Willie Nelson = Marajuana Addicted Idiot.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Posted on 12/31/2003 1:37:26 PM PST by O.C. - Old Cracker
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Willie Nelson woke up early Christmas morning at the Lake Elsinore, Calif., home of his in-laws and turned on the news.
"There was nothing but bad news, and here it was Christmas Day," Nelson said. "I said, `There sure are a lot of babies dying and mothers crying,' and (wife) Annie said, `That sounds like a song.' "
By the end of the day, Nelson had written the anti-war ballad "What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth," which he will debut at Saturday's fund-raising concert for Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich at Austin Music Hall.
"That's only the second protest song I've ever written," Nelson said Tuesday from his tour bus in Tennessee, "but it just came pouring out."
Nelson often performed his anti-war composition "Jimmy's Road" at peace rallies during the 1991 Gulf War. It was released on 1992's "The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?"
Asked if he's concerned that the new song -- which asks such biting questions as "How much oil is one human life worth?" and "How much is a liar's word worth?" -- might cause a backlash with conservative country music fans, Nelson said, "I sure hope so. I don't care if people say, `Who the hell does he think he is?' I know who I am."
Nelson plans to record the song in Nashville today and rush-release it as a single, though the song itself suggests that it won't get much airplay: "Now, you probably won't hear this on your radio/ Probably not on your local TV/ But if there's a time, and you're ever so inclined/ You can always hear it from me." The lyrics were released Tuesday by the Kucinich campaign.
Nelson said the reaction he's had from friends for whom he's played the song has been overwhelmingly positive. Houston lawyer Joe Jamail, a longtime Willie crony, told the singer that he plans to buy a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle to display the lyrics.
"Now, I haven't played it for Toby (Keith) yet," Nelson said with a laugh. Although the two are close friends, the sentiments of "What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth" are the polar opposite of Keith's angry-American anthem "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," with its call to arms.
"Toby wrote that song in reaction to 9/11, which was a totally different thing than watching U.S. soldiers die in Iraq," Nelson said. "Toby's said he's not a Republican or a Democrat; he's a Christian. So we're coming from the same place."
Nelson said he became interested in endorsing Kucinich because of the Ohioan's support of family farmers. The four-term congressman from Cleveland has also been an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq.
"I just like him because he tells the truth," Nelson said. "Whether he's electable or not, who knows? But when you've got a guy you can trust, you've got a good candidate."
Kucinich has raised about $5 million for his campaign, far less than the $40 million raised so far by the campaign of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
Saturday's concert, which will be Webcast live at www. kucinich.us, will also feature Michelle Shocked, Bonnie Raitt, Tish Hinojosa and Pat Simmons and Michael McDonald from the Doobie Brothers.
Tickets to the fund-raiser are $45 and on sale at Star Tickets locations.
Kucinich spokeswoman Susan Mainzer says the goal is to raise more than $80,000 during the candidate's two-day visit to Austin.
Kucinich will hit town Friday to file for a spot on the Texas Democratic primary ballot.
Texas isn't expected to be in political play for the November general election, but Democratic presidential hopefuls have been visiting the state for campaign cash and for support in the state's March 9 primary.
Kucinich also will attend a reception Friday night and will meet with AFL-CIO members Saturday morning.
He's scheduled to speak at a peace rally at the Capitol at 1:30 p.m.
Saturday and will tape a question-and-answer session with young people at 2:30 p.m. at the Austin Music Network.
mcorcoran@statesman.com; 445-3652
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Yea...IGNORANT ... I guess that whiskey river took his mind!
Kucinich: Refusal to Discharge Is an Involuntary Draft 12/31/2003
"The Army's refusal to release tens of thousands of soldiers who have completed their terms of service amounts to drafting them on the very day they fulfill their obligations. These men and women have already risked their lives. They should not have to risk them a second time through involuntary service, through being forced to stay in Iraq. This is a draft. A draft forces people to serve involuntarily. If this occupation is allowed to continue for years, as the President and other Democratic presidential candidates want, we are bound to see a more formal draft. And with three of the Democratic presidential candidates favoring mandatory draft registration for 18-year-old women, even families without sons could be in for a huge surprise. Before we move any further down this path, we must recognize this occupation of Iraq as a destabilizing force in that country and a drain on the resources of this one. We must go to the United Nations with a proposal that would pull US troops out as UN peacekeepers are brought in. We must give up our hopes for oil profits and privatization of the Iraqi economy and instead rebuild our own economy here at home."
Geeze what a damfool.
Prairie
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