GOP Fete for Johnny Cash Stirs Debate

[Khephra]

WASHINGTON -- Was the man in black a Democrat or a Republican? The son of the late singer Johnny Cash, who captured the hardscrabble life of those on the margins in songs such as "Folsom Prison Blues" and "One Piece at a Time," says his dad never hinted about his party choice.

"He wouldn't say if he had any political affiliation," said John Carter Cash.

Uncertainty aside, Republicans plan to pay tribute to Cash as Sotheby's auction house in New York Tuesday night, one of many convention-related celebrations. Sotheby's will be auctioning Cash memorabilia Sept. 14-16.

The party is for convention delegates from Tennessee, Cash's home state. Tennessee Republican Party Chairwoman Beth Harwell said the event is "a way for us to honor a great Tennessean. A lot of the Tennessee delegates love Johnny Cash's music."

more........

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-cvn-johnny-cash-protest,0,3611939.story?coll=sns-ap-entertainment-headlines

[flamingyouth]

1. Anyone with any question should listen to "Man in Black"

and his show at Madison Square Garden in 1969.

[BootinUp]

2. Seems like he would not

want his name used for politics.

[neomonkey]

3. "He wouldn't say"

Hmm, and it's a RNC fete.

Use your imagination.

[Scairp]

26. Those bastards

How low will they go? I'm very certain this great man and muscian would not have been pleased to be used in this way. He was a man of faith, yes, but he was very, very tolerant of everyone. This really burns my ass.

[dogtag]

4. They are delusional

and so is his son if they think he wasn't for the downtrodden. He sure as hell was no republican. Do they know why he wore black? Someone should tell them.

[Khephra]

6. For those who don't know why he wore black

I might as well post the lyrics, don't yah think? ;-)

---

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

[flamingyouth]

8. I always loved "The Ballad Of Ira Hayes" too

Gather round me, people, there's a story I would tell,
About a brave young Indian you should remember well;
From the land of the Pima Indians, a proud and noble band,
Who farmed the Phoenix Valley in Arizona land.
Down their ditches for a thousand years the waters grew Ira's people's crops,
Till the white man stole their water rights and their sparklin' water stopped.
Now Ira's folks grew hungry, and their farms grew crops of weeds.
When war came, Ira volunteered and forgot the white man's greed.
CHORUS: Call him drunken Ira Hayes --
He won't answer anymore,
Not the whiskey-drinkin' Indian,
Not the Marine who went to war.

Well, they battled up Iwo Jima hill -- two hundred and fifty men,
But only twenty-seven lived -- to walk back down again;
When the fight was over -- and Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high was the Indian -- Ira Hayes.

Ira Hayes returned a hero -- celebrated through the land,
He was wined and speeched and honored -- everybody shook his hand;
But he was just a Pima Indian -- no water, no home, no chance;
At home nobody cared what Ira done -- and when do the Indians dance?

Then Ira started drinkin' hard -- jail was often his home;
They let him raise the flag and lower it -- as you would throw a dog a bone;
He died drunk early one morning -- alone in the land he'd fought to save;
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch -- was the grave for Ira Hayes.

CODA: Yea, call him drunken Ira Hayes,
But his land is just as dry,
And the ghost is lying thirsty
In the ditch where Ira died.

[Cha]

10. That's beautiful! And I wish we could get this song out and

let People decide for themselves who Johnny was for.

I wonder if Willy knows?

Johnny's son sounds a bit disingenous ..I wonder who he's for?

[Sparky McGruff]

28. What about "Man in Plaid"

If Well, you wonder why I always dress in plaid,
Well, those commie hippie freaks make me mad,
And the government takes too much out of my check.
It makes me want to strangle a homeless guy by the neck.

I wear plaid for the wealthy CEOs,
Snortin' fine cocaine up their brahmin nose,
I wear it for the executive who lost some cash,
'Cause the liberal freaks stopped him from dumping trash.

I wear plaid for those who beat up gays,
And cut the overtime out of worker's pays ,
They whine and bitch and moan about being second class,
But Jesus would want us all to kick their ass.

Well, we're getting to where God would want us all,
As we drive our Humvees down to the shopping mall,
But because those liberals make us all mad,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Plaid.

I wear plaid because we found the WMD,
'Cause Saddam crashed those planes into the WTC,
I wear plaid because I watch the news anchors on Fox,
Who tell me that the President's plan for Iraq just rocks.

