Dissecting Dolly Parton’s Reported Support of ‘Black Lives Matter’

This story has been updated.
So you’re meaning to tell me that you profess yourself to be a country music fan, or even a Dolly Parton fan, and would cast away her entire Hall of Fame legacy—the 25 No. 1 songs, the 44 Top 10 albums, the thousands of songs written, her irreplaceable legacy in the genre, not to mention all of her tireless work with charity and the local community in east Tennessee, “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” all of it—just because a reporter put her on the spot, and she said what anyone of a right mind would say that yes, of course the lives of black individuals matter?
Get off it.
Dolly Parton did not come out for defunding the police. Dolly Parton did not come out for pushing Marxist ideals. Dolly Parton did not come out for the dissolving of the nuclear family, or any other controversial topic that has been tied to the Black Lives Matter movement, legitimately, tangentially, or unfairly. All she said was, and I quote, “I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen. And of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!”
And she’s right. And I’m sorry, but I don’t even see where Dolly Parton said that she supports the Black Lives Matter movement itself. Notice how I capitalized BLM to denote the specific political-oriented organization? Notice how the quote pulled from the Billboard cover story on Dolly Parton has “lives matter” in lowercase? Notice how she referenced the color of people’s asses, not a specific cause? Now maybe she did voice her support of Black Lives Matter privately to the author, but that’s not what her quote says. It’s Billboard that adds the addendum that she is “unequivocal in her support” of “the Black Lives Matter movement.” Here’s a screenshot of the entire portion:

Dolly Parton’s supposed statement of vehement support for an expressly political movement was in truth a rather pedestrian comment made in passing, literally 25 paragraphs into a much more wide-encompassing 33-paragraph Billboard cover story. It also cuts Dolly Parton’s actual quote off. In the full statement she made to Billboard (see video), Parton concludes the quote with “Everybody matters.”
The Billboard article isn’t even what made the statement go viral. It was Consequences of Sound who pull quoted Dolly Parton, and published it under the title, “Dolly Parton Backs Black Lives Matter.” That is what sent the story into hyperspace. Soon dozens of outlets were parroting this same take, even though it may not even be correct. Or, maybe it is correct. But it’s at least deserving of clarification and context.
That’s not in any way to impinge on the importance of what Dolly Parton did say, or meant. Her words have power, and it was an important point to underscore. The only thing embarrassing about this situation is that Dolly Parton would even need to make such a blatantly obvious statement. With her record of public service and standing up for the rights of people of color and the LGBT community, it’s well-established that Dolly Parton is against inequality. It’s only due to this moment in public life where you have to jump through performative hoops to be cleared of wrongdoing that she actually has to come out and say it, and that it would go so viral, and become such a point of controversy for some.
What happened here was a brilliant political and media psyop, which is the same psyop that has conscripted the Black Lives Matter movement itself. There’s two things here, right? There is saying the phrase “Black lives matter” to emphasize that due to the historical and systemic oppression black individuals have faced in America, we need to expressly stand for the importance of their lives. Then there is the Black Lives Matter #BLM political movement that like so much in politics, has been co-opted by certain special interests, and in some cases, subversive agendas, using the idea that it’s just an anti-racism movement as a cover. Conflating the two is the common misconception that is occurring as individuals look to avoid being considered racist by pledging their support to the movement, while some behind the movement use it to push certain extremist agenda items.
So all of a sudden what they can do is take some very innocent words from Dolly Parton, and use it to imply certain things that are politically expedient for them. They want you to believe that Dolly Parton is a Marxist. They want you believe she hates the police, and is for defunding local police departments. That is why they presented her words as they did. But your ire should not be directed towards Dolly Parton. Like so many things in today’s incensed society, this is a media issue, and a social media issue just as much as anything.
But even if Dolly Parton did come out in full-throated support for the political movement Black Lives Matter (in caps), including all the issues it purports to be in favor of, it’s still something that should not be held against her incredible contributions to country music over half a century, or her contributions to the American culture in general. It would simply be a political stance she has chosen, which is her right, and her freedom as an American.
It’s embarrassing that we live in a moment when someone’s actions speak quieter than the words, and performative symbolism is much more important than real world deeds, like the millions of books Dolly Parton has donated to underprivileged and minority children all around the world. This wrong-minded approach to combating racism isn’t furthering the cause, it’s cratering it. You can be a corporation or politician continuing to enact policies that put black lives at a disadvantage. But as long as you pledge allegiance to Black Lives Matter, you’re applauded. If you don’t, you’re labeled racist. Remember, Dolly Parton’s name appeared on a ridiculous and irresponsible “accountability spreadsheet” a couple of months ago. She was already being targeted for not speaking out.
In this current political landscape where if you’re a public person and you don’t come out and address the Black Lives Matter movement specifically, you could be boycotted, hounded down, even cancelled or have your career and accomplishments smeared, we shouldn’t blame anyone for doing whatever they have to do to keep the wolves at bay, and move forward with business as usual.
Dolly Parton isn’t just a performer, she’s a franchise. Dollywood itself employs 4,000 people. If public sentiment on Dolly Parton goes south—whether on the left from not saying the right things, or on the right for saying the wrong things—those Dolly Parton employees could be out of work. Put yourself in Dolly Parton’s shoes for a second. The name of the Billboard cover story where the Dolly Parton quote came from was titled, “Dolly Parton Steers Her Empire Through The Pandemic.” She is doing the best she can in these difficult, and contentious times.
But still, none of this has stopped some from smearing Dolly Parton, including other artists. Stuart Baker, who performs as Unknown Hinson, a.k.a the “Kang of Country and Western Troubadours,” and voices Early in the Adult Swim show The Squidbillies said via Facebook on August 13th, “So, now this freak tittied, old Southern bimbo is a BLM lover? Remember, slut, Rednecks made you a Millionaire!” This has caused a major backlash against Baker, who has since deleted his posts, and his social media presence.
As some have pointed out, both Stuart Baker’s Early Cuyler and Unknown Hinson characters include being a reactionary closed-minded redneck as part of their comedic persona, making some wonder if he’s just being sarcastic. Though as others have pointed out, pointed and controversial statements from Stuart Baker have been common recently. The truth is, we may not know where the truth and fiction of Stuart Baker begins and ends. And at this point, neither may Stuart Baker.
Reverend Guitars, which had a signature guitar model from Unknown Hinson, has now dropped the model and removed him from their website, while numerous people are calling for Adult Swim to drop Stuart Baker, and/or The Squidbillies in their entirety. So Dolly Parton’s comments have not only resulted in the attempted cancellation of Dolly Parton (just as her silence on Black Lives Matter did before), they’ve probably resulted in the very real cancellation of Stuart Baker.
And by the way, the article Stuart Baker was referencing when he left is controversial statement? Yeah, it was the Consequences of Sound article that states Dolly Parton backs the Black Lives Matter movement (all caps), which again, we can’t confirm. Not to excuse Baker’s comments whatsoever, but it speaks to how the media is stirring much of this dissent.

Dolly Parton is a national treasure, and just like the few other precious institutions in American culture that can cut through the polarization, build consensus, bridge differences, and bring people together, her words, her legacy, her both quiet and outspoken wisdom and the role model she has presented for generations should be protected and preserved not just for this lifetime, but for all time. We are going to need people like Dolly Parton to get through the next few months when the very fabric of American society might be tested even further heading into an already messy Presidential election.
Bent out of shape that Dolly Parton actually had the audacity to say that the lives of black people are just as important as your “white ass?” Then that’s an issue that you need to resolve personally, deep down in your soul where the kernels of racism reside in many of us, that must be brought out in the light and addressed. But don’t blame Dolly Parton for the latest politically-driven media psyop. Understand that just like all of us, she’s trying her best to navigate the choppy waters of this very difficult moment. And the whole reason Dolly Parton’s words resonate so deeply is because she navigates these moments with more wisdom, love, and understanding than most.
Dolly Parton’s words were not were not wrong, controversial, or out-of-place. Taking what she actually said, and considering the contentious nature of the subject, they were absolutely perfect.
August 15, 2020 @ 11:42 am
Well thought out as usual.
August 15, 2020 @ 11:48 am
I miss Unknown Hinson – used to watch his shit on YouTube all the time then it disappeared. I think what Dolly said was mundane enough for a pass but if she went further by even being complicit with the Marxism, collectivism and tribalism that BLM the organization pushes I’d hold that against her to a point. But, I expect a little politics from our musicians unlike pro sports leagues who are all dead to me now.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:18 pm
Sounds like you need a safe space.
August 16, 2020 @ 9:48 am
I’ve never heard of him before, and I don’t expect to again. I’m not missing anything.
August 15, 2020 @ 11:53 am
If I didn’t know better, wink wink, I’d say that there’s some powerful people with an agenda to keep the peasant classes divided along racial lines.
I’m not saying I miss Aunt Jemima or the Washington Redskins, but has anyone else noticed we’re not actually reforming the criminal (in)justice system? It’s amazing how easily we take our eye off the ball.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:25 pm
She may or may not support the Marxist, anti-whitems organization. If you enjoy her music that’s fine. I assume that is the same reason that you can enjoy and support the legacy of Spade Cooley, for example. It’s all about the music.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:26 pm
Oh, there are a whole lot of people who don’t want criminal justice reform trying to throw stuff like Aunt Jemima and the WFT’s old name as a distraction from the fact that, for example, the people that broke into a woman’s house and murdered her in her own bed still have yet to face any legal consequences.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:02 pm
The reason they haven’t been charged is because they didn’t do anything illegal. They were executing a legal search warrant when they were fired upon and returned fire. Ms. Taylor was not in her bed, and was hit hy accident. What happened was a tragedy but not a murder.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:51 pm
Facts don’t matter to CLS.
