to expand...

OMFG is the writer high or something.Bush quintessentially punk !! I can't wait for him to do a Pat Boone at the RNC.

mc mark · Jul 21, 2004

I think I saw this guy at CBGBs last weekend!

mc mark · Jul 21, 2004

And he had this guy on a leash.

MR. MEOWGI · Jul 21, 2004

"Stars And Stripes Of Corruption"

Finally got to Washington in the middle of the night
I couldn't wait
I headed straight for the Capitol Mall
My heart began to pound
Yahoo! It really exists
The American International Pictures logo

I looked up at that Capitol Building
Couldn't help but wonder why
I felt like saying "Hello, old friend"

Walked up the hill to touch it
Then I unzipped my pants
And pissed on it when nobody was looking

Like a great eternal Klansman
With his two flashing red eyes
Turn around he's always watching
The Washington monument pricks the sky
With flags like pubic hair ringed 'round the bottom

The symbols of our heritage
Lit up proudly in the night
Somehow fits to see the homeless people
Passed out on the lawn

So this is where it happens
The power games and bribes
All lobbying for a piece of ass

Of the stars and stripes of corruption
Makes me feel so ashamed
To be an American
When we're too stuck up to learn from our mistakes
Trying to start another Viet Nam
Whilke fiddling while Rome burns at home
The Boss says, "You're laid off. Blame the Japanese"
"America's back," alright
At the game it plays the worst
Strip mining the world like a slave plantation

No wonder others hate us
And the Hitlers we handpick
To bleed their people dry
For our evil empire

The drug we're fed
To make us like it
Is God and country with a band

People we know who should know better
Howl, "America riles. Let's go to war!"
Business scams are what's worth dying for

Are the Soviets our worst enemy?
We're destroying ourselves instead
Who cares about our civil rights
As long as I get paid?

The blind Me-Generation
Doesn't care if life's a lie

so easily used, so proud to enforce

The stars and stripes of corruption
Let's bring it all down!
Tell me who's the real patriots
The Archie Bunker slobs waving flags?
Or the people with the guts to work
For some real change
Rednecks and bombs don't make us strong
We loot the world, yet we can't even feed ourselves
Our real test of strength is caring
Not the toys of war we sell the world
Just carry on, thankful to be farmed like worms
Old glory for a blanket
As you suck on your thumbs

Real freedom scares you
'Cos it means responsibility

So you chicken out and threaten me

Saying, "Love it or leave it"
I'll get beat up if I criticize it
You say you'll fight to the death
To save your worthless flag

If you want a banana republic that bad
Why don't you go move to one
But what can just one of us do?
Against all that money and power
Trying to crush us into roaches?

We don't destroy society in a day
Until we change ourselves first
From the inside out

We can start by not lying so much
And treating other people like dirt
It's easy not to base our lives
On how much we can scam

And you know
It feels good to lift that monkey off our backs

I'm thankful I live in a place
Where I can say the things I do
Without being taken out and shot
So I'm on guard against the goons
Trying to take my rights away
We've got to rise above the need for cops and laws

Let kids learn communication
Instead of schools pushing competition
How about more art and theater instead of sports?

People will always do drugs
Let's legalize them
Crime drops when the mob can't price them
Budget's in the red?
Let's tax religion

No one will do it for us
We'll just have to fix ourselves
Honesty ain't all that hard
Just put Rambo back inside your pants
Causing trouble for the system is much more fun

Thank you for the toilet paper
But your flag is meaningless to me
Look around, we're all people
Who needs countries anyway?

Our land, I love it too
I think I love it more than you
I care enough to fight

The stars and stripes of corruption
Let's bring it all down!
If we don't try
If we just lie
If we can't find
A way to do it better than this
Who will?

GladiatoRowdy · Jul 21, 2004

Actually, I think this guy was on The Daily Show a while back.

Oski2005 · Jul 21, 2004

Yeah, he had like a skull painted on his face. The best is when he was singing some song, it didn't sound like punk, it was like death metal or something, but you couldn't hear a word he said because he was singing so fast, so the Daily Show puts the "lyrics" on the screen for you, and it's an intelligent breakdown of Republican policy or something, of course that's not what he was really singing.

TraJ · Jul 21, 2004

Originally posted by mc mark
And he had this guy on a leash.

Click to expand...

You wish!

xelloss12 · Jul 21, 2004

Dailyshow here.

