I Want to Live in Willie Nelson's America[*]
Parade magazine, the throwaway Sunday supplement that more than pays for its role in environmental degradation simply by recycling cartoons whose gags were first written in the 1850s, had a nice profile of Reason Hero of Freedom and convicted tax rebel Willie Nelson and his annual, epic 4th of July picnic bash:
"I started it in 1973 to bring together different kinds of people, and that's still what we do," Willie says. It's gotten bigger over the years, attracting rock bands, folk singers, rappers, and country stars who perform before as many as 20,000 music lovers of all ages, beliefs, and races. The event, just like the man himself, is a uniquely, magnificently American phenomenon. "It's people drinking beer, smoking pot, and finding out that they have things in common and don't really hate each other," Willie says. "Music gives people a chance to enjoy something together."…
"Rednecks, hippies, misfits—we're all the same. Gay or straight? So what? It doesn't matter to me. We have to be concerned about other people, regardless."
My only reservations about Willie's America? Can we just kill not only farm subsidies but Farm Aid too? And the 9/11 Truther shit needs to go too. You're The Redheaded Stranger, for god's sake, not the Redheaded Fucktard (though that sounds like an awesome album).
In 2005, Jesse Walker explained how the hippie and the cowboy can be friends.