August 15, 2020 @ 3:01 pm
They busted down the door in the middle of the night without announcing themselves. In most states you are well within your rights to open fire at that point. They didn’t find anything, by the way
August 15, 2020 @ 6:53 pm
Don’t forget that the guy they were executing the warrant for was already in custody.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:50 am
Like I said, they were executing a legal search warrant. Whether or not they identified themselves is in dispute, but they were there legally. I didn’t put blame on the boyfriend for what he did either. I’m disputing the misinformation surrounding this case. The cops had a legal warrant to search Breonna Taylor’s residence. They were not at the wrong place. She was not in her bed when she was hit, she was in the same hallway that her boyfriend fired at the front door from. The police did not murder Ms. Taylor. Suggesting that they go to prison for returning fire while executing a legal search warrant and accidentally hitting a bystander in the same dark hallway is absurd. If that’s your crowd’s idea of justice then I suppose I understand why you would believe that injustice is so ubiquitous. I would suggest you learn about the law, reconsider your general philosophy, and make sure you actually know the facts of a case instead of just repeating things you’ve seen shared on facebook.
August 16, 2020 @ 11:00 am
You don’t see a problem with using militarized no knock warrants on people who aren’t suspected of a crime? What did the police expect to happen? You are approaching the point when you say you don’t blame the boyfriend for opening fire. An innocent person died. If he’s not to blame, who is? What if it was you or your family? You’re using the fact that a judge rubber stamped the whole thing to say it was justified. THAT’S absurd.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:37 am
They were at the wrong house!and who among the gun obsessed first amendment crowd wouldn’t fire back at an unknown threat already shooting at you in the middle of the night?if they weren’t black you would call them patriots.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:53 am
They were not at the wrong address. That’s misinformation. I also didn’t blame the bf for what he did. I just don’t believe that what happened constitutes murder or that the officers involved should go to prison, because they didn’t break any laws and didn’t intend to kill her.
August 16, 2020 @ 2:31 pm
I totally understand your stance…but the no-knock warrant was pretty clearly illegal under Richards v. Wisconsin, so the homicide occurred during a violation of Taylor’s 4th Amendment rights.
I think people would be a lot less angry if the immediate response, the day after the shooting, had been to say “Holy shit, this is an insane tragedy caused by a bad law and worse policing (the only ‘package’ she’d ever received for the suspect was clothes ordered online). We’ll perform a full investigation, fire anyone who lies, and change the law.”
Instead, their first step was arresting the man trying to defend his home and his girlfriend from attackers, charged him with attempted murder…and didn’t drop those charges until 10 weeks later.
August 16, 2020 @ 2:48 pm
Hell…the Louisville Police Union flipped a shit when Kenneth Walker was released after spending weeks in jail for the crime of defending his girlfriend from armed intruders.
They’ve had so many chances to make things better (including answering “The police” when Walker and Taylor yelled “Who’s there?” rather than bashing the door open…or even being honest about what happened).
Every time, the Louisville Police have instead chosen to make things worse.
August 16, 2020 @ 4:19 pm
I’m not finding a whole lot to disagree with in this post, so I think we’ve come to a pretty good understanding. I’m always thankful for that on these topics. I think that there are situations where a no knock type of forced entry can be justified, but I’m with you in thinking that the practice should be abolished in order to try to avoid negative outcomes like in this case. I’m not against targeted reforms or grieving for somebody who lost their life under such tragic circumstances. Reading what her boyfriend said after all of this occured was pretty fuckin heart wrenching. The problem occurs when we have so much misinformation that leads people to expect different results from what will justifiably occur. If Breonna Taylor really had been murdered in her bed by racist cops then of course everyone should be calling for them all to go to prison. But she wasn’t. So we have a situation where people’s faith in the system’s willingness to achieve justice actually depends upon it committing an injustice, that being prosecuting all of those officers for cold-blooded murder. That’s a bad situation to be in, and I continually find myself livid at the national media especially for the irresponsibility in disseminating information in regards to a lot of cases like this. They’re leading us all straight to hell, for cynical and selfish reasons. In conclusion, I agree with prosecuting shitty cops and reforming bad policies that harm people, but we also have to tell the truth about these cases. False premises create unrealistic expectations that when not met lead to society wide cynicism and eventual tragedy for all of us.
August 17, 2020 @ 10:33 am
Yeah, we’re pretty much on the same page.
I do think that the cops who wrote the bad warrant, the judge who signed the bad warrant, and the cops who lied to investigators should all be punished to the fullest extent possible, though.
August 16, 2020 @ 6:51 am
I always thought the only people we can trust with guns is law enforcement? Lefty brain is like a pretzel.
August 17, 2020 @ 10:05 am
Um no, I think every responsible adult who can pass a comprehensive background check and then wait two weeks should be able to buy a gun. I know lots of progressive/leftie people who have guns.
August 17, 2020 @ 10:31 am
I’d probably throw in some training requirements, as well.
Tools that use combustion to accelerate metal at a lethal speed should have comparable certification processes.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:08 pm
I don’t know if you can chalk what happened to Unknown Hinson up to “cancel culture” or “political correctness”. Besides calling Dolly a bimbo and a slut, he said liberals are forsaking their own race and bowing down to minorites.
This isn’t edgy humor. It’s not that people aren’t getting the joke, it’s that they’re discovering that Stuart Baker is a shit person and they no longer want to associate with him
August 15, 2020 @ 12:36 pm
Yeah, unless Baker comes out and says “Sorry, that was supposed to be in-character. I have a ton of respect for Dolly and agree that black lives do matter as much as white lives,” I’m entirely comfortable with writing him off as a hateful jackass who I have zero interest in supporting financially.
A lot of “Cancel Culture” is nonsense, but this is just a matter of actions having consequences.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:14 pm
For the record, I wasn’t trying to either diminish or defend what Stuart Baker said by casting it off as “cancel culture” or “political correctness.” I simply stated that it appears he has been cancelled or is well along the way to being cancelled. What he said was indefensible from a number of different angles.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:32 pm
Didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I just think “cancelled” is sometimes used to mean that someone was a victim of politically correct culture, which as you clearly stated is not the case with Stuart Baker
August 15, 2020 @ 12:24 pm
Wow. A lot to unpack there.
If Baker had to say those things (and I can’t understand why), I wish it were on an Unknown Hinson account. You don’t mess with Dolly. But, I’d still go see Unknown Hinson in concert again. I went to see Jr. after he called the President Hilter.
Dolly might have to come out and clarify her stance if this doesn’t blow over. Willie has done so in the past and hasn’t given too fucks.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:30 pm
I think that Dolly’s made her stance very clear:
Black Lives Matter just as much as white lives do.
Anyone getting riled up over that fact is just showing people who they are.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:44 pm
It’s not.
Like Trig pointed out in his article, is it Black lives matter or BLM that she supports? The latter is what the media is running with to get clicks.
I don’t care either way, but reading the comments on social media the last two days, it may force her to take a clearer stance in the near future.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:53 pm
If you ask ten different BLM people what “BLM” stands for, you’ll get ten different answers.
The one thing they’ll agree on is that Black Lives Matter.
Mitt freakin’ Romney was at an “official” (such as it is) BLM march a couple months ago, and said the words.
I guess that means the founder of Bain Capital is a Marxist who wants to abolish the police!
August 15, 2020 @ 12:57 pm
I get the impression you didn’t actually read Trig’s article.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:12 pm
I did read the article.
I also reject the premise that there’s any meaningful difference between saying “I believe that Black Lives Matter” and “I support Black Lives Matter.”
The same people (and special interests) now harassing Dolly have spent the better part of a decade doing their best to demonize the movement…but that doesn’t change the fact that Black Lives Matter just means that Black Lives Matter.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:29 pm
I think there is a huge difference, and it’s the fault of the Black Lives Matter movement for allowing people to use it as umbrella terminology to push an agenda that has nothing to do with trying to protect black individuals from police brutality and other systemic racism. Part of this is due to the fact that the movement has no leaders—and thus—no accountability. Part of it is due to people want to use the term as cover to push certain ideologies. And part of it due to people who are against the movement assigning certain motivations and ideologies to it unfairly. It’s a mess. But the reason many are freaking out that Dolly Parton said that black lives matter is not because she made the statement, it’s because to them, it implies she adheres to Marxist ideologies, wants to dissolve the nuclear family, believe that gender is a social construct, and other such ideologies that have now been accepted under the movement. Are there also people freaking out because they’re straight up racist? Most definitely. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that Black Lives Matter and many of its proponents failed to enact any sort of scene control, and now you can’t say a phrase that should be universally accepted by everyone without a host of entanglements.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:58 pm
The fact that BLM is entirely decentralized means that any figure claiming “BLM means Marxism” is lying to you, in service of their agenda.
Plenty of BLM activists are gay Marxists who want to abolish the police.
Plenty are “#SuburbanHousewives.”
The only thing you can say about the BLM movement, as a whole, is that everyone involved thinks that Black Lives Matter.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:16 pm
Cool Lester Smooth,
I totally get that the only universal agreement behind Black Lives Matter is that black lives matter. And it’s an important point to underscore. But it has become such a loaded term that is being weaponized by people with an agenda, I’m not going to criticize anyone for not pledging their allegiance to it, nor am I going to criticize anyone who does. Let’s judge people on their merit and actions, not on their use of a hashtag. If we do that, there would be no question how anyone should feel about Dolly Parton.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:25 pm
Totally fair! We’re very much on the same page.
I’m just not willing to cede that BLM stands for anything other than BLM, just because a bunch of lying racists have spent years shouting otherwise, haha.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:53 pm
Um, Romney showing up isn’t a surprise. The dude is a RINO all the way and like John “POW” McCain, he will do anything to stay on the good side of the media if it means opposing President Trump.
