I’m old enough to remember every horrid detail of the George W. Bush administration, and quite honestly, I sort of wish we could go back to those days. I always thought Dubya was such a idiot, but now that we’re two weeks into the Orange Apocalypse, George W. Bush looks more and more like one of the greatest statesmen of our time. I was thinking about that again as I read this story about Bruce Springsteen telling a foreign audience that he was “embarrassed” to be an American, and it reminded me so strongly of the Dixie Chicks incident during Bush’s reign. Just before the Iraq War began in 2003, the Dixie Chicks were performing in London, and Natalie Maines said: “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas.” What happened next fundamentally changed the Dixie Chicks’ careers – people boycotted them, hatred spewed down on them, and they were embraced by liberals and progressives.
That was another time. In today’s world, our fascist president is the biggest internet troll of all, but he desperately wants to hang out with the cool kids. He’s obsessed with TV ratings. He’s obsessed with crowd size. He hates it when celebrities talk sh-t about him. So following Agent Orange’s terse phone call with the Australian prime minister (which ended when Baby Fists threw a tantrum and HUNG UP ON AN ALLY), Bruce Springsteen said some words. Bruce was performing in Melbourne and this happened:
Twice now, Bruce Springsteen has had to burden his Australian fans with chatter about America’s screwups while touring the continent. But, for once, during his show in Melbourne on Thursday, the topic affected them directly. Springsteen addressed reports of Donald Trump’s contentious phone call with Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull — which involved Trump reportedly hanging up on his fellow world leader over a disagreement on refugee entry — as best he knows how: by trolling Trump though song. “We stand before you embarrassed Americans tonight,” he began. “This is a song from 1965 by the Orlons. We’re going to use this to send a letter back home.” That song is “Don’t Hang Up,” which has lyrics alluding to fact-checking and calling the person on the other line a baby. Who knew the Orlons would be so prophetic? But just in case Trump misses the message, the E Street Band’s Steven Van Zandt has also spoken out on the one platform Trump can’t ignore.
[From Vulture]
The reference to “twice now” is because earlier this week, Bruce used another Australian concert to praise the Women’s March and condemn Trump’s Muslim Ban. My question/comparison remains though: is it offensive that Bruce says he’s “embarrassed” to be an American these days? If it is offensive, then I guess I have to offend as well – I am filled with a sense of embarrassment and shame as well. This is the most embarrassed I’ve ever been about an American president.
Australia is, was, and always will be one of the USA's best friends and closest allies. Apologies for today's temporary embarrassment.
— Stevie Van Zandt (@StevieVanZandt) February 2, 2017
Photos courtesy of WENN.
He SHOULD be embarrassed and scared!!!
We REAL Americans are embarrassed by that has-been.
Screw embarrassed – I’m angry at #45, his puppets and GOP (Get Over Patriotism).
I’m embarrassed as well. Everyone I went over the holiday people asked me wtf we were thinking. Everyone in Europe asked me 1. If Americans were stupid 2. What we felt about Trump and 3. If we were going to be leaving
Needless to say that’s NEVER happened to me while traveling abroad
I’m an American living in the Middle East. Twice, in two days, I’ve met other American women living here and we acknowledged we’re embarrassed to open our mouths (accents ) and slightly anxious as to what the future will bring here in Qatar. A place I’ve always said, since we moved here, is the safest place I’ve ever lived.
He said they were “embarrassed Americans”, he did not say he was embarrassed to be an American.
Ditto.
Can someone forward Brucie’s comments to McConoghey etc?
IT IS NOT OUR DUTY TO SUPPORT HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED.
I’m embarrassed that Americans even voted for Trump
Srsly.
If you are not embarrassed you have not been paying attention.
Exactly, Tate!
Ditto. Either not paying attention or in denial.
I was just reading some tweets and there are definitely some that are in major denial. They think the media is stirring up drama.
And when George Michael warned us all, he got blacklisted from the US media… it started with Bush. And yup this is shamefull.
Remember when people came out with pitchforks agaisnt the Dixie chicks? (It was them, right?)
