Dave has found a new way and will apparently be the first in line. I hope it DOESN'T work this time.
Megadeth guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Dave Mustaine endorses Rick Santorum for president.
I keep meaning to sit down and blog about my actual life, but it takes one of my lifelong heroes coming out in favor of a man who opposes everything I care about to make me sit down and write.
I will put up with a lot from Dave Mustaine and I have. A lot of people have. I think he has garnered that coveted "crazy old uncle" quality within the metal community where he can pretty much say whatever he wants and everyone just shakes their head and says "Oh Dave..." Or at the very worst, they make fun of him and mock him, then sneak off and go headbang to "Hangar 18" and "Wake Up Dead" when nobody is looking.
But I can't look beyond this. And perhaps that is hypocritical of me because I listen to bands who are against the things I believe in all the time. Maybe the problem is attitude. You've got bands like Slayer and Cradle of Filth who blaspheme God for a living but when they're offstage they're all happy and goofy to the point where you want to pinch their cheeks and