August 15, 2020 @ 4:55 pm
I believe that black lives matter. I do not support the BLM organization. Big difference. But I don’t see why people care so much what Dolly Parton thinks.
August 15, 2020 @ 7:45 pm
“The one thing they’ll agree on is that Black Lives Matter.”
No. They don’t agree on that. Only certain deceased black lives matter to Black Lives Matter, as long as those black lives ended via a specific way, and can be used to further a specific ideology.
The idea that every human life matters is retarded anyway, regardless of race. I can think of tons of people of various races whose lives definitely did not or do not matter.
August 17, 2020 @ 9:26 am
BLM is a marxist organisation, period. They are only interested in power and at this point, a tool for the democrats. They only care for black lives when it suits their agenda. Where is the outrage over the kids killed every weekend in Chicago? The young men killed by them in Seattle CHAZ? And they’ve proven themselves to be pretty racist, calling black police officers uncle toms and much worse. So take your hypocrisy and shove it.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:31 pm
Dolly Parton made a stupid and inexcusable statement, and, as a result, for me she no longer exists.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:06 pm
That’s rich, coming from a self professed white supremacist. I’m sure she’ll miss you so much
August 15, 2020 @ 1:30 pm
Your loss.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:42 pm
I honestly feel bad for you dude. It must be hard for you to even get through the day.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:51 pm
Jake:
No, it’s not hard for me to get through the day.
What IS difficult, however, is getting through to people like you.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:53 pm
Let’s not with the back and forths, please.
August 15, 2020 @ 3:18 pm
Good. You don’t deserve her.
August 15, 2020 @ 5:52 pm
A life without Dolly Parton is a sad one indeed.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:05 am
I guess I read this as facetious. Was it not? Is this character a known-to-be-abhorrent entity?
August 16, 2020 @ 11:36 am
North Woods Country:
No.
I am not Sturgill Simpson.
August 17, 2020 @ 8:11 am
yeah, he’s a huge racist and moron. he is also bad at humor, as you can see by his response.
November 9, 2020 @ 8:07 pm
I agree with you totally. I also think this organization was already so fired up from previous incidents that when George floyd was shot, it gave them that empowerment to act out and to use the hatred they feel towards cops and whites. George Floyd was a punk. He had records of arrests, drugs, and holding a gun at a pregnant woman. He was nothing to make a mortar of, but this is what they’re about. They’re out of control vigilantes and people are getting sick of their behavior. It’s ok to protest in a good way, but when the protest becomes violent, destructive, people and children are harmed or killed, innocent victims’ businesses are totally destroyed, it’s time to reform their organization. And, it’s not just a BLM thing, it should be EVERYONE MATTERS.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:32 pm
I’m so tired of people using her quote to try to say something she didn’t and that is directed at both the left and the right.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:34 pm
I suspect this comment section will turn into a trainwreck.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:49 pm
Glad I’m not the conductor.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:47 pm
Dolly is far to smart to say “Black lives matter” and not realise that it will be interpreted as support for Black Lives Matter. Frankly, it would be astonishing if she doesn’t support it, as she’s an intelligent and compassionate person.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:54 pm
Intelligent people don’t support Marxist organizations. Intelligent people read history and realize Marxism is an ideological dead-end that is responsible for, at least, 100 million deaths worldwide.
August 15, 2020 @ 3:03 pm
Intelligent people don’t think BLM is Marxist, not least because they’d know that there are no Marxist movements with more than a handful of adherents in America, or really in most of the Western world.
Intelligent people would also know that the vast majority of socialism has nothing to do with Marx or Marxism, as it is not trying to end capitalism. Not that BLM is inherently socialist, except insofar as any organisation acting for the common good is technically socialist, but that’s not a useful definition.
What works by Marx, or critiques of Marxist thought, have you read that have lead you to think that BLM is Marxist?
August 15, 2020 @ 3:14 pm
Marxist thought is extremely prevalent in modern education and political thought. The party has gotten smart about their tactics. Instead of boldly proclaiming they are Marxist, they have indoctrinated by the use of education. Marxist thought is now mainstream. I have experienced firsthand in education. There are books that explain such tactics. It is a brilliant use of boiling the frog.
I didn’t mention socialism, did I? I mentioned Communism. Quit deflecting. But if we are going to mention socialism, it is only a dead end and completely unfair. It is not fair to take from the workers and give to deadbeats.
BLM isn’t acting for the common good. Trying to destroy the Western nuclear family, the building block of society is not good. There are plenty of studies that show children from broken households lag behind traditional nuclear children in school and life. BLM wants to break down the family and replace it with the state. Not good.
Their exact words:
“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”
I have read their words and listened to the testimony of their co-founder. They advocate for dismantlement and radical transformation. That is Marxist. She says it herself. What more do you need?
Quit trying to cast Marxism as a good thing. It has been the greatest blight on humanity. It pretends to care for the little person while in reality, it is nothing more than a massive power grab. Read The Gulag Archipelago.
August 15, 2020 @ 3:32 pm
There is no mainstream Marxist though anywhere in the West, and hasn’t been since the 70s at the latest. There are fringe parties in some countries, but not in America.
You have literally described socialism in your post and called it Marxism and Communism, which shows you don’t understand the difference.
Also, you clearly don’t know what BLM is, as you refer to it having leaders, which it doesn’t – at least not as a singular entity. There are thousands of individual BLM groups, with no single ideology or leadership. That you read those quotes from one of those thousands of groups proves nothing. You need to look at the actions of the movement as a whole, which are in the vast majority aiming to fix society not to destroy it. Something that can’t currently be said of their opponents in the Republican party.
As for the Western nuclear family being THE building block of society, a quick look around the world, or at human history, would show that it’s far from the only one, and not the only successful one. Anyway, how’s your President’s nuclear family, with his 3 wives and children by each of them?
August 15, 2020 @ 3:36 pm
Oh, and as for the Solzhenitsyn book, it has little relevance as Soviet Communism post-Lenin had nothing to do with Marxism, so can tell nothing about it.
Marxism as a functional political system is nonsense. As are all the forms of communism that have been tried.
August 15, 2020 @ 4:20 pm
It’s pretty ridiculous to talk about the supposed prevalence of Marxist thought when a presidential candidate who would be considered a mainstream social democrat in most of the world today (or in America before the Reagan era) is tarred even by a liberal news network as an extremist.
August 15, 2020 @ 5:23 pm
Is the term often misunderstood? Yes. Do mainstream organizations or ideologies call themselves Marxist? Of course not. But look below the surface and things like deconstruction, feminism, postmodernism, intersectionality, and identity politics, (just to name few) are all influenced by Marxism. If you have the capacity to understand anything passed surface level, CountryKnight isn’t completely off base in his use of the term. Like many other things, it’s prevalence is overplayed by some and downplayed and ignored by others. Not sure which is better.
August 16, 2020 @ 12:06 am
Jake:
Using that argument, civil rights could also be considered as rooted in Marxism. Heck, any movement promoting any kind of equality could be labeled “Marxist”.
Here is the fact: Marxism is an explicitly economic ideology, as directly discussed by Marx himself. By associating Marxism with all of the movements you mention, you are actually diluting the negative connotations of the word.
August 16, 2020 @ 5:43 am
Eric,
Nope…the civil rights movement was based on the notion of equality of opportunity, not Marxism. There has been plenty written about this, and it’s way too much to go into here. The bottom line is that CountryKniight’s usage of the term, like your head in the sand denial, is not uncommon.
August 16, 2020 @ 8:45 pm
Jake:
Marxism and identity politics are anathema to each other.
One of the central goals of Marxism is to erase cultural identity divides so that society is divided only along economic lines. Identity politics, by contrast, seeks to intensify cultural identity divides.
Although both movements champion the “oppressed”, Marxism fundamentally views oppression from a class lens, whereas identity politics views oppression from the perspective of cultural groups.
For example, imagine two subgroups: poor working-class people from a historically dominant culture, and rich businesspeople from a historically marginalized culture. Marxists will favor the former, while identitarians will favor the latter.
Basically, Marxism is to identity politics as capitalism is to aristocratic ideology.
August 17, 2020 @ 2:11 pm
Eric,
This will be my last comment on the subject, because this a country music forum. Yes and no. I agree that the term has become overly colloquial. That speaks to how influential it has become. You’re absolutely right about the class struggle and that being at odds with the idea of identity politics. The areas I mention all have foundations in or are influenced by Marxism. The goals, the tactics, and idea of putting identities or other differences against each other is influenced by, or considered by some to be an extension of Marxism. Should that word still be used? Probably not. Should 3rd wave feminists consider themselves foundationaly Marxist? Probably not. Again though, there is enough of the indirect influence, tactics, colloquial usage, and other similarities for me to say he’s not completely off base. Completely accurate? No. Is it a form of lazy shorthand? Sure. But I understand what he is saying, and people using the term doesn’t come from nothing.
August 17, 2020 @ 11:16 am
Socialism, marxism, communism, who gives a damn at this point? These people (and that probably includes you) want to do away with everything American and replace it with what? A system where there is no incentive to create or freedom to think independently, no humour, biological males that compete in female sports, open borders and workers getting screwed even more than they are now. I live in Europe and that’s probably closest to where you could end up because the democrats, if they win in november, will never go full socialism with their big tech billionaire friends. And like someone said, cultural marxism has been festering in the West for decades and you are now seeing the effects on college campuses and with the emergence of cancel culture and the taking down of statues. It’s all been done before by the red guards under communism, the greatest catastrophe in human history.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:12 am
You can’t read the Black Lives Matter mission statement without dry-heaving. It’s possible to support equal rights and law enforcement reform without standing behind an entity that wants to do things like tear down the nuclear family. There is nothing healthy about our country moving away from the goal being the nuclear family. All one needs to do to know that is research mass shooters, for pete’s sake. Nobody with a functioning mind could read their What We Believe page and not come away with some serious questions. Critical Thought wouldn’t allow it. Sometimes what’s right and what’s popular and expected are two different things.
