when it's a nice day so you're ignoring your problems pic.twitter.com/LMDoaxH7vh
— actioncookbook (@actioncookbook) July 4, 2019
Gotta hand it to our military. Trump wanted the pomp and celebration of a massive Bastille Day parade. What he got was four armored vehicles on display in the rain, a few football game flyovers and the military service chiefs didn't even show up.
DoD slow-walking at its finest.
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) July 5, 2019
Speaking of weird “patriotic” co-optations… I knew that Gretchen Peters’ “Independence Day” was not exactly an America Fvck Yeah! anthem, but then I was living in the area during the Francine Hughes trial. What I had *not* known, until now, was that the song has been claimed by the same sort of rightwing nitwits who think “Born in the USA” is about how Ronald Reagan made jingoism kewl again. From Rolling Stone, “How a Song About Domestic Violence Got Mistaken for a Patriotic Anthem”:
When Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” was released to country radio in April 1994, it was easy to mistake the country song for a U-S-A! U-S-A! anthem. It was titled after America’s most patriotic holiday after all, and its irresistible chorus of “Let freedom ring!” seemed custom-made for small-town Fourth of July celebrations to come. But the true meaning behind “Independence Day,” written by Gretchen Peters and recorded by powerhouse vocalist McBride, was lost on many listeners — the seemingly July 4th holiday hit turned out to be a story of domestic violence and one woman’s drastic measures to escape abuse at home.
“I started getting all these letters — handwritten letters, back in the day — from women saying, ‘This is my song,’” McBride says now. “I got a few letters that said, ’I heard this song on the radio, I’ve been battered for 10 years, and I left. This was the thing that made me realize that it’s not my fault, that I need to make a change.’”
Throughout the past 25 years, both McBride and Peters have watched as their song has taken on a life entirely of its own — not just in its cathartic impact for victims of abuse, but also in its misinterpretation for political means. Sean Hannity used the song as a theme on his radio show from shortly after 9/11 until 2014; Sarah Palin chose it as a walk-on song during her Vice Presidential campaign. Peters, in particular, has been saddled with a patriotic anthem she did not write.
“As the writer, I always believe that it’s very powerful to know what your story’s about and know your characters, but not necessarily put it all in there,” she says. “Because I think it invites the listener to play a part. The danger there is that those kinds of songs are much more easily misconstrued.”…
Somehow a song about deliberate cruelty driving its victims to a terrible revenge seems appropriate right at the moment, or maybe that’s just me. It’s a darned catchy ditty, regardless!
Friday Morning Open Thread: Maybe Just Enjoy the WeekendPost + Comments (121)