Mulder · Jul 21, 2004

kazo · Jul 21, 2004

NOFX seems to be a fan of GWB....

http://www.ericblumrich.com/idiot.html

rimbaud · Jul 21, 2004

Two can play that game, Meowgi:

Big A, little A, bouncing B
The system might have got you but it won't get me

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

External control are you gonna let them get you?
Do you wanna be a prisoner in the boundaries they set you?
You say you want to be yourself, by christ do you think they'll let you?
They're out to get you get you get you get you get you get you get you

Hello, hello, hello, this is the Lord God, can you hear?
Hellfire and damnation's what I've got for you down there
On earth I have ambassadors, archbishop, vicar, pope
We'll blind you with morality, you'd best abandon any hope,
We're telling you you'd better pray cos you were born in sin
Right from the start we'll build a cell and then we'll lock you in
We sit in holy judgement condemning those that stray
We offer our forgiveness, but first we'll make you pay

External control are you gonna let them get you?
Do you wanna be a prisoner in the boundaries they set you?
You say you want to be yourself, by christ do you think they'll let you?
They're out to get you get you get you get you get you get you get you

Hello, hello, hello, now here's a message from your queen
As figurehead of the status quo I set the social scene
I'm most concerned about my people, I want to give them peace
So I'm making sure they stay in line with my army and police
My prisons and my mental homes have ever open doors
For those amongst my subjects who dare to ask for more
Unruliness and disrespect are things I can't allow
So I'll see the peasants grovel if they refuse to bow

External control are you gonna let them get you?
Do you wanna be a prisoner in the boundaries they set you?
You say you want to be yourself, by christ do you think they'll let you?
They're out to get you get you get you get you get you get you get you

Introducing the Prime Sinister, she's a mother to us all
Like the dutch boy's finger in the dyke her arse is in the wall
Holding back the future waiting for the seas to part
If Moses did it with is faith, she'll do it with an army
Who at times of threatened crisis are certain to be there
Guarding national heritage no matter what or where
Palaces for kings and queens, mansions for the rich
Protection for the wealthy, defence of privilege
They've learnt the ropes In Ireland, engaged in civil war
Fighting for the ruling classes in their battle against the poor
So Ireland's just an island? It's an island of the mind
Great Britain? Future? Bollocks, you'd better look behind
Round every other corner stands P.C. 1984
Guardian of the future, he'll implement the law
He's there as a grim reminder that no matter what you do
Big brothers system's always there with his beady eyes on you
From God to local bobby, in home and street and school
They've got your name and number while you've just got their rule
We've got to look for methods to undermine those powers
It's time to change the tables. The future must be ours

Big A, little A, bouncing B
The system might have got you but it won't get me

Be exactly who you want to be, do what you want to do
I am he and she is she but you're the only you
No one else has got your eyes, can see the things you see
It's up to you to change your life and my life's up to me
The problems that you suffer from are problems that you make
The **** we have to climb through is the **** we choose to take
If you don't like the life you live, change it now it's yours
Nothing has effects if you don't recognise the cause
If the programme's not the one you want, get up, turn off the set
It's only you that can decide what life you're gonna get
If you don't like religion you can be the antichrist
If your tired of politics you can be an anarchist
But no one ever changed the church by pulling down a steeple
And you'll never change the system by bombing number ten
Systems just aren't made of bricks they're mostly made of people
You may send them into hiding, but they'll be back again
If you don't like the rules they make, refuse to play their game
If you don't want to be a number, don't give them your name
If you don't want to be caught out, refuse to hear their question
Silence is a virtue, use it for your own protection
They'll try to make you play their game, refuse to show your face
If you don't want to be beaten down, refuse to join their race
Be exactly who you want to be, do what you want to do
I am he and she is she but you're they only you

Forums

Meet the pro-Bush punks

IROC it Contributing Member

rimbaud Contributing Member
Supporting Member

RocketMan Tex Contributing Member

plcmts17 Member

mc mark Contributing Member

mc mark Contributing Member

MR. MEOWGI Contributing Member

GladiatoRowdy Contributing Member

Oski2005 Contributing Member

TraJ Member

xelloss12 Contributing Member

Mulder Contributing Member

kazo Member

rimbaud Contributing Member
Supporting Member

Share This Page

About ClutchFans

Rockets Content

Support ClutchFans!

Meet the pro-Bush punks

IROC it Contributing Member

rimbaud Contributing Member Supporting Member

RocketMan Tex Contributing Member

plcmts17 Member

mc mark Contributing Member

mc mark Contributing Member

MR. MEOWGI Contributing Member

GladiatoRowdy Contributing Member

Oski2005 Contributing Member

TraJ Member

xelloss12 Contributing Member

Mulder Contributing Member

kazo Member

rimbaud Contributing Member Supporting Member

Share This Page

rimbaud Contributing Member
Supporting Member

rimbaud Contributing Member
Supporting Member