From this post’s title you’re probably guessing that I’m about to write about the latest tirade from leftist crybullies. While thankfully this has not happened yet, it almost feels inevitable. Ace gives a roundup of the latest round of outrages from just yesterday:
Schlockumentaries on mythical campus rape statistics are having their Wikipedia pages edited by people who dislike the that that they’re getting called out on their lies
And even Math itself is under attack by by feminists.
The point is that nothing is too crazy to cause offense to the Radical Left. So how does this relate to the song Alice’s Restaurant? For those of you unfamiliar, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Arlo Guthrie’s legendary counterculture song that takes a jab at the Vietnam war toward the end of its 19 minutes. The song itself is just some acoustic guitar playing while Guthrie relates a tale based on a true story that took place in his life – in a nutshell, he is arrested for dumping garbage and this conviction ultimately disqualifies him from joining the army. The story itself takes place on Thanksgiving, and over the years has become a Thanksgiving tradition itself. Growing up in New Jersey, my older brothers and I would look forward to the annual Noon broadcast of this song on the former rock station WNEW-FM.
Despite the point of the song being a leftist message it doesn’t beat you over the head with it, such as with all of the ridiculous anti-American Iraq War movies from the Bush years or your average Colbert skit. It’s genuinely funny, and Guthrie is a master story teller. At this point you’re probably wondering why on Earth this song could be seen as problematic. Well, toward the end Guthrie offers this suggestion (lyrics via Metrolyrics, emphasis mine):
And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a
Study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I’m
Singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar
Situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a
Situation like that there’s only one thing you can do and that’s walk into
The shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say “Shrink, You can get
Anything you want, at Alice’s restaurant.”. And walk out. You know, if
One person, just one person does it they may think he’s really sick and
They won’t take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,
They may think they’re both faggots and they won’t take either of them.
Such slurs are very problematic. If banning this song sounds insane keep in mind that back in 2011 Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” was memory-holed from radio airplay north of the border by Canada’s “Human Rights” Commissars. Thankfully sanity prevailed and the ban was lifted after a few months. But given how our outrage culture has metastasized would anyone be shocked if even a darling among the left like Arlo Guthrie came under fire?
This is one of those predictions that I don’t believe will ever come true, but if it did I wouldn’t be shocked.
And on this Thanksgiving as you enjoy time with your family, take a moment to remember the victims of the Pinedale Shopping Center Massacre.
And in the words of the late, great Rick Danko. “Happy Thanksgiving!”
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Cross posted from Brother Bob’s Blog
1 I might be in the minority on this, but while the idea of having a man cave in Chateau d’ Bob sounds fun, my general thought on the subject is, “If you need a room to get away from your family you’re doing it wrong.”