August 16, 2020 @ 6:31 pm
What “mission statement”? There’s no single mission statement that covers the thousands of individual BLM groups worldwide. I’m sure there’s one or two actual Marxists among those thousands, but they don’t represent the movement as a whole. There’s really nothing that ties them all together except trying to get cops to stop murdering black people – something it’s really, really hard not to support.
Which is why people keep looking desperately for excuses to not support it without their racism showing, such as claiming they are Marxists or terrorists.
August 16, 2020 @ 6:26 pm
Black Lives Matter’s foundational doctrine is Critical Race Theory, or CRT. You don’t have to look farther than any ethnic studies department of most universities. CRT is an offshoot of Critical Theory, a Marxist ideology created by the German Frankfurt School of the 20s and 30s. The founders were avowed Marxists.
The founders of BLM would tell you, in no uncertain terms, that they adhere to CRT.
There is no defense for Marxism. It’s like making excuses for Nazism. It’s like being a “denier”. People need to wake up and denounce this aspect of BLM and Antifa before it spins out of control—liberals will get the bullet too.
August 16, 2020 @ 6:34 pm
It’s foundational doctrine is “stop cops murdering black people”. That’s it.
August 16, 2020 @ 8:35 pm
Many of the original supporters of the civil rights movement were communists. Does that make the civil rights movement communist?
Using that logic, I can make a far stronger argument that when Trump praised a rally organized by neo-Nazis as being full of “good people” who want to preserve our “heritage”, he himself became a neo-Nazi.
Also, using your logic, I can argue that since the foundational doctrine of the Confederacy was the preservation of slavery, anyone who waves the Confederate flag supports slavery.
Perhaps you should think through your conspiracy theories before peddling them. They reek of projection…
August 16, 2020 @ 8:50 pm
Also, it is worth noting that Antifa supporters have only damaged property. They have not committed any cold-blooded killings that I know of.
By contrast, white nationalists have committed a number of murders (both on a mass scale and an individual scale) over the last few years.
There is no moral equivalency here.
August 17, 2020 @ 3:50 pm
Conor Betts, antifa mass killer. All the cowardly attacks on pockets of trump supporters or other perceived ‘enemies’. It’s not for lack of trying they havent killed more people. Antifa and neo-nazis are two sides of the same coin. But I see you are peddling the ‘good people’ lie, so you are not too concerned with telling the truth.
November 9, 2020 @ 8:11 pm
Yeah, and I’m sure there’s a little thought in the back of her mind about keeping her DOLLYWOOD and her DIXIE STAMPEDE ALIVE. If she didn’t say something positive, her businesses would lose the black community.
August 15, 2020 @ 12:48 pm
Gotta say, 90% of the “special interests” claiming that “Black Lives Matter” means anything other than “Black lives matter” are people who disagree with the latter statement.
There’s no one “in charge” of BLM, the movement is completely decentralized – my town’s BLM march was led by high school students, who likely don’t even know the names of the people who “originated the hashtag” and now claim to be the “founders.“
Everyone at the protests I’ve been to has had different belief systems, different agendas, and different preferred methods of achieving racial equality – they all just share the fundamental belief that Black Lives Matter.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:38 pm
I mostly agree with every comment you’ve written up until this one. But, call bullshit on the 90%. Unfortunately, the name of the organization is politically charged. Should it be? Probably not, but it is. Personally, the only problem I got saying black lives matter is that it’s so painfully low bar obvious that’s its like saying “I don’t want to drown puppies.” It’s embarrassing to even have to say. It feels condescending and patronizing. If someone really needs to hear me say it? Sure black lives more than matter. But I follow and know conservatives who don’t say it because they are against the organization politically, and against being forced to chant politicized slogans. I’ve seen celebrities attacked on the social media with demands they say ACAB. There’s something beyond creepy about that and many people are reacting to the creepy mob intimidation. You’re right what you said earlier about people of different interests being able to come together on the core issue of ending racism, which makes what Dolly said painfully, obviously innocent and good hearted. But speaking for the people I know, they have proven to me in other instances over and over that they believe in treating all human beings equally. I think MOST people (certainly more than 10%), are talking passed each other on this one, and the only winners are extremists who want us divided, and the clickbait media. Almost everyone else is just finding new ways to hate each other.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:22 pm
There is no meaningful “BLM Organization.” The movement is completely decentralized.
Any major figure who claims otherwise is lying, because the idea that Black lives should matter just as much as white lives conflicts with their agenda.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:32 pm
You’ve said that multiple times. I get it. I agree. Sometimes though, perception is reality, unfortunately. People having the wrong perception about an organization and not agreeing with that perception, doesn’t make them racist.
There are MANY misperceptions, on both sides of the political aisle, and they continue to distract and divide us.
August 15, 2020 @ 7:25 pm
Yeah – like I said in the comment below, I don’t blame people for believing a lie.
I blame the liars.
But, by that same principle, I do feel an obligation to refute those lies, any time I see them.
Like how I always link to this Charleston Mercury article from 1865, any time someone like CK (a Yankee himself, making the Lost Causer pose doubly pathetic) starts yapping about “The War of Northern Aggression” and “States Rights”:
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/we-want-no-confederacy-without-slavery/
Tends to shut him right up.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:27 pm
To be clear, the 90% number was referring to the “special interests,” not the run-of-the-mill conservatives they’ve spent years lying to about what BLM stands for.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:57 pm
So you are basically saying that those high school students are too lazy to look up the founders? Geez, they are going to make great voters. They don’t do any research. They just parrot whatever social media. A flock of sheep.
And look at you showing up at the protests, so much for social distancing against that dreaded COVID virus but I forgot; COVID takes a break for protesting which is why that First Amendment is allowed while freedom to worship is curtailed.
August 15, 2020 @ 7:03 pm
Oh, honey…
I know you’re a bit slow, and everything you say and do is out of a desperate attempt to score “edgy” internet points (like your little slander above about a genuine war hero, because he isn’t as eager as you to lick the spray-tanned taint of a draft dodger)…but I’m saying that the founders are completely irrelevant to the movement.
It’s a genuinely organic, grassroots thing – my church actually organizes a (socially distanced, mask-wearing) gathering every Sunday. People of all backgrounds and valued go to BLM events (aka, partake in the movement) because they hold one belief in common:
Black Lives Matter.
Additionally…COVID didn’t “take a break.” That’s why everyone at those protests wears a mask…and why, empirically, they haven’t been shown to increase transmission of the disease.
But hey, kiddo…keep licking boots, and maybe, one day, a big, strong man will let you lick a little higher.
August 15, 2020 @ 8:23 pm
Edgy internet points? Dude, half your comments to people start with “Oh honey”, or some other sweet little term to give the appearance that you’re talking down to them.
100% percent of your comments are either mostly or entirely comprised of you attempting to be clever by just being a smart-ass. You literally(not figuratively) have nothing serious to add to the conversation. Not once, ever on this site(that I’ve seen), have you engaged in anything in a way that can be respected by anyone other than other little weasely beat-offs like you.
I’ve actually tried to understand your perspective through the years, but you make it impossible to take you seriously.
August 15, 2020 @ 8:56 pm
Folks, this matter is contentious enough. I would appreciate if we try to keep the comments on topic, and not resort to personal back and forths. Thanks!
August 16, 2020 @ 6:31 am
Oh, it’s because I am talking down to that Yankee poseur who’s never had a thought that didn’t come from Breitbart.
I don’t think I talk down to you or RD, in fairness – you two are racist jackasses, but you’re straight up about it.
Similarly, I had perfectly polite exchanges with Jake and Trigger above.
I have zero respect for millennial edgelords with zero intellectual integrity, who like to cosplay as “Conservative Christians“ but have clearly never read the Bible, though…so I treat them like the not-too-bright children they are.
Plus, I’m a raging asshole, and this helps me be nicer to my friends and family.
August 16, 2020 @ 6:35 am
More importantly…did you at least approve of the homophobic crack I ended that post with?
August 15, 2020 @ 8:52 pm
Trigger,
What gives man? Are you protecting the Jester now? Are we not allowed to criticize him?
Let me talk!
#freehonky
August 15, 2020 @ 8:58 pm
Dude, chill out. I got better things to do with my Saturday night than keep refreshing my browser and waiting to approve your next comment. Your comments are being posted.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:24 am
Your first sentence alone proves you have nothing but personal attacks in your argument.
Sound and fury signifying nothing.
Of course the founders are considered by you to be irrelevant to the movement. That allows you and the rest to neatly dodge the Marxist cornerstone.
I am sure you attend church. At the same time, you love to attack my beliefs. How Christian of you. And for your information, I have read the Bible cover to cover multiple times. Sorry to ruin your slander.
Sad to see your church participate with a group that will turn on it. Like every Marxist group does to religion. Just read Tortured for Christ.
Then masks work. How come your party keeps pushing lockdowns? If those masks work in large protesting groups, we should be able to do plenty more as a society. But protesting is OK while California shuts down churches. How hypocritical.
Basically, you are a raging asshole (your own words) that can’t handle people that dare to disagree with you on any topic. You provide nothing to this site or this country. And on some level, you know this because of your use of insults.
Don’t worry. Keep licking the boots of tyrants and maybe you will give you a nice room in the gulag.
