Thought I'd share this response to Daniels's letter from a guy named Jeff Wall over at the country music site Twangzine (
http://www.twangzine.com/front.html . Oddly, it hasn't gotten the same amount of publicity, possibly because it wasn't written by a famous person.
Open letter to Charlie Daniels,
What happened to the loveable fat man I used to worship in my youth? The one that took Nashville's Channel 5 anchorman Chris Clark to task for his exposé of *alleged* marijuana use at Nashville concerts? The one who campaigned for Jimmy Carter for President? The same guy who shows had just as many people soliciting donations for NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) as he did security guards for his Volunteer Jam concerts at the Municipal Auditorium?
Charlie, you remember that album cover you did for the Way Down Yonder record? Where y'all had a picture of a picnic table at a roadside park and the table was covered with beer cans, liquor bottles, and even a roach or two could be found? What about songs like "Land of opportunity?" with the line "In This Land of Opportunity, If You're rich then you can buy immunity, if you're poor you better write your eulogy, if you want one, cause it's all you'll ever have" Or "Searching for my Mary Jane". Remember, at the time Mary Jane was also a euphemism for marijuana. Then there was "Uneasy Rider", and "Long Haired Country Boy" where you taught us it was okay for us to be longhaired, reefer stanking, peace-loving kids. I ain't reefer stanking anymore, and I haven't had a drink in over 18 years. But when I was young, you were one of my heroes. You were a rebel who sang protest songs about the right wing excesses of the Federal Government. After reading your Soapbox article, I'm starting to feel that my teenage years were all a lie.
I don't know if it's because you appeared one time too many on the Pat Robertson show, and he was finally able to convert you to the dark side. Or maybe you just got old and your juices done all dried up. I'm against a war in Iraq. There ain't no proof that Saddam was behind the 9/11 stuff. My recommendation would be to leave him alone, and just write him a note that tells him that we're watching his ass and that if he fucks up, even just a little bit, then we're gonna start dropping Wal-Marts and Blockbuster Videos on him and that Lee Greenwood will be at every Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony singing that damned song of his. I'm a lot more scared of North Korea than I am of Iraq. And I'm even more scared of President Bush and John Ashcroft than I am of North Korea and Iraq combined.
You used to be for the little man. How about, Instead of spending a couple million on a Tomahawk, lets spend that money to help fight rural poverty. Maybe create some manufacturing jobs in the rural south that NAFTA took away. Or we could use some of that money to figure out a way to beat AIDS, or fight crack addiction, curb teenage pregnancy, or get all the crazy homeless folks off the street and get them some mental health assistance and some job training. Shouldn't take but a couple three Tomahawks to put a major dent in all of that.
Before you brand me a coward, I guess I should tell you that I been to war. I helped to blow up little brown people in Beirut. I helped to blow up little brown people in Kosovo. I helped to blow up little brown people in the Red Sea. I spent 20 years of my life floating around in circles, listening to your music and blowing up little brown people. Hell, I'm surprised that there's even any little brown people left to blow up. I did all that just so some knucklehead that used to screw Madonna and ain't had a decent acting gig in years can get his name in the press by flying to Iraq and having a private screening of Blue's Clues with Saddam. Let all them Hollywood folks fly over there and meet with Saddam. What are they hurting? Does anyone really think that Sean Penn is held in such a high regard that his opinion alone would cause all of America to reconsider?
Let them protest. Let them visit Iraq. They haven't put anyone's lives in danger by doing so. Their visiting Iraq is not hurting the morale of our troops. Let them do their thing. That's why we live here in America. That why a bunch of my friends died while trying to blow up little brown people. People who died in uniform, and left behind orphans and widows. Just so that we would all have the freedom to say how we feel. Whether that be you ranting about Iraq, or me saying that I wouldn't feel comfortable letting George Bush lead a newspaper recycling drive, much less a war.
I'm not a panty waist liberal. But I'm not a right wing whacko either. I'm just a middle of the road, old half crippled, fat guy doing his best to feed his family, love his kids and keep the lights turned on. As for your statement of "You're either with us, or you're against us", well all I can say to that is fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck yoooooooooooooooooou Charlie. Here in America, I got just as much a right to say I think war with Iraq is wrong. Hell, it ain't even a right, It's a responsibility. And you dishonor my dead shipmates by saying otherwise. Feel free to disagree with me.
I served 20 years to give you that right. My shipmates died for it.
Jeff Wall - Twangzine
[email protected]
Kernersville, NC 27284
336-926-0315
