oy, oy, oy
I never, never thought I'd be saying this, but... maybe it's a good thing that Joe Strummer died in 2002. Apparently, punk rock in the USA has become a
hotbed of neo-conservatism. I'm actually shocked by this.... I mean, no one is surprised when country music spawns a bonehead like Toby Keith, but right-wing punk rock has generally been a stronghold of neo-nazism (skin bands like Skrewdriver, for example). It just goes to show just how right-wing the sympathies of the Bush administration may actually be.
As this sorry movement's website,
conservativepunk.com, shows, there's no shortage of anti-Arabism and religious rightism in all of this. But the conflation of punk with the sort of sickly, cynical/evangelical corporatism of the new New Right has a distinct Bob Roberts vibe to it. What is particularly disturbing is that there is an "older generation" of Republican-voting, NRA punks providing support and legitimacy for these scrubs--including Michale Graves of the Misfits, and
Johnny Ramone.
However, there is still an active left wing in punk rock, and some of the bands are popular. Fat Wreck Chords recently released a punk-against-Bush compilation, featuring Good Charlotte. Middling songs, but it's nice to see that there is something out there besides the Strokes--who are effectively a boy-band for New Yorkers.
* joshua, 5/13/2004 10:27:19 PM