August 16, 2020 @ 11:14 am
lol.
I can absolutely handle people disagreeing with me – I love a good argument, and have had friendly, respectful back-and-forths with a few folks in this very comments section.
I have friends who voted Trump. I have friends who wrote in Bernie. I’ve dated a vegan European Federalist who exclusively votes Green. The only time I’ve voted Democrat at the state level is when I lived in GA…where the Democrats were indistinguishable from Northern Republicans.
Unfortunately, you’re neither bright nor informed enough to have a proper debate grounded in facts and logic…and instead only offer incessant regurgitation of the latest party line from whatever corner of Reddit is dedicated to your collective of Alt-Right Incels.
All your mealy-mouthed nonsense provides is a punching bag that helps me be nicer to people with genuinely beliefs and principles, when we get into arguments.
August 16, 2020 @ 8:56 pm
I would add to CLS’s comment that the difference between church gatherings and the protests is that the protests are outdoor events.
If churches want to hold outdoor services at the local park, with everyone wearing masks, then there is no problem.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:03 pm
I saw a blm protest in my town. Only two people in it were black. Most black people I know think it’s a joke. Strange days are here.
August 15, 2020 @ 11:14 pm
Speak for yourself. I live in the South, and the only the black people I know who aren’t vocal about how much they support BLM are the ones who rarely speak at all.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:14 pm
While opposed to right and left wing “cancel culture” on principal if anyone calls any woman a slut let alone someone as well respected as Dolly can fuck right off. There is expressing an opinion and then there is being an asshole. And no, “edgy humor” is no excuse for being an asshole.
What sane business would want anything to do with the guy after that?
August 16, 2020 @ 10:54 am
Just act like our current “leader in the White House and dodge all personal responsibility and say “I WAS JOKING “!get some pathetic ass kissing sycophants to say the same thing,&
you don’t have to own your own words.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:20 pm
Dolly also said something along the lines that if people are offended by the word “Dixie” then it must be a bad word and should be cancelled. What completely moronic logic. Another icon revealing their clownery. Sorry, Ms. Parton, you have exposed yourself. I’m sure you’ll find new fans, however, it’s time I say goodbye.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:08 pm
Let’s see said quote, please.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:11 pm
I found her quote. That’s not quite what she said.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:29 pm
No…stop…don’t go…
August 15, 2020 @ 1:25 pm
who cares what dolly has to say. it’s 2020 not 1974…she’s not exactly relevant lmao
August 16, 2020 @ 7:22 pm
She’s one of the highest selling country artists of all time(male or female). An internationally recognized celebrity and probably one of, if not the best recognized living country stars worldwide. She has like 10 charities plus philanthropic causes which benefit millions of people each year, is a wildly successful business person and she’s just a kind, generous person…she’s plenty relevant.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:28 pm
Dolly is a brand and a company. She may not have guns to her head forcing her words but she knows she has to pick her battles to preserve her assets. Being blind sided with something like this is going to hurt her either way including choosing to dodge it. She bit her tongue and politely if not a little submissively answered. It’s whoever wrote and conducted the interview that I’d like to slap around for bringing up shit that doesn’t matter. It’s like asking me what my ranch feels about Syria.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:19 pm
Submissively? lol, you must be thinking of the wrong person. Dolly is polite and considerate but when has she ever been submissive? She was pretty unequivocal and aggressive in her statement.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:33 pm
A little submissively in regard to “Our little white asses.”
Don’t get it twisted, scooter. She didn’t bend over backward to address the question but the optics to me look a touch “even WE think so”.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:55 pm
“Scooter?” What’s that all about?
Sorry, I am just not making any sense out of whatever you are trying to say. “Submissive” means meek, subservient, and obedient. I don’t see where you are getting any of that.
August 15, 2020 @ 3:25 pm
It’s a bit of like saying “Listen here, junior.”
Honestly I enjoy what your thoughts are on this as well. We’re on the same page; I only take issue with you taking issue on a word you feel has one true definition with no in between while I believe it has levels to it.
In this regard I’m being a little submissive to explain myself and not outright attack you like an asshole I typically am.
August 15, 2020 @ 1:54 pm
Thank You, Trigger! Living in Dolly country here, headlines drove me nuts! People just ran with this story!
August 15, 2020 @ 2:05 pm
Trig is entirely right, poor Dolly, she gave just about a perfect answer and is getting flack for it.
Obviously she can’t say she doesn’t support BLM, the media would have a field day. So she specifically adds that she is supporting the lives of people with black skin.
What else can she say? Maybe she could say that she doesn’t like seeing basic human rights mixed with politics? But that would be interpreted as anti-anti-racist sentiments.
When Dolly is even suspected of being a “bad” person, then you know the world is screwed.
Dolly has done so much for the world that she should be entitled to absolute reverence and any possible gaffe to be seen in context of her life.
Can’t we all just thing happy thoughts?
August 16, 2020 @ 4:28 pm
Who is giving her flack for it? Except for this site, almost every reaction I’ve seen was incredibly laudatory.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:13 pm
Good stuff, Trig, and of course you’re right.
Dolly is a Christian, and her trust in Christ is the basis of her “of course black lives matter.” To the Christian, every human being is made in the image of God, has equal dignity as such, and has the same legal status as everyone else. Back in pagan Europe, those ideas were revolutionary. I guess some things don’t change.
Except people in Congress, the globalist plutocrats who corrupt them, the liars in the media, and the civil service. They are more equal than others, and we should all kiss their asses and give them total power to run our lives.
Our country better get its act together soon.
August 15, 2020 @ 4:31 pm
You mention civil servants as thinking they are above the law, but not the president who literally says that he is and acts that way every day?
Thank goodness for civil servants (and the courts). They are the only institutions that have saved our country from becoming an autocracy.
August 15, 2020 @ 2:27 pm
I agree with most of what you say here Trigger but I think you spin a bit in your parsing of the statement. You are correct that she didn’t support any ideas past that comment but she did supported the protests. People say she supports the movement in response to that because that’s how most supporters understand the movement. They organize well enough for protest on that subject but fall apart when it comes to specifics. Fellow travellers with other agendas and right wing propagandists try to put more on it but that’s really as far as it goes.
August 15, 2020 @ 7:47 pm
Actually, now that I’ve seen the actual video of Dolly Parton making the statement (which I’ve added to the story), I feel even more confident that Billboard twisted Dolly Parton’s words on purpose. Not only does she not give her “unequivocal support” to Black Lives Matter, they cut off the final portion of her quote where she says, “Everybody matters,” which of course, is a no no when talking about Black Lives Matter.
Billboard sold out Dolly Parton.
August 15, 2020 @ 8:18 pm
God Bless Dolly!
And, THANK YOU TRIGGER, for your persistence!
Screw Billboard
August 15, 2020 @ 2:34 pm
Tired of this crap.
Saturday evening, Aug. 1, had a protest encounter.
Downown, Nashville, TN.
Not sure how many spotter’s they used.
First thing noticed that indicated possible trouble, was the fat white chick, yelling, and twisting & turning a big poster board sign, that said, AMERICA, WHERE’S YOUR CONSCIENCE.
Smiled and chuckled, then another oh so incredibly gifted white chick started backing into the road. Literally, walking backwards, into the road.
Of course slowed down, while observing that the protestors on the right were advancing into the road, at the same time.
Had about 1 second to determine there was enough room to get through them, so went through.
Hit the brakes, invited the protestors to get the hell out of the road.
Had i not had others in the car, would have parked & gone back for a chat. Challenge everyone on their, enlightened ideas.
Maybe cuff the living hell out of someone, to get the party started.
Would have stood and waited, to be dazzled by their brilliance.
What a bunch of clueless, self-centered, dangerous to themselves, & others, idiots.
Prior military in the car, most of us having served in and outside of the U.S. But more than one person said what a tense moment that was, especially the 2 friends in the front and back seat, by the passenger doors.
The protestors that are going to the extreme, like the people we encountered, need to be dealt with.
Fines, night or 2 in jail. Community service in the inner cities, actually lending a helping hand.
Peaceful protestors? They are welcome to protest 24/7.
As an American Indian, both maternal & paternal sides, i am sick to death of all of the ———- (pick one) lives matter.
Like Jake said.
It is embarrassing.
August 15, 2020 @ 5:37 pm
Your writing seems to me, an interesting “Heinz57” of narrative, prose, and stream of consciousness. ????
August 15, 2020 @ 5:59 pm
Oh for sure …
Totally funky enlightened currently.
At a Queen Delphine & The Crown Jewels concert @ Hard Truth Hills.
Miss Queen is a Blues singer, out of INDY.
Her husband calls her Queen.
That is One Smart Man …
Just sayin’ y’all
Bet he is one happy camper
August 15, 2020 @ 2:48 pm
I saw this on the BBC news homepage yesterday – the BBC article is disgraceful but also bizarre! The article says “Dolly Parton has come out in support of Black Lives Matter, in a rare comment on politics” and then quotes what she actually said which isn’t political and doesn’t says she supports the BLM movement! They then made out that she decided to ‘speak out’ on this when it was just an answer to a reporter’s question. They then go as as far as saying “Ms Parton’s comments come as the 2020 presidential election campaign heats up, a stark contrast with four years ago when she assiduously avoided criticising Mr Trump when he was running against Hillary Clinton.” Then they seem to recover their wits and talk about Dolly in an unpolitical way saying that she’s a “LGBT and feminist icon, has supported progressive causes” and quote her 2014 billboard quote “The sin of judging is just as bad as any other sin they might say somebody else is committing. I try to love everybody.”
