Rich men north of Richmond vs the Kinkster Kinky Friedman made the best response

OK, I lied. That wasn't the last post on this site by me. BUT...I'm now posting on my new substack account: Blues, Jazz, Politics and Irony. You should go to that site and subscribe...it's free RICHARD CONGRESS AUG 25, 2023 Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” has made a big splash. Many people have praised it as a cry for help from a downtrodden sector of society. Which sector and how downtrodden, and who is actually treading them down is another question. Rather than dismissing it as another iteration of Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town,” which reeks of an obviously racist, thug, vigilante response to big city, unpatriotic, not white “woke” people, many have tried to be understanding of Oliver’s dilemma of a hard working guy trying to survive in a tough, unfair world. Blues, Jazz, Politics and Irony is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribed This is a mistake. Anthony is another dumb ass racist shit trying to blame certain people for his hard times. Which people? Well, it’s actually the usual suspects: non-white people and northern liberals and their unpatriotic ways. Why is it so hard for many people to see this? If the song had been titled “Rich Men Screwing Over the Workers” it would have been on the right track towards naming the source of his problems. this title and the appropriate lyrics to go with it would not have gotten such a good response. When was the last time “The International” was listed on the Billboard top 50? Who wants to hear some commie anthem pointing out how the corporate rich are robbing everyone else blind? Even if it happens to be true, you are not supposed to say so. What about rich pharmaceutical company executives behaving like thugs and raking in super profits while poor workers like Oliver Anthony can’t afford insulin or other needed drugs? Anthony complains about his taxes being so high, but he doesn’t put that together with the fact that taxes on the very rich have been going down and the concentration of wealth at the very top is greater than ever. No, the problem is grossly obese (black) people on welfare living the good life consuming all the chocolate they can eat, while the poor (white )guy slaves away for a pittance. Why does he single out rich men north of Richmond? What about rich men who live in Richmond, VA? or south of Richmond? Because it’s got to be those fucking Yankees. You know: the Jews and foreign immigrants and those damn New York and New England fancy pants. Why Richmond as a dividing line? Because it was the capital of the Confederacy. Too bad for Oliver Anthony that they LOST! This whole…should I say brew ha ha, or maybe kerfuffle (what’s the right word here?) Anyway this whole thing takes me back to 1969 when country singer Merle Haggard release his song “Okie from Muskogee.” This song was a patriotic anthem praising the U.S. war in Vietnam and condemning antiwar protesters and traitors and dirty hippies, unlike the church going, upright and uptight, strait laced good people of Muskogee, Oklahoma who willingly marched off to the slaughter in Vietnam. The great Texas singer and songwriter, Kinky Friedman with his band (Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys) released a song in response to Haggard’s “Okie from Muskogee.” It was titled “I’m Proud To Be An Asshole from El Paso.” I lived in Houston in the 1970s and had a chance to see Kinky & Co perform. Here are the lyrics to Kinky Friedman’s riposte to Haggard. Asshole From El Paso Lyrics We don't have no lovin's in El Paso We don't go to porno picture shows We don't swap our wives with our neighbors And we keep our kids away from Mexico And I'm proud to be an asshole from El Paso A place where sweet young virgins are deflowered You walk down the street knee-deep in tacos Ta-ta-ta-tacos And the wetbacks still get twenty cents an hour We don't wipe our asses on Old Glory God and Lone Star beer are things we trust We keep our women virgins till they're married So hosin' sheep is good enough for us And I'm proud to be an asshole from El Paso A place where sweet young virgins are deflowered You walk down the street knee-deep in tacos Ta-ta-ta-tacos And the wetbacks still get twenty cents an hour I'm proud to be an asshole from El Paso A place where sweet young virgins are deflowered You walk down that street knee-deep in tacos Ta-ta-ta-tacos And the wetbacks still get twenty cents an hour Blues, Jazz, Politics and Irony is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribed