Mellencamp rips Bush for country not being united

[Nambe]

Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Times Leader

The heartland rock singer who gave us such cinematic songs as "Jack and Diane," "Pink Houses" and "Cherry Bomb," says he wants George W. Bush out of the White House not so much because of international affairs but because of how those affairs have torn apart his country. So he joined the "Vote for Change" tour, which comes to Wilkes-Barre's F.M. Kirby Center on Oct. 1.

"This country is so divided, and that's so wrong," Mellencamp says. "The common man is very understanding and has compassion, but for some reason today, that's evaporated. And that has to stop. If you sweep all of the other things aside - the war, the economy, gas - forget about all that stuff. Just this one issue alone is enough for me to say 'Wait a minute. This is not the way this country was supposed to be.' It's not supposed to be brother against brother or aunt against uncle or father against son." ..

Mellencamp believes Bush has not united the country philosophically, socially or financially and has not fostered the unity the country felt after 9-11.

"John Kerry, at least, is a different voice," he says, adding that "if there is any possibility that this guy can turn things around in the rest of the world," he should have the chance. ,,

[mac56]

1. I love Mellencamp.

Always have, even when he was Johnny Cougar.

It's never been cool to like Mellencamp, but I love him, now more than ever.

[otohara]

2. Well Said!

Mellencamp believes Bush has not united the country philosophically, socially or financially and has not fostered the unity the country felt after 9-11.

[Joy Anne]

4. except

that it's rather sexist. Aren't any sisters, etc., divided?

[Fovea]

8. What gender is your Aunt?

Compare and contrast Mellencamp's extemporaneous speech with that of say, Dubya, who speaks only for his base, the haves and the have-mores... Which, generally, are white men.

I hope you just forgot the /sarcasm tag.
Otherwise, I fear you really don't get what is going on nowadays.
I think you misunderestimate the peril you are in.

There are plenty of sisters against the wall. I think it is pretty evident that John Mellencamp knows this. Guys like Wm. Rivers Pitt have literally turned themselves inside out screaming about dying women and children in Iraq. Kerry is bleeding for his pro-choice stance.

How 'bout a tiny prop for the man, who might just as easily have walked away from the fire and let the sisters fend for themselves?
Kerry wants your vote more than the NASCAR dad's.

So what is the raison d'etre behind this snarky comment?

This is a particularly critical question in my mind since one segment of the voting age population that seems particularly disinterested in voting for their own wellbeing is young unmarried women.

I mean it's your body and all, but I don't think it is out of line for me to suggest you pull your head outta your butt.

[RodneyCK2]

3. From a fellow Hoosier, well said.

:toast:

[Wickerman]

5. Ol' Johnny "Cougar" Mellencamp is a good man

whatever he wants to be called. Between speaking up when he needs to and Farm Aid efforts for over a decade, he's on of the heroes of popular music.

:thumbsup:

[ignatius 2]

7. Isn't it odd that when entertainers raise money for Farm Aid or

Bangladesh, apartheid, aids or any number of other social issues they are heaped with praise, but let them do one thing to rid the world and country of the pox of Bush and they are rodiculed and scorned. It is total hypocrisy and illogical as hell.

[Wright Patman]

6. * admits he is dictatorial

in terms of mindset.

"Who cares what you think?" is one of his famous quotes.

As for brother against brother, I think there was a lot of that during the Civil War. May God help us if we are headed for another one.

I continue to believe that the mindset of those who live in the Old Confederacy (even including Texas, I'm afraid) is such that this part of the country will never see eye to eye on any issue with those who live in the rest of the country.

This sectionalism (now imbued with self-righteous religious fervor) predates the aforementioned Civil War. I read a book some years ago by David Hackett Fischer called Albion's Seed which left me with the impression that it is also a conflict in terms of world view pitting the Scots-Irish culture which has shaped the South versus the more highly-educated English and Germans who dominate up North.

We are not one nation and arguably never have been. Fischer identified four different "folkways" and assigned geographic regions to each one.

Until we get the representatives of the Scots-Irish folkway out of the White House (and it makes no different that * is actually English; he has absorbed and now personifies the S-I warrior culture even if he has personally shown himself to be cowardly), there will be no chance for reconciliation not only among the regions of the U.S., but with the rest of the world as well.

[noonwitch]

10. Didn't shrub also say it would be easier if this was a dictatorship?

Sieg Heil, Herr Bush?

[RobertDevereaux]

9. A cougar in name and spirit both!

[AspenRose]

11. He "gets it"

I shouldn't have to be afraid to put a Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker on my car because of fear of being run off the road or vandalism.

This country is so divided, it'll take a Bill Clinton sized miracle to reunite it.

No thanks to Reich Wing radio, which keeps the flames of hatred burning brightly.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

12. A good American!

[Parche]

13. cougar

Even though I cant stand his music, if you call it that

It is good that he at least knows what is right

[shadu]

14. I have stopped calling him John Cougar Mellonhead

out of deference for his political activity.
But you are correct, his music sucks.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. Where do melons go in the summer?

John Cougar Melloncamp!

(Sorry!)