Thanks for this article Trigger – it has really opened my eyes to how the mainstream media really don’t do their research! I mean I think the BBC were trying to be unbiased and informative here but they just completely missed the fact that she didn’t say anything remotely political! I mean all she did was confirm that she thinks black lives matter which everybody knew anyway! Why even report on it at all?! The BBC have done a ridiculous number of reports on the Black Lives Matter movement including extreme left opinions which they’ve failed to challenge. It seems to me they’ve got so used to just blindly accepting anything to do with the BLM movement that they didn’t bother to look at her actual quote in context and just believed what other articles said! Anyway, thanks trigger for some truly unbiased reporting – I wish I could find more journalists like you!
August 15, 2020 @ 2:59 pm
You can’t trust the Lamestream Media to be truthful. They journal indoctrination.
August 16, 2020 @ 4:55 am
The BBC is a great example of what was once a credible journalistic operation to being terribly biased and borderline almost now a tabloid. These outfits need headlines and click-bait to survive. Emotion generating and commotion generating headlines keep them going. Honest and objective reporting are the last thing on their minds. A song Don Henley wrote back in the early 80’s comes to mind. Back when I was in the UK visiting years ago I noticed that most if not all of their papers were slanted politically one way or the other. It seemed strange to me at the time but the same thing has happened to news in the US too. Not sure what is taught in journalism schools or what passes for journalists these days but we desperately need some good honest and unbiased ones who are ready to take on all sides without fear of retribution or the need for increased website traffic revenue.
August 16, 2020 @ 6:11 am
Short term strategy is clickbait. Longer term strategy is not showing stories that disagree with their reader’s worldview. Perfect example from the BBC:
https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/bbc-cropping-out-weapon-black-lives-matter-protest/
August 15, 2020 @ 2:50 pm
I imagine most Americans have no problem with the idea that Black Lives Matter. Of course, they do.
But the organization itself is more about radically transforming America on a Marxist level. Check out their website. Their co-founder is a trained Marxist. They don’t deny it. It is the truth.
You can be for the former and deny the latter. The issue is, most of the media and social media can’t grasp that because they don’t want to.
August 15, 2020 @ 3:52 pm
Party members in USSR media had job security, for a while anyway. Until they denounced each other, were purged, etc. People who go along with totalitarians are like moderates who hang out with Puritans. Sooner or later, you’re not going to be pure enough, and off goes your head. Or job. Or your kids’ entrance to college.
August 15, 2020 @ 3:03 pm
Dolly can say what she wants. So can Stuart Baker. Cancel culture is ridiculous and incredibly one sided. He said some dumb stuff but people wanting to end his career and a show (full of workers that have nothing to do with his views) is stupid. And really, other comedians have said a lot more venomous stuff and escaped from it. Of course, some groups are acceptable targets. I despise cancel culture but if one side is going to use it, the other side needs to use it back to level the playing field.
Anyway, Dolly has always been one to display how progressive she is. I imagine it is a way for her to 1. get acceptance from the popular culture and 2. show how not everyone from the hill country are backwards.
Good for her.
August 16, 2020 @ 9:31 am
The other option is 1. Dolly said what she really thought, and 2. Stuart Baker said what he really thought.
There’s no indication Baker was joking. He’s telling you directly that he’s a bigot, and you’re looking for a way to give him a pass.
August 15, 2020 @ 4:14 pm
In the interest of talking about something I actually care about
How do y’all feel about Pikmin 3?
I love the graphics I just hate how clunky the Wii U tablet is as a controller.
Like the GameCube has perfect controls and the Wii U tablet could have used butttons but imsisists on making us use the motion controls and touchscreen
And Ernest tubb is on the wilburn brothers show tonight
In case any of you wanna hear country music
August 15, 2020 @ 4:24 pm
One positive thing about this era is that it is revealing peoples’ true character.
Dolly Parton has passed the character test. Unknown Hinson has failed.
August 15, 2020 @ 6:33 pm
So profound.
August 15, 2020 @ 5:12 pm
“You can be a corporation or politician continuing to enact policies that put black lives at a disadvantage.“
You can’t name a policy like this, since there aren’t any, so why did you say it?
August 15, 2020 @ 6:21 pm
Just a quick update, and I have updated the story as well.
Along with everything else, Billboard cut off Dolly Parton’s quote. She finished her quote by saying “Everybody matters,” but that was edited out of the Billboard feature. However there is video of Dolly Parton actually speaking the quote, which I have added above. And at no point does she say she vehemently supports Black Lives Matter, like Billboard said in the article.
August 15, 2020 @ 7:31 pm
I don’t believe you. They’d never do that.
August 15, 2020 @ 7:44 pm
Sorry, apparently the update didn’t post. It’s posted now.
August 15, 2020 @ 9:14 pm
I don’t even need to watch it… I know exactly what they did because it’s the same thing they all do, every day. The bigger question is… why do people still fall for it and/or look the other way even when they see this bullshit happen?
Unfortunately, it’s because they want to hear confirmation of their world view, whether it’s true or out of context and misleading….doesn’t matter. Nothings going to change… in fact, as they all fight for smaller and smaller pieces of the dwindling pie, and people’s attention spans keep shrinking, it’s going to get worse and we’re just going to hate each other more and more. It’s “the new normal.” I’m trying to tune it out myself, but here I am commenting away like a sucker. My black pill for the evening.
August 15, 2020 @ 6:42 pm
I’m just gonna say it
Better to have nothing on tv but bad nineties movies like Steve Martin in Sgt. Bilko or Beverly Hills ninja than to watch the podcasts and BS media of the last five years
August 15, 2020 @ 6:47 pm
Dolly will always be my favorite girl C(c)ountry singer of all time. I’ve known for years that she went along with ideas I disagree with.
All lives don’t matter. And lives definitely don’t matter because of the race of that life. Some lives in every race matter; some don’t. Charlie Pride’s life matters. Fuzzy TwoShirts’ life matters. Woodrow Wilson’s life didn’t. Johnny Rodriguez’s life matters. Che’s didn’t. Yao matters; Mao didn’t.
The point is, a person’s race doesn’t determine their value. Until you all figure that out, you’re effed; and I’m effed, because I have to live in this world with you.
August 15, 2020 @ 6:48 pm
I remember the good old days when the right and the left still considered each other fellow Americans with different viewpoints. Now, it’s almost as if they’re sworn enemies. We need better leadership all the way around, starting with the top. Of course he attacks the left ( do-nothing Democrats, radical left), but also the right (RINOs, Never-Trumpers). It’s like he wants another Civil War. I knew the guy was a piece of shit 20 years ago when he was a Democrat.
August 15, 2020 @ 7:19 pm
Every actual conservative I know loathes the man – the notoriously right-wing Catholic guy from my HS is *all-in* on BLM.
It’s both sad and vaguely amusing watching so many people expose themselves as either hateful shitbirds or people who only want power for its own sake, rather than to effect positive change.
We really need a proper Centre-right party back.
August 15, 2020 @ 8:34 pm
“Along with everything else, Billboard cut off Dolly Parton’s quote. She finished her quote by saying “Everybody matters,” but that was edited out of the Billboard feature.”
Of course it was and that is what is wrong with this whole crap-show.
And by the way, there are plenty of others besides Unknown Hinson who have made very disparaging remarks about others and have not been cancelled. Would you venture to guess who they were remarking about and from what side of the isle the remarks came from?
Giving comments to Rolling Stone and expecting them to be reported accurately. Really? Duh.
August 15, 2020 @ 11:13 pm
This isn’t hard to figure out. All you have to do is look at the hysterical tremper-tantrumming amongst opponents of BLM and racists to see that they certainly see Dolly as at betrayer. And I don’t think it’s cause they were confused by a headline.
And amongst those more ambivalent about the movement you see frantic and contorted groping for explanation that distances Dolly from BLM so that they’re cognitive dissonance can be resolved: “Wait, she didn’t really mean it, she was pressured! She tacked on a ‘everybody matters’ at the end, see!”.
Like other’s have said, this seems pretty bold and Dolly’s smart, I’m inclined to believe Dolly knows what she was doing here.
It’s also just completely wrong to suggest that saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ is somehow mundane and that there’s some split between it as a banal tagline of shared humanity and the ‘malevolent’ change-oriented politics of the movement. Indeed, if you mean it beyond mere signaling, it demands wrestling with some pretty radical stuff: abolishing the war-on-drugs, wage subsidies, addressing shameful child poverty, integration of communities that are high opportunity areas via zoning and educational policy, police reform, criminal justice reform more broadly, etc. Some of the discomfort is perfectly understandable and some of it is racist. Some of the change being called for is off target excess, and some is on. There’s debate about what and how. But none of that negates the truth that changing the United States to fully reflect the equal worth of Black people will require some big changes, there’s no way around that. I’d bet Dolly gets that and so do the racists who clearly hate what she said.
August 16, 2020 @ 4:41 am
“Indeed, if you mean it beyond mere signaling, it demands wrestling with some pretty radical stuff: abolishing the war-on-drugs, wage subsidies, addressing shameful child poverty, integration of communities that are high opportunity areas via zoning and educational policy, police reform, criminal justice reform more broadly, etc.”
If all of those problems get solved, how are the Democrats going to continue to get votes?
August 16, 2020 @ 8:49 am
lol.
They’ll “get votes” thanks to the credit they’ll get for being the people who solved those problems.
Just like they’ve gotten votes for half a century thanks to passing the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act…and how Republicans got votes for nearly a century thanks to passing the 13th Amendment.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:06 am
Except a higher percentage of Republicans voted for both acts. Yet those votes are ignored, mostly, by the black voting bloc. So by your standard, the Republicans should be receiving votes for that support but they don’t.
https://www.countable.us/articles/17557-fact-check-republicans-voted-civil-rights-act-percentage-democrats-did
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2010/may/25/michael-steele/steele-says-gop-fought-hard-civil-rights-bills-196/
The black vote has gone steadily to the Democrats since FDR promised free stuff and it has continued to stay with the left since then because of scare tactics and their leaders selling them out. There is a reason LBJ signed those bills. To keep them voting Democrat for a 100 years.
