This is the first in (hopefully) a weekly glance at what metal lyrics of the last 25 years can show us about our current political situation.
Since the FMA is the topic du jour for conservatives this week, let's look at Testament's "Practice What You Preach" and its still-accurate assessment of conservatives. Even if you don't like crunchy guitars, keep reading - you might be surprised by the level of discourse contained within...
Testament is a Bay-area band that's been through quite a few members, but had thier biggest success in 1989 with the release of
"Practice What You Preach." Let's look at the title track:
You think your life's so grand
You don't believe a word you say
Your feet aren't on the ground
You let your life just slip away
Just so uncertain of your body and your soul
The promises you make, your mind so blank
And then you lose control, then you lose control!
I never was the one, the one to say the things you say
Never seem to wonder what you say
You think you've got your life completely in control
You've got a lot to learn, the bridge you burned
It's gonna take its toll!!! Pay the burnt bridge toll!!!
CHORUS
So practice what you preach!
Practice what you preach!
Preach!
Practice what you preach!
Practice what you preach!
Preach!
Practice what you preach!
There's a split in the Republican Party these days among the "true-believers" and the corporate types. The corporate types keeping winng elections (or, in W's case, stealing them), while the true believers keep supplying the votes.
"You think your life's so grand
You don't believe a word you say"
I think it's safe to say this is a fair assessment of most conservative politicans. Let's look at this in terms of the Federal Marriage Amendment. Here's just a short list of Husband (or Wife) of the Year candidates among current and past Republican office holders.
From the Republican Adultery Hall of Fame:
Rep. Henry Hyde - Called his affair while in his 40s a "youthful indiscretion"
Mike Bowers
Newt Gingrich - Dumped his ex-wife while she was in a hospital bed suffering from cancer....
Bob Dole
Former Rep. Bob Dornan
John Linder
Ronald Reagan
William Cohen
Guy Millner
Rush Limbaugh
Michael Deaver
John Warner
Bill Randall - A Florida Congressional candidate and minister, he fathered an illegitimate child during his affair!
Rep. Dan Burton
Rep. Bob Barr
Rudolph Giuliani
Sen. Strom Thurmond
Gilbert Davis
Bob Packwood
Gov. Kirk Fordice
Beverly Russell - The Christian Coalition coordinator who molested his stepdaughter Susan Smith, who later killed her own kids.
I deleted some of the info in the interest of space and libel concerns...
So, we have a party full of drunken adulterers who presume to tell US what a marriage is.
Look, I'm a new convert to this battle. But the hypocricy on this issue is mind-boggling.
Let's continue with our look at this still-timely lyric:
"You think you've got your life completely in control
Yopu've got a lot to learn, the bridge you burned
It's gonna take its toll!!! Pay the burnt bridge toll!!!"
Sage advice for Republicans to their base, but they won't heed it, thankfully. The true believers are finally realizing the Republican Party won't pass laws for them, and they're pissed. That bridge is burnt, and the FMA is helping light the torch, rather than postponing the inevitable.
As for the chorus? As if. Republicans NEVER practice what they preach.
*Cheney wants us to save, then pockets millions in retirment benefits from Halliburton while his administration allows companies to bail on retirement plans for the average worker.
*Bush wants us to shop, then gives tax breaks to the rich. How does that help ME shop, Mr. President?
And as far as marriage? It doesn't seem like gay marriages are the biggest threat - it's straight adultery. So where's the federal constituional amendment against adultery? That seems like a much bigger threat.