And, I wear it for the investment bankers all,
Who pump up worthless stocks and watch them fall,
They pay too much in taxes, it's so dumb,
We need to eliminate the capital gains tax on investment income.

Those who say that people need help everywhere,
That Enron stole money from their pensioners,
They're all just whiners and liberal freaks,
Jesus loves the rich and the GOP.

That's why I wear plaid every single day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But it will get better if we re-elect George Bush as well,
'Cuz he helps the Rich, and the rest can go to hell.

[Comicstripper]

38. Nice

[Khephra]

5. Well, the Republicans have shown they're willing to use

the dead for their own political means, so I guess this event really shouldn't come as a surprise. I wonder who the next dead person they're going to dig up to help their cause?

[Pepperbelly]

15. well duh, friend khephra ...

I thought that Bushie was gonna climb right into the casket with ol' dead Ronnie and they were ALREADY working on spots when Nancy made them stop.

[Chovexani]

40. Bush/Zombie Reagan '04!

http://www.bush-zombiereagan.com/

[glitch]

7. They would love to call Johnny Cash one of their own - he can't defend

himself now. He was a huge talent and is now an easy target, their kind of victory. They have to do something since the talent they can legitimately claim is so mediocre.
But they're only fooling themselves.

[randr]

9. They are gonna love his new album

"Troublemaker" coming out soon.

[Sandpiper]

11. Johnny Cash was Anti War and Pro Social Justice

I can't see how either of those would square with GOP philosophy.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. Johnny was on Larry King just before he died

and he said then he was against the war in Iraq. That the Rethugs are saying he's one of their own is disgusting.

[Norbert]

13. Somehow I think if Johnny Cash found out his name is being politicised

he would be doing this:

[0007]

16. I'm sure Johnny would have a song for the repuke's to go

along with the "fuck you" sign.

[david_vincent]

19. I have a T shirt with that picture on it!

There are bootlegs that exist of him in his wild days that prove that he was WILD back then.
When he died, one of the TV documentaries that aired showed him meeting with students in the 60s and talking with them about the war in Vietnam. You could tell it was completely spontaneous, they were all just standing together talking things over. The footage was in B/W. Anyone else recall seeing that?

[Cha]

21. His son should STop this...It makes me wonder

what his agenda is?!!

[Pepperbelly]

14. Johnny Cash was from Arkansas and there is no way he was a gop

Ask his daughter Roseanne.

http://www.daveyd.com/FullArticles%5CarticleN1383.asp

[IrishBloodEngHeart]

17. No way Johnny was a republican

and he may have been too progressive to define himself only as a democrat. Johnny stood up for those without a voice his entire life. He was the anti-republican.

[nodehopper]

18. Man in Black Bloc

http://www.defendjohnnycash.org/call.html

[DeepModem Mom]

20. Al Gore, not W, was invited to give a eulogy at his funeral

[Cha]

22. OMG! This has to get Out!

And make the repukes look like the idiot ghouls that they are!

[DeepModem Mom]

23. From the Nashville Tennessean --

After that, the service gave way to friends' and family members' eulogies. Gore praised Cash's forthright method of dealing with adversity and said Cash wouldn't have sounded right singing the Frank Sinatra standard My Way, with its declaration, ''Regrets, I've had a few / But then again, too few to mention.''

''No, he had a lot of regrets, and he mentioned them all,'' Gore said.

http://www.tennessean.com/entertainment/news/cash/archives/03/09/39398693.shtml

[Philostopher]

27. I was thinking just that.

And Roseanne is, apparently, very fond of Al Gore. I can understand Johnny refusing to align himself politically -- but I think if we take his work as the measure of the man, and since he's gone there's nothing else to take, he was a populist at heart. There used to be populist Republicans, but I don't really think populism fits in very well with the neoconservative agenda. I doubt he thought much of GW, in other words, regardless what his overall political beliefs were.

[daleo]

24. Someone should play Cash's version of "Desperado" for them

His last (or second last?) CD includes famous Republican hits like:

- Desperado (Glen Frey/Don Henley, and who could forget Linda Ronstadt's version for Micheal Moore?)

- In My Life (Lennon and McCartney - John Lennon, enough said)

- Bridge over Troubled Waters (Paul Simon)

- I Hung my Head (Sting)

Not to mention a lot of other fine songs, some of his own writing included. Do these sound like the choices of a Republican musician, in a CD that he surely knew might be his final compilation?

