March 23, 2004

NY Times: Mr. Rizzuto is the founder of Conservative Punk, one of a handful of Web sites and blogs that have sprung up recently as evidence of a heretofore latent political entity: Republican punks. With names like GOPunk, Anti-Anti-Flag and Punkvoter Lies, the sites are a curious blend of Karl Rove and Johnny Rotten.
posted by marx 20 years ago
  • Bob Roberts. It was only a matter of time . . .
  • He allows that he doesn't fit the profile of your average red-state Republican. RED STATE would be a good name for a band.
  • I don't see how this is radical. While many high-profile punk bands (eg the Dead Kennedys) have tended toward left/anarchist postions, the bulk of late 70s and early 80s punk in the UK and New Zealand was composed of skinheads and neo-Nazis of various stripes.
  • I don't see any common ground between the skins and the GOP, Rodger. I saw the tattered remains of the Misfits on their last pass through Seattle: Jerry Only, rather than Graves (who left the 'fits in 2000, taking the drummer with him); Marky Ramone, who doesn't talk to Johnny any more; and Dez of the late Black Flag. It was like the sewn-together pieces of a corpse, animated into a character out of a Misfits song. And of course they did a little tired political sloganeering... par for the course, and as predictable as the country or rockabilly equivalent where the 60 year old singer testifies to you about Jeebus. Just tickles me b/c Johnny Ramone and Michael Graves were cited as GOPunk types. If they'd lose the GOP partisan part and join up with freethinker Henry Rollins, they could take on Jerry's Misfits corpse. Henry'd probably eat the other two alive, though.
  • rodgerd: Does that mean you equate these two groups in how radical they are? Are you equating Republicans with groups that radical? Did we just hit the critical mass for calling Godwin? And on preview, goetter wins the race.
  • no, somebody has to use the H word, so we're good. Carry on.
  • skinheads != neonazis
  • *Tweeeeeeeeee!* Okay folks, everybody - out of the pool! Let's go! Let's go! Show's over!
  • I thought it was only Hitler but i looked it up
  • Ah, but intentionally triggering it doesn't count. 'sides we're in a NEOneoneo zone. Thus counteracting anything without a diminishing echo. Looking forward to the day Sir Mix-A-Lot's Big Butts takes over as one of the parties official theme songs.
  • "I think George Bush is a wonderful, competent leader," he added. "And I believe that he is bringing this country on a right and just course and he understands the true nature of evil." Survey says - dumbass!
  • For one ignorant of the punk scene (such as myself), the tendency is to see this subculture as a bunch of politically unified Californian-vaguely-anarchist-neohippies. This post and rodgerd's historical note are nice wake-up calls. Duh: groups are not mentally monolithic!
  • A good history of punk, if you care.
  • Conservativepunk has a link to newsmax. Since when do newsmax and credibility even come remotely close together.
  • jjray: Not at all - it's that the idea that it's novel for punks to be aligned with rightist groups and causes that need debunking. I don't think the GOP is actually the equivalent of the Nazi party. Although if they actually start calling for Tenesse style porgroms against homosexuals...
  • Oh, and this shows a level of sophistication that's bound to get respect. Not only is it not funny (#1 worst smelling author? what is this elementary school?), or very offensive even, but it's innacurate. I heard moore speak on clark on Charlie Rose. Michael Moore wasn't that big of a supporter of clark specifically per se. He thought clark was the best but he was fine with the other candidates too. Methinks this is just as braindead as most of leftist punk political philosophy. Politics dragged behind a style.
  • to marx's title, maybe it's the moment when punk fasion/music/ehtos is so well established that being Republican and supporting the establishment fits in with it. Which would be - what's beyond irony?
  • Metairony. I think this is mostly some punks finding a new way to say "fuck you" to the establishment, which for them - their "establishment" - is lefty groupthink and beyond. What's new? What could possibly shock? We're not talking about a group of real deep thinkers, here....
  • Okay, so, correct me if I'm wrong, but the basis behind punk is rebelling against stuff, particularly conservatism, right? Punk's all about ideology. So by rebelling against the ideologists, you stop being punk. So these are conservative kids who like loud music and have spiky hair. Which is fine, but it ain't punk.
  • Punks all about beating journalists up with bicycle chains, stabbing your girlfriend to death and then overdosing on heroin.
  • Does anyone else remember a few years back, during the dot-com fun when chic stores in Manhattan were putting copies of Marx's Kapital in their storefronts? And someone printed a ridiculously expensive gold-leafy edition? That all made it onto the front page of the WSJ. It was sort of a "well, looks like we were right all along" kind of a story that this one smells like. I think it's just hype about some marginal little creeps. Someone at the NYT must have thought it'd sell, and I bet it did. And yes, I'm old enough to remember (1983) when hardcore was spoiled by nazis and drunken frat boys. Punk lost a lot of it's crowded fun for me then. ...but I still love it and am dumb enough to spend $45 on a 1984 Boston HC comp on e-bay. go figure.
  • The NYT has a long running obsession with young, hip, edgy conservatives. See their magazine piece "The Young Hipublicans" last year for a textbook case.
  • No one says these things about leftist punks...it's sad. BBF: you must not have gotten the memo. Liberal is the new conservative.
  • Isn't there some corollary about a thread dying when some makes a reference to Family Feud? No? I'm on crack?
  • I wanted to add this Punk Voter vs. Conservative Punk clip from the Daily Show. Neither side comes off well, but, damn, it's funny.
  • Haha, holy mother of SOMETHING RELIGIOUS, that is some of the funniest stuff I've ever heard. Conservative punk? Yeah, because there is nothing the says "fuck you establishment and normality" more than loving big business and "family values". Yes, racial profiling is punk, mugga fugga! Yes, the majority is awesome. I don't know how you explain being a conservative punk. You like punk music but you vote for rightist parties? Does that make you a conservative punk? Does the word "punk" belong anywhere near the word "conservative"? Like, are we assuming the establishment is GREENPEACE? Yes, the "lefty" punk from that Daily Show clip certainly was inarticulate, but the "black guy into white power" thing really does ring true. Man, they have Reagan quotes on that Conservative Punk site. I guess spreading terrorism in Latin America is one of the best ways to say "fuck you" that could be imagined.
  • Makes sense, especially for straight-edgers.
  • See, Buddhist punks makes sense to me on some level. I mean, until the New Buddhist World Order takes control, that is. (I agree with shawnj on the straight-edge-Buddhist notion.)
  • ...for posterity.
  • Straight-edgers can be incredibly conservative, as can other 'punks' (have to dress a certain way, have to like certain bands, etc.). I'm more for punk being about DIY and accessible, which is what it would have in commmon with hip-hop.
  • The Scared and Profane: Brandan Kelly of Lawrence Arms definately does not come off well on the Daily Show, but he can be more articulate.
  • Float like a buddha, Dance like a bee, Sit where the honey flows Under the tree.