We stood back and watched, again and again and again and now here we are.
“how a mother could teach her daughter to hate a perfect stranger”
I’m not ready to act nice, not ready to back down.
I’m mad as hell.
I think it’s ok to feel embarrassed by what’s currently happening to our country because I certainly do. I am angry, frustrated, saddened and embarrassed. It’s a extremely narrow road we are going down on. But even with all this, it doesn’t take away from the fact that I still do love my country.
Yes, GW might look better than the orange madman, but let’s never forget Iraq and Afghanistan, how many people have been killed in needless wars caused by him and his administration and how those wars are still affecting us today. I don’t like this trend to look back fondly at Bush.
Exactly. This is not the first time Americans should be embarrassed.
Yes. He stole the election from Gore and proceeded to begin perpetual war (as a continuation of elder Bush’s Desert Storm). He attacked a country that had not attacked us. He got the Patriot Act passed. His administration set the stage for trump/bannon to take over. I could go on… The Bush family has done this country no favors.
Shrub also led us into recession in 2008. We were in serious trouble when Obama took over.
Iraq 2003 was the genesis of ISIS, so thanks for that, Dubya.
He may not have been personally a bad man as I believe #45 is, but he certainly did awful things (or let his cronies do them, which is same diff).
I’m with him.
Also, the second I read this headline I thought of the Dixie Chicks
I never cared about the Dixie Chicks. Country just isn’t my thing. But when Natalie (?) said what she said and alt-right patriotic Americans came after them with pitchforks, I thought ‘well, let me buy every record ever made by them’. Now I enjoy their music and ‘Not ready ro make nice’ makes me cry every time.
I will troll the Trump supporters in my FB feed with the Dixie Chicks and Bruce tonight.
I’ve been a fan of Bruce’s music since I was 8 years old, listening to Born to Run for the first time (a Christmas gift from my favorite uncle the year it was released). And yet again, I am proud of that fact.
I type this as I am listening to John Legend’s version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “History Has Its Eyes On You” from The Hamilton Mixtape. The world is watching. Bruce is right.
Well, Bush was as bad as trump with the war…
I am embarrassed that he is our president, but I am not embarrassed to be an American.
Damn, whatever respect I had for Bruce before, it’s 100x. Just started reading his biography. So worth it! Buy it, read it
Agree 100%. Even if you aren’t a big Bruce fan, the book is amazing. Even better is the audio book read by Bruce himself. It’s like he’s sitting there telling you stories about his life. Don’t miss it. And as always, Bruce is doing the right thing in Australia.
I’m reading the book too, but now I want to hear the audio version! Thanks for the tip!
I am certainly embarrassed and he has every right to say that he is. As a dual citizen I’m very used to feeling shame for the country I grew up in (Germany) and at the same time of course I love it. We always felt free to criticize our country though.
I think a lot of the backlash has to do with the fact that American children are asked to recite the pledge of allegiance. Every day. As if it’s something sacred.
For me, no nation is more sacred than another, it’s all just luck where we’re born. But once we grow up we’re seen (and we see) through the lens of our culture. I think we do have some responsibility to help make the place we live in the best it can be.
Isn’t it possible to recognize Trump is a monster AND also absolutely despise Bush, though? I saw people on tumblr calling him “a cinnamon roll”. Good Lord.
I think the world is suffering from second hand embarrassment as well. Maybe not May, but the ones who aren’t falling for the smoke and mirrors.
I like that one o. kay: second hand embarrassment…
I am not American but I cringe on a daily basis when I read about the antics of that clown in the White House.
With every passing day, the national embarrassment grows. Only two weeks into his new job, Rump insults an ally like an ignorant fool. (Plus if you can’t get along with Australia, you need to check your medication.)
It’s only noon o’clock today, and the top advisor to Orangeade has invented a massacre in Bowling Green, of all the bizarre places she could come up with.
That’s okay with me, though, because soon some mental health professionals will start speaking up, and questioning Rump’s fitness to hold Office. Let him tweet his way out of the White House and back to his golden tower.