Granted, he was complex, and his thinking may not be amenable to being brought under one tent, no matter how wide. But surely, he was not a supporter of Bushco.

[antigone382]

25. Those Rat Bastards can't have Johnny Cash!

He's MY hero; they're just a bunch of opportunistic posers.

[buycitgo]

29. what about a chimp named Sue?

....in Federal court to steal an election.....

[aaronbees]

30. Unbelievable!

Well, not really ... this is in line with Rethug tactics. And auctioning his goods at Sotheby's? Do they know what this man stood for?

Way to trash the memory of a true American hero, a real patriot.

[nolabels]

31. Inducting people into Honorary positions in the GOP, posthumously

Only in country with a chimp as the selected leader :crazy:

Johnny is a Hero just for staying above the fray, even when he no longer physically with us.

Your big man Johnny and thanks for being there R.I.P.



JOHNNY CASH
America / Ragged Old Flag
CD, Columbia


I can think of two reasons Columbia re-released this records on CD for the first time right now: utter patriotism since 9-11 and cashing in on the newfound fame of Johnny Cash. I can also think of two reasons I had to get these CDs: there aren’t available in any other form around here and, after all, it is Johnny Cash, so how bad can it get? Actually, there are pretty good songs on both records, even though one is more in the novelty-corner. Must have’s they ain’t.

Johnny Cash just celebrated his 70th birthday and his maybe third peak in stardom, this time round in the most artistical honours and youthful endorsement. Young people everywhere are referring to Johnny Cash as the a true rebel, a real idol speaking words of wisdom and a life full of experience and also an irreverent and uncompromising artist, who still likes to show music establishment his straight middle finger. This is what makes Johnny Cash cool nowadays (again) and he well deserves it. Even though the picture of the man sketched above is just another picture you might have of him, because Johnny Cash still is a lot of things that even the most liberal-minded, middle-European music-critic wouldn’t understand, not to speak of tolerate or withhold. He is for instance deeply religious, a patriot and a southern man. True, he is also a rebel, a pacifist and critical about intolerance. As Walt Whitman once said: “I am big, I contain many things”. And Johnny Cash is a very very big man.

(snip)
http://www.monochrom.at/cracked/reviews/Rev%20Cash.htm

[TexasSissy]

32. Most C&W singers are Repubs...the religious angle I guess.

Interesting that he wouldn't say which party he voted for. But then he was unlike anyone, wasn't he? Maybe he was an Independent. Or maybe he just didn't want to get his fans upset about it; he was a crossover artist, appealing to rock fans and country fans alike.

But then....he was friends with Willie & Waylon, and part of the Highwaymen, wasn't he? Willie is a Democrat. So maybe Cash was, too.

[dbt]

33. Nobody owns Johnny Cash.

Not the Pugs, not even (gasp!) us. Let one side claim him and opposing viewpoints from The Man himself will point the other way.

Cash was always true to himself first, and "let the rough side drag." Cash was all about finding things out for himself, not letting anybody else tell him how to think.

He was, as Kristofferson wrote, A walking contradiction/Partly truth and partly fiction/Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home.

Let the Pugs have their little moment. Cash will not be their property any more than he was/is ours. He will be what he's always been: The Truth. Nobody owns The Truth; it just is.

He was the King Of Rock And Roll.

:bounce:
dbt

[Momof1]

34. Rosanne's Statement, and an interview from Steve Earle

http://www.rosannecash.com/monthly.html

Dear Friends,

First, in the tempests-in-teacups department:

The Cash family has NOT approved the usage of the name or likeness of Johnny Cash for the purposes of the Republican Party, or any political agenda or event.
Sotheby's, who is auctioning the estate of Johnny and June Cash on September 14th, 15th and 16th, is not affiliated with any political organization and has no political agenda.

The Republican Party and/or convention cannot and has not co-opted the name or likeness of Johnny Cash for their purposes.

What HAS happened is that Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, an old family friend of Dad and June, has asked to have a private party at Sotheby's for some members of the Tennessee delegation. Sotheby's rents out space for parties to many, many diverse groups, and this was approved by both Sotheby's and the estate lawyers for my father, based on the personal relationship between our family and the Senator, NOT as a show of support for the Republican agenda.

