Posted on 02/06/2024 11:09:17 AM PST by Red Badger
The Drive-by Media is taking cheap shots at the late country music legend Toby Keith. He died last night after a long battle with stomach cancer. Keith was 62.
The media described Keith as “polarizing” and the Associated Press accused him of “overt patriotism.” As if that was a bad thing?
Keith often wore his politics on his sleeve, especially after the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil in 2001, and early on he said was a conservative Democrat, but later claimed he was an independent. He’s played at events for Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the latter giving him a National Medal of the Arts in 2021. His songs and his blunt opinions sometimes caused him controversy, which he seemed to court.
Associated Press His 2002 song, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” drew the ire of leftists across the nation — including many within the Country music industry.
“I wrote that song as a gift to our military. I wrote it to raise their spirits in a difficult time,” he told the New York Post. “It’s a kick-their-ass-song, and they loved it at the Naval Academy. A few weeks later, I did it at the Pentagon, and there are people who say there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”
Singer-songwriter Steve Earle called Keith’s song “pandering to people’s worst instincts at a time they are hurt and scared.”
Then there was the feud between Keith and The Chicks (formerly called the Dixie Chicks), who became a target of Keith’s ire when singer Natalie Maines told a crowd that they were ashamed of then President George W. Bush. Maines had also previously called Keith’s song “ignorant.”
The song captured the soul of the American people in the aftermath of the 2001 Muslim terrorists attacks. And Keith’s lyrics reflected the anger and the resolve of the nation.
“We’ll put a boot up your ass, it’s the American way,” the lyrics read.
“I was real angry when I saw that second plane hit that tower and wondered what my dad would have thought about it. And the lyrics just fell out of me,” he told CNN’s TalkBack Live.
Keith told CNN he had not planned on releasing the song, but when he saw the reaction from troops he knew he had to do it.
“The response was so tremendous, I said, ‘Hey, we’re allowed to be angry.’ I know how angry I was when I saw those towers come down, and this is my way of serving my country,” Keith said in an interview on CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Reports.
But the song got pulled from a patriotic ABC Fourth of July special after producers deemed it too angry for the show.
“They said Mr. Jennings didn’t like the lyric content, and this wasn’t going to be on his show,” he said, referring to then-ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, a Canadian. “Let’s make sure that everybody knows that it’s not because we weren’t booked on there. It was because of lyric content.”
Jennings objected to lyrics like, “Justice will be served and the battle will rage – This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage – And you’ll be sorry that you messed with the U S of A – ’Cause we’ll put a boot in your ass – It’s the American way.”
That makes me like him even more
Its art. It doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of the artist. The more it does, the more it becomes propaganda.
Patriotism? ‘Ell yeah that is a bad thing.
Slaves can’t express such. Get back in line!!
What do you expect from Peter Jennings? Whiny little B Canadian.
He’s dead, Jim......................
Overt patriotism? Wow!!!
That is thirty degrees worse than overt treason.
The anonymous nature of being a ‘keyboard warrior’ hides the true sickness that exists in far too many people in this country. The internet is not always a good thing. Society was far more pleasant when voicing hatred and bile would likely get your a$$ kicked almost immediately. The lack of immediate and maybe painful consequences for one’s actions is one of today’s biggest problems IMHO.
That song was so perfect for the country. I loved watching our military react to it when Toby was on USO tours.
My other favorite song of his is Beer for my Horses.
You did a great job Toby Keith, your dad would be proud. Go with God
Others who were guilty of overt patriotism:
Patrick Henry
John Adams
Samuel Adams
Paul Revere
Thomas Paine
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
...and the list goes on and on.
This needs repeating. The only thing that surprises me, especially since the advent of social media, is that we haven't seen a lot of incidents where internet tough guys have been "called out".
Peter Jennings has been dead for at least 10 to 15 years. I’m not sure and don’t really care.
Do you think Taylor Swift has anywhere near the capacity to heal America's broken heart.
Just "Shake It Off".
Still makes me cry.
Either way, he’s dead and gone.
Don’t forget Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.
You might have something there.
I can only hope for the honor that a “journalist” adds such a slur to an account of my death when it comes around.
Keith had one song - ONE song - that was aggressively patriotic. And that is what informs the media’s obituary on him. Keith was a lifelong Democrat and they still attack him. I remember the same thing when Margaret Thatcher died. All the MSM obituaries called her controversial and polarizing. These MSM hacks are so political that even a death is a chance to score political points.
The mistake we make is calling the media, the media. They are simply Leftist activists, only.
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