I just feel sorry for Melania, the Stepford Hostage. I doubt that she will have a full four years’ worth of freedom.
The line “none of us are as dumb as all of us” comes to mind when I think of he who must not be named. I think the best way to deal with him is to give him no platform. No airtime. No mind. Just resist and come together in opposition but not utter his name. He’s fueled by the headlines and the attention. You can tell from his behavior that he wants so desperately to be legitimately embraced by the Hollywood elite and true intellectuals of this country. Don’t give him the satisfaction.
I’m still a proud American because I’m surrounded by people who are now fired up civically who take action instead of just talk. I look at this time as just the beginning when we fought even harder for equality for all. The numbers are growing and the momentum continues. we can actually accomplish a lot if we keep up the pace. It’s a marathon.
I’m an Australian economist and political scientist and have been ranting for 12-18 months about how a Trump presidency might see an end to the ANZUS alliance. Our friendship was stretched to the limit by being dragged into the war in Iraq, and while President Obama restored a lot of goodwill towards the US around the globe, our continued cooperation with the US can’t be taken for granted.
Trump pissed off a lot of people here – and we don’t even particularly like or respect our PM!! But having Trump insult and shout at the leader of the US’ most loyal-to-a-fault ally certainly rubbed Australians the wrong way.
That said – we also understand that more than half the US is full of sane, awesome people whom we like very much. We know that 3M more people voted for Hillary, and that the historical legacy of the electoral college means that a Californian or New Yorker’s vote is essentially worth less than a vote from the southern states.
What I DON’T understand is the poor voter turnout. Only 19% of Americans aged 18-24 actually voted, despite a fascist being on the ballot. WTF? We have compulsory voting here, so I just don’t understand that degree of apathy.
Also, if it makes you feel any better, I was embarrassed to be Australian under our previous Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, who was (and is) a prize dickhead.
Our treatment of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru also continues to be a source of acute shame. It was something that was enacted to stop the arrival of tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Indonesia and to stop the people smuggling operations that were resulting in hundreds of deaths at sea every year. These refugees are the victims of that policy and this situation could have been stopped years ago by regional partnerships.
Anyhoo, chin up folks. Hopefully the Orange Baby-Fisted Fascist will get impeached before too long.
I’m an Australian too! And the way our government treats refugees breaks my heart.
Unfortunately impeachment will just lead to Pence being president which is as bad as Trump being in power. Of course Pence is more competent than Trump but I think Pence will enact a lot of awful policies. I feel like it’s just going be a rough few years so we need to stay informed and support the resistance.
It would be interesting to see what happens if our allyship with the U.S. dissolves. From memory the allyship grew out of WII and has influenced our political climate for decades.
I am embarrassed to be a Bruce fan. Because what he said is BS. It is the antithesis of being an American, I don’t like Trump, I didn’t vote for Trump. His twitter rantings are the worst, but seriously,..
He doesn’t make me ashamed to me an American, He’s the president, he won the election, and I accept that plenty of people in the necessary states wanted this, I’ve been voting w long time, and I’m about 50/50 in voting for the winning candidates. The sun always rises and tomorrow, The winners that I supported are seldom as good as I hoped and the winners I didn’t support are seldom as bad as I feared.
But our celebrities and their need to espouse their political opinions ? Yeah that’s the worst,
Here’s the deal. I wan Bruce and madonna to sing. Meryl and Clint to act, Colin and Tom B to play football.
That’s It. That’s all I want from them.
They are all American citizens and have just as much right as you or anyone else to express their political opinions. Just because they are celebrities doesn’t mean they have to relinquish their right to freely speak about what happens in their country. Don’t like it, then don’t listen to them.
Yesterday the US quietly reduced some sanctions against Ukraine and Russia cyber security sales.
Today tge start of reducing/ eliminating some regulations previously placed against Wall Street after the housing market fiasco.
14 days and this is really happening at lightening speed. The Republicans must be so proud of themselves while they prepare to rake the 99%over the coals.
Every day it gets worse.