What was a little more murky was a second party, unrelated to the Senator, and whose intent was somewhat confusing, which seemed to play rather fast and loose with the image of my Dad on their invitations and and party plan. As soon as we found out about this, it was stopped. With a resounding thud.

There is no need to 'defend' my Dad against the Republicans, or against anyone, for that matter, as some over-zealous types would have you believe. You can rest assured that if anyone needs to 'defend' my Dad against improper usage of his name or image, that we, the family and the estate lawyers, are on the case, usually long before the rest of the world finds out about it. It is our honor and our duty to protect the legacy of my father, and we all take this very seriously, and we are empowered to the nth degree to do so.

So, please, rest easy. If you feel the need to protest something, allow me to give you directions to Madison Square Garden.
Unsnip:



Now for the interview with Steve Earle...

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/27/1449225

Snip:
AMY GOODMAN: Steve Earle, here on Democracy Now! In our studio I can't help but think about Johnny Cash a little bit, and our listeners and viewers know we play The Mercy Seed a lot. I don't know if you have heard about the Republican Convention, but on Tuesday, the G.O.P. And the Mesh Gas Association, a network of 154 utility multinationals will be hosting an exclusive celebration for Cash for the Republican delegation of Tennessee inside the elite corridors of Sotheby's auction house. Cash a Republican?

STEVE EARLE: John is rolling over in his grave. I promise you. Describing Johnny Cash as a Republican or Democrat is like almost not appropriate, but I mean, he was one of the people that supported me more than anyone. One of the very first people to call with a call of support after Juryslem came out about that. When I was locked up, he was one of the three people that wrote me letters. John was- was -- he was somebody asked me about me once' he said, well, Steve is kind of like me. He's an Indian in the white man's camp. He was always an outsider in national. And I -- I find that offensive on that -- I find that really, really offensive.

[glitch]

41. Johnny left a fine family to defend his name

what was I saying before - his name would be an easy target now that he's dead. Wrong!

[President Jesus]

35. Johnny Cash's only campaign contribution: $1000 to Jimmy Carter

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=TN&last=Cash&first=John

This is the only campaign contribution by "John R. Cash" in the public record. I'd suggest he was hardly a Republican.

[Momof1]

36. Jimmy Carter was a distant cousin of June's

Johnny actively campaigned for Jimmy Carter. Carter was the only person that I have ever heard of Johnny endorsing.

*With the exception of endorsing Republican Bill Miller for a Mayor's race in California.

[74dodgedart]

37. Pro labor, anti-war ---Johnnie was a Dem

[arlib]

39. very true...

...plus he supported the Smothers Brothers during their controversies with network broadcasts.

[Disturbed]

42. "Born In the USA"

Repubs used that song without persmission. Springsteen had to demand that they stop. Amusing in a way because that song certainly isn't pro-war or Repub in any way. repubs are not only shameless users they are dense, as well.

Johnny Cash may not have been a registered Dem but he damn well was not a Repub.

[Momof1]

46. You can not classify Johnny Cash as a Dem...

He is definetly a liberal, but he was not a democrat. He was an independent voter if anything. People that have known Johnny for years don't know how he is registered.

A historian that has made several posts about Johnny on another forum seems to think he was an independent.

Because in 1992 Johnny told the historian and friend of his, that he didn't vote for either Clinton or Bush.

That leaves Perot.

Johnny fully supported Nixon.

Snip:

Cash transcended limits cultural and political, not just music. Cash wrote a novel based on the Gospel of Paul and shared racy jokes with death-row prisoners; Cash had both Bob Dylan's and Richard Nixon's home phone numbers. His ability to get on the same level with different groups seemed infinite.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/09/15/americas_musical_uniter/

That is the thing about Johnny Cash... you can not classify him as anything. Country, Rock & Roll, & Songwriters Hall of Fame. They all try to claim him. And then look at the Punkrockers, they pay homage to Cash also.

"He is a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction." -Kris Kristofferson

If he was alive today, I would bet a million dollars that he would be voting for Kerry, but I truly don't know how he would of voted. Neither does anyone else.

[sendero]

43. Anyone with even a passing familiarity...

.... with the songs Cash wrote would have no trouble at all discerning that he is no fucking stupid conservative.

[David Zephyr]

44. GOP Confusion Over Party Affiliation of the 'Man in Black' Understandable:

His last name is Cash.

[kskiska]

45. Billy Graham is a Democrat

and has said so, yet the Repugs act like they own him.