It’s that time in America again. We as a nation are generally disinterested in exercising our civil duty as citizens of this great Democracy by voting, but every four years we move from general disinterest to the mild annoyance that moves a third of us to vote for president.

It always sort of makes me cringe when a celebrity speaks out about politics. Sure if they have the right to speak out about the issues that concern them, but their fame is not based on their adept understanding of foreign policy or economic issues so they typically come off looking goofy and damaging their brand. So why is country music different?

I tuned into the news today to see Hank Williams Jr. warming up a crowd in Virginia for Republican candidate for president John McCain (actually he warmed them up for GOP vice-president candidate Sarah Palin who then warmed them up for McCain) (edit: you can hear his campaign song “McCain-Palin Tradition here), John Rich (the shorter, darker half of Big and Rich) penned McCain a song “Raisin’ McCain”, Merle Haggard wrote ‘Let’s Put a Woman in Charge” for the Hillary Clinton campaign, Ralph Stanley recently endorsed Democratic candidate for president Barack Obama and Obama used Brooks & Dunn’s “Only In America” played after his acceptance speech at the DNC convention in Mile High Stadium.

Personally I’m glade that country/roots music is taking more of bipartisan approach to politics and no longer just seen as the birthright to either party. How about you reader? What do you think of country music in politics?

Kris Kristofferson - In The News

I remember the comedian Chris Rock on a cable filmed stand-up special saying something like what is the world coming to when the top  rapper in the world is white (Eminem) and the top golfer in the world is black (Tiger Woods)?

I felt sort of like that the other night when Sen. Barack Obama’s historic speech at Mile High Stadium was capped off by  ”Only in America” by the NashVegas version of Hall and Oates, Brooks & Dunn. This is the same song George Bush used at the Republican Convention last election. One half of the duo, Ronnie Dunn is a staunch Republican but the song’s co-writer, Don Cook, is a founder of the Music Row Democrats so I guess it’s a Nashville pop-country equivalent of bi-partisanship.

Here’s a note to the DNC and Democratic candidates everywhere, there are great artists that make country music that actually LIKE you and stand for at least some of what you advocate. Ever hear of Steve Earle or the Dixie Chicks?

If that wasn’t enough I read that Mr.”Boot in the ass” Toby Keith has thrown his support behind Obama (though it seems it’s only because Obama is able to act white.) Keith states that he’s a life-long Democrat but he appears to be more like the right-wing Dixie-crats I remember when I was growing up in Dallas. Mr. Keith apparently gets peeved when people accuse him of being a GOP fan. I wonder where they might have gotten that idea?!

Thank goodness there’s some things you can still count on with Nashville pop-country music and uased as a backdrop for patiotic symbolism- John Rich. the shorter half of the insipid duo Big and Rich, and raging homophobic weasel, penned a love song to John McCain cleverly entitled “Raisin’ McCain,” The song will be featured at the GOP convention and it predictably sucks.

Toby Keith’s Pro-Obama Anthem (a parody)