Under President Trump, records unemployment numbers were had for African Americans. So, of course, the Democrats have to play fear tactics to keep them voting blue. It is disgraceful.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:27 am
lol.
Yes. Democrats did control the South until Johnson forced through the CRA, completely upending the makeup of both parties.
Then, all the Democrats who voted against the CRA switched to the Republican Party, which saw an opening…and thus was the Southern Strategy born.
August 16, 2020 @ 7:20 am
No doubt the temper tantruming is exposing a lot of simple-mindedness and some outright racism about this issue. Stuart Baker is a great example. But now having seen the video where the Dolly Parton quote was lifted, I think that it is conclusive that Billboard manipulated that quote, embellished it with their own opinions not tied to anything she said, and then Consequences of Sound and others ran with it, and made it into a viral event that helped breed misunderstanding surrounding the issue. Why did Billboard and everyone else left “Everybody matters” off the end of the quote? You know why, and I know why. Because it didn’t fit their narrative.
August 16, 2020 @ 8:33 am
Speaking of narratives, if there was an actual way to test it, I would bet a lot of money that even the most politically insulated commenters on this site aren’t racist. I think they are vehemently opposed to certain politics, are politically incorrect, and are often times misguided on certain things (by my personal value judgment), but I hear an awful lot of talk about these “racists,” when I see no actual evidence of it. If people disagreeing with Dolly Parton’s comments on a politicized movement is the worst case of racism that people can find for a couple days, then perhaps we’ve come a lot further than many would have us believe.
August 16, 2020 @ 12:19 am
Lest we forget the vast majority of country artists at least did Blackout Day. (I kept a list cause it was important to me.) Extra credit goes to Lindsey Ell, Jason Isbell and Maren Morris for being really outspoken.
Blake Shelton said something like, “praying for justice for George Floyd peace in our communities and change” and promptly list 200,000 followers on Twitter which is a really good indicator of where Anerica is at.
August 16, 2020 @ 4:48 am
Maybe Billboard was protecting her by not including “all lives matter”, because as I understand it, you are not allowed to say that, either. That means “you don’t get it”. At least that’s what the media tells me.
August 16, 2020 @ 6:10 am
BLM has nothing to do with black people as a whole, it’s a ethnocentric cult that uses racism as original sin and victimhood as redemption. BLM is not about equality, it’s about submission. The farther away you stay from these nutcases, the better off you’ll be.
August 16, 2020 @ 7:29 am
Did Dolly’s statement need to be dissected? No. I very much like your writing, Trigger, but the first paragraph and “get off it,” are all you needed to write here. If you want to suffocate all the absurd, bad faith political conflations, stop giving them oxygen by engaging with them in good faith. Dolly knew what she was doing, and to anyone saying “goodbye” to Dolly, I’m sure she hopes the door doesn’t hit ya on the way out.
August 16, 2020 @ 7:43 am
“If you want to suffocate all the absurd, bad faith political conflations, stop giving them oxygen by engaging with them in good faith. Dolly knew what she was doing…”
Yes, Dolly Parton was iterating what we all already knew, which is that she believes that black lives matter. The media acted in bad faith tying her words to a political movement, weaponizing her words and persona, which is unethical and irresponsible. It would also be unethical and irresponsible as a member of the media to not point this out. But trust me, those who see this dissection as unnecessary, you can feel good knowing it will be isolated on a dark corner of the internet, while the idea that Dolly Parton came out for the Black Lives Matter movement (which she didn’t) prevails.
August 16, 2020 @ 2:12 pm
I hear ya on that, and agree in principle RE: media actions and ethical responsibility. What triggered (ha!) my thought was that in defending Dolly on merit, I read an acceptance of a BS frame for the argument. Separating BLM the movement from your defense/dissection breathes life into the idea that it’s reasonable attribute all the nonsense you mention to the political movement (Marxist, violent, extremist, etc.). I should have been clearer that I think the first paragraph + line, then the last 2 paragraphs do a very good job by themselves of knocking down the terrible frame that containing the majority of arguments against Dolly’s statements, and all the stuff in the middle of those paragraphs dilutes that point for this reader. I do also understand the spot you’re in, having to appeal to a wider spectrum of your readers’ politics than just this particular lib in the comments section. Like I said, I appreciate your voice, your internet corner isn’t as dark as you think, and I guess this is the place I felt like giving you a nudge. Keep on keepin’ on.
August 16, 2020 @ 7:49 am
Beyond not taking pains to disambiguate saying “black lives matter” and supporting “BLM” as an organization – do you have any evidence that:
“They want you to believe that Dolly Parton is a Marxist. They want you believe she hates the police, and is for defunding local police departments.”?
Because this seems like exactly the kind of intentionally provocative shit-flinging pseudo-journalism you so often rail against.
August 16, 2020 @ 9:29 am
Moses,
I’m not saying that everybody believes that, or even a majority of people believe that. But do some? Of course they do. We have seen the media weaponize the words of celebrities, and they specifically love to target country celebrities because they believe this is fertile ground for pushing a political agenda. Billboard said that Dolly Parton was “unequivocal in her support of Black Lives Matter.” They then cut off her quote that could be used to refute this claim, and we have video evidence of this. This speaks to the kind of political agenda that is behind these matters.
As I said in the article, a lot of ills have been lumped onto the Black Lives Matter movement by its opponents, including some that are unfair and unfounded. But many of its founders are self-idenitified Marxists, and it says right on their website under “What We Believe” that they’re against the nuclear family. These things give their enemies ammunition, and its fair game.
August 16, 2020 @ 9:46 am
So, no evidence then? If the writer had chosen to amplify the “every life matter” quote, instead of the broader statement of support, and it had become an issue – how would you have responded to that? Because it’s hard not to think that you’d be on here blasting the media for stoking controversy and painting country music as racist when clearly Dolly had said that she thought black lives matter.
She said black lives matter, she meant it, she got positive media attention for it. It’s a good day for anyone who isn’t try to stir shit up or serve their own agenda.
August 16, 2020 @ 11:25 am
Trust me, if I cared enough to belabor this point, I could take to Twitter and pull up dozens, maybe hundreds of examples. Maybe more. But it’s really not a point I was trying to drive home here. I was simply pointing how how some will take Dolly’s comments, and use them to paint her in the extreme, on both sides. You want an example? Stuart Baker, who was highlighted in the article.
And let’s please not assume that I’m a right winger here like so often happens. I’m happy that Dolly Parton came out and said what she said. I agree it exposed some racist tendencies with certain country fans resulting in unnecessary blowback on Parton, which I am defending her from here.
“It’s a good day for anyone who isn’t try to stir shit up or serve their own agenda.”
There I strongly disagree. This is EXACTLY what Billboard, Consequences of Sound, and others were doing. It was click bait driven by an agenda, and they knew it.
August 16, 2020 @ 11:34 am
SCM: “The media wants to paint country music music artists as degenerate racists.”
Media: “Dolly Parton supports black lives matter.”
SCM: “The media wants to paint country music artists as family destroying marxists.”
I’m not sure what you are saying you’re going to pull up on Twitter. The journalists from Billboard and Consequences of Sound claiming that Dolly Parton is a radical marxist?
August 16, 2020 @ 10:05 am
Also, from “What we believe”
“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”
This isn’t really controversial. The same idea runs through J.D. Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy” when he talks about how Appalachian extended family structures were weakened when people left to work in city’s and were forced to see the nuclear family as the end all model. As someone who bought into the nuclear family model and thought all would be fine if I just choose whatever city and job market appealed to me, I can attest that trying to raise a (nuclear) family outside of the support of one’s extended family or a broader community (be it a church, social movement, whatever) doesn’t quite work, and certainly doesn’t work in a pandemic.
All to say that the way you’ve presented this is misleading, and it’s a bit ridiculous to see it that way in the middle of paragraph in which you lament other journalists misleading presentations.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:17 am
What about the nuclear family model dictates that the father and mother must remove themselves from their extended families geographically? You could quite easily partake in the nuclear family model within the extended support environment you’re describing. Many people choose to do so. Lots of couples stay together within their respective familial circles, or at least one of their familial circles. Guess what? Most of them are very content with life.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:25 am
Well there were some economic consequences to not making the geographic move. But I think you’re reading too much into my comment. My point was that the nuclear family has become the prescribed model for living, and there are consequences for the fact that we haven’t also emphasized the need for strong communities and extended family beyond the parent-child movement. That BLM would highlight this and support “extended families and villages” to the extent people are comfortable isn’t quite as radical a position as Trigger painted when he said they were “against” the nuclear family. But man we’ve gone way off course for a country music blog.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:59 am
As someone who has worked his arse of his entire life to rise above the scourge of being born into the blighted areas of tye rural South, I just wanted to express appreciation for mentioning “Hillbilly Elegy.” I read it just recently, and it had a profound impact on yours truly.
As you were…
August 16, 2020 @ 11:36 am
The reason I cited the “nuclear family” verbiage in their “what they believe” literature is because it’s an example of a controversial provision, whether you agree with it, believe it should be controversial, or not. So if someone pledges to “Black Lives Matter,” they’re pledging to “disrupting the nuclear family,” which is something at heart of Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu religions, and most any other formal religion, and not just in the West.
