The Red Headed Stranger can't mosey outside Austin no more

Again, I don't want to get too politicky with the blog, I like the politics but it would be silly to compete with the giants of the blog world. I would merely be repeating the much better commentary of others. But once again some dub-ass state legislature is messing with the culture and I will have nones of it!
The damn Texas State Legislature (the "lege" they call it down there) wants to shut down a proposed bill to name a stretch of highway outside of Austin after the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Willie Nelson.



Why? Why would Texans want to thwart the recognition of Willie Nelson? Well, silly goose, because Willie Nelson is not a Republican, and he drinks. I shit you not.

You see, naming shit after Ronald Reagan is okay because he is not a partisan figure, but what reasonable person can think of Willie Nelson without a deep political debate opening up. After all, it's not like Mr. Nelson is a famous local figure who is extremely popular in Austin...oh, wait.
And the two guys opposing the bill are from San Antonio...the guy proposing he bill is from Austin, so it's not even a local outcry against Nelson. It's one of my problems with the crazies...everything is political to them. Phillip Roth writes a book about an alternate history anti-semitic America where FDR isn't elected and we don't stop Hitler, fine that's political. And yet they go try to judge the politics on the art saying, in a backhanded way, that it just isn't a very good book. It's Phillip Roth, his bad books are better than most people's good books. Republican Clint Eastwood makes a movie that is an attempt to come to grips with ideas about family, loyalty and honor and the crazies go bat-shit insane about it because something happens (euthanasia) that they don't like. They competely ignore context, art, discourse, because everything must be 100% crazy-ass approved. It's the opposite of the Phillip Roth situation, they criticize the politics ignoring the art. in both situations though, the goal is clear: saying things in art that are not conservative is wrong. Well, that's just not true. And anyone who thinks that political balance or conservative voices are necessary for thriving vital art is a douchebag. There are no political requirements you Soviet-style asshats.

Serious people with some modicum of taste and sense do not do this. Not with arts and humanities anyway. Langston Hughes supported Stalin there for a couple years in the '30s, but I don't much care because he was a really, really good writer. Igor Stravisnky was very nearly a fascist, but I don't care because we all know how damn good Rite of Spring is. Now, I would not support Igor Stravinsky for office--were he not dead--because I make it a practice not to vote for fascists. Do we inquire into these things to see what moves the artist, how the writer or the sculptor sees the world? Of course we do, but we don't get all pissy when Willie get's a stretch of highway named after him outside his home town.

Anyway, Willie Nelson is cool, that song "Mommas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" is one of my favorites. And he wrote "Crazy" which is one of the best songs ever. So let him have a highway and chill out Texas Repubs, the Stranger's tryin' to sing some.