One of the reason’s black communities are suffering to a greater degree than white communities is because so many young black men are being incarcerated and murdered, which is breaking down the nuclear family structure in these communities, and there is a consensus among biologists, anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists that this is leading to further losses of opportunities for children born in these communities. Springboarding off the police state, Black Lives Matter should be emphasizing this, not saying that the nuclear family is bad. And by putting responsibility for child rearing on communities, this ties the movement to the Marxist principles many love to lump on the movement.
Now of course, we can go back and forth on these points all day. But my underlying point is, why tie the “disruption of the nuclear family” to a movement that is supposed to be standing up against police brutality? If anything, they should be citing the lack of men and fathers in black communities as a symptom of the police state. Instead, they take a non-mainstream ,controversial topic, and tie it to their movement. And this is why it is important to distinguish whether someone is simply saying, “of course Black lives matter,” or “I pledge my support for the Black Lives Matter movement.”
August 16, 2020 @ 11:46 am
If you read the actual language, which I posted, you can see that it’s really not that controversial, especially compared to how you presented it in your comment.
We don’t have to keep going. We’ve been here before. You explode small things to serve your agenda, all while decrying that other journalists aren’t being straightforward or fair for doing the same things.
And of course, you reap what you sow, more division and hate along the usual lines, as is always evidenced by the sad state of affairs that is the comments section here:
August 16, 2020 @ 11:46 am
100% this ^
August 16, 2020 @ 3:30 pm
The language is not that they support disrupting nuclear families. The statement is that they disrupt the notion that a family’s ability to benefit from societal support structures be conditioned on the structure of the family. I have the nuclear-ist of nuclear families, and BLM’s statement regarding this is not even a little threatening to me.
August 17, 2020 @ 7:48 am
Go watch Marcellus Wiley’s take on the nuclear family portion of BLM’s “What We Believe” section. He rips it to shreds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uno1oCW5RqM
August 17, 2020 @ 7:58 am
Like Trigger, he takes the first few words of that statement and then goes on a run of his own interpretation, as opposed to examining the full statement in context, which is more or less “it takes a village.”
It’s easy to look for reasons to find offense, whatever side you’re on. But I think intelligent and reasonable people will bypass that sort of cheap ploy and not be afraid to examine nuanced perspectives. There is tremendous value in the nuclear family (and like Marcellus I spend more energy on being a father within this structure than I do on anything else) but we’ve also lost a lot in our hyperfocus on the nuclear unit at the expense of extended families and community building. If we decide to engage in the idea instead of framing it in the most incendiary way possible and staging a freakout we think benefits our agenda – we might actually get somewhere.
August 17, 2020 @ 1:36 pm
Moses,
I totally understand what you’re saying, that in the mission statement they start out with a rather radical idea, and then extrapolate and soften it from there. My guess is they did that to both get credit for taking a fairly radical stance, but then to be able to cite qualifying points to quell any criticism with it. And I’m not even saying the issue isn’t debatable or worthy of deeper discussion. I think it is.
My underlying point is that if you have people out there saying that Black Lives Matter is for the disruption of the nuclear family, as many believe, as it says on their site, as Marcellus Wiley says in the YouTube clip MH posted, you have lost control of your messaging, and brought unnecessary polarization of your movement that is going to compel certain people to want to distance from it, or find it difficult to sign up for it, while attracting other radical ideologies who will hijack it and use it for their own purposes, like disrupting the nuclear family, full stop. I just don’t understand the value to the movement to bring forth such a polarizing subject.
August 18, 2020 @ 7:25 am
“My underlying point is that if you have people out there saying that Black Lives Matter is for the disruption of the nuclear family…”
But you are one of these people. Further, you’re “out there saying that” in a way that deliberately mischaracterizes the statement by only focusing on the first few words, even as you acknowledge that the broader statement is not so radical.You then rationalize doing so is based on your own cynical interpretation of their motives.
All while writing about how much you despise journalists who selectively quote someone in a way that shapes the meaning of their statement to serve their purposes.
August 16, 2020 @ 8:12 am
BLM is not a pro black movement it is an anti white Marxist agenda ,the below links provide irrefutable proof that America’s race relations and black families and black people in general in the United States were far better off prior to the liberal welfare state that began poisoning the nation in the 1960s, these aren’t opinions they are facts, the truth and genuine solutions are out there , but how much do you care? https://youtu.be/SzHd5bmEdU4 + https://youtu.be/Wt95ct2gISA + https://youtu.be/IFqVNPwsLNo?list=TLPQMTYwODIwMjCdgG3oahhipQ + https://youtu.be/7drzLBsrE9c?list=TLPQMTYwODIwMjCdgG3oahhipQ
August 16, 2020 @ 10:00 am
It is a good article. The media do what the media do best and that is to twist the truth. It’s fake news. I don’t think anyone could infer she was backing the BLM movement…….she I thought was saying everybody matters including black people…..which has to be right. As for the news…..I now ignore it….it is so unreliable.
August 16, 2020 @ 10:08 am
I hope Dolly and all the white supporters of BLM (the organization, not the saying, gotta be clear so people don’t whine) are prepared to yield your homes. Otherwise, you are just supporting white privilege.
https://nypost.com/2020/08/14/seattle-blm-protesters-demand-white-people-give-up-their-homes/
The demand has been made. Yield or you are racist.
August 16, 2020 @ 11:09 am
Yes Tucker Carlson,the are COMING TO GET YOU!
August 16, 2020 @ 1:59 pm
Gotta love the NY Post. The paper that posted a headline “headless body found in topless bar”. It’s no better source for news than Tucker Carlson.
August 16, 2020 @ 2:09 pm
So the video is fake then? Good to know.
August 17, 2020 @ 10:37 am
All the “news” that fits, they print!
August 16, 2020 @ 12:14 pm
Crap, it looks like I missed out yesterday on a fun comment section. No service at 12,000 feet in the Rockies. All I’ll say is go Dolly. Nice to see some common sense and people understanding that saying black lives matter is not the equivalent of saying white people don’t matter.
There were a bunch of conservatives whining about the lack of news coverage last week about a black man shooting a 5-yr old white kid, when it was on every news site I visit, including CNN. I had to argue with family members that its not just the violence, but the justice that black people are complaining about. This case ended up with an arrest for first degree murder immediately. It wasn’t a black person getting away with the murder until a video pops up two weeks later.
August 17, 2020 @ 7:14 pm
I, and everyone else who supports BLM, protested every single day that passed between when that poor kid was killed and when an arrest warrant was issued for the piece of shit that murdered him.
August 18, 2020 @ 7:47 am
So fucking what, you want a medal? People were rightly upset because the media have proven to be extremely selective in their outrage. George Floyd shouldn’t have died, but did you see all the bodycam footage? Still, a whole country was put to a standstill because of it. A 5 year old is executed in broad daylight and because it doesn’t fit their narrative, the scum media chooses to ignore it. That’s what pisses people off. Same goes for the kids that were killed in Seattle by ‘summer of love’ protesters around their autonomous zone. Did you say THEIR names during all those days you were standing up for black lives? Because they were black too.
August 18, 2020 @ 12:33 pm
Hah! You’re not especially quick on the uptake, are you sweetie?
Pop Quiz:
How many days went by between when that piece of shit was identified and a warrant was issued for his arrest?
August 18, 2020 @ 4:55 pm
Nice bit of deflecting, comrade.
August 20, 2020 @ 11:29 am
Bahahahahahaha
The snowflake is starting to melt down!
Do you know what “deflecting” means, in a rhetorical context, kiddo?
I’ll give an actual example of deflecting:
Accusing people of hypocrisy, because they protested when a man wasn’t arrested after committing murder on camera and didn’t protest when a man was immediately arrested after committing murder.
This is another instance where you’re honestly not bright enough to even make this fun.
August 16, 2020 @ 5:44 pm
One innocent comment and the Trumpies go ballistic, forever disavowing Dolly Parton and tagging her as a communist enemy of the state. It’s extremely difficult to believe that anyone could actually get angry at someone as innocuous as Dolly Parton, but lots of things are difficult to believe these days.
August 18, 2020 @ 7:14 am
They just want the whole world to be a safe space, where they never have to encounter anyone informed and articulate!
Is that too much to ask???
August 18, 2020 @ 7:31 am
And that anyone would be you, wouldn’t it? Have you checked your neighbourhood mailbox yet? I think evil Trump might have removed it while you were sleeping.
August 18, 2020 @ 8:04 am
Moses,
Get off Trigger’s ass
August 18, 2020 @ 5:40 pm
Why? I’m not rude to him or anyone else on here. If he doesn’t want to engage in the criticism he can just ignore it, or not allow my comments in the first place. I like this site and I think he’s an earnest operator, but I’m not going to pull punches when I think he gets it wrong. He certainly doesn’t hold back in his criticism of other journalists.
August 18, 2020 @ 5:47 pm
Fair enough.
August 18, 2020 @ 6:05 pm
Di Harris,
I appreciate you sticking up for me, but believe it or not, I am glad people come here to voice their dissent and offer differing perspective, and even “get on my ass” because it keeps me on my toes. I don’t always appreciate some of the assumptions that are made of me and my perspective based off the fact that with so much of music media leaning left these days, I feel the need to offer a bit of balance and counterbalance to the discussion as well. But the last thing I want to run here is an echo chamber.
August 18, 2020 @ 6:23 pm
Understood.
Apologies
August 18, 2020 @ 7:15 pm
Maturity and humility by all involved here, FWIW.
August 19, 2020 @ 8:12 am
Well said, as usual
November 27, 2020 @ 6:40 am
I will never buy anything, or go to anything Dolly Parton has. She worships the almighty greenbacks. BLM is a racist movement. Anytime you exclude a group because of their race it’s racist. They didn’t say all lives matter, they said BLM. By the way, more unarmed whites were killed by the police than any other race in 2019, and 2020. No one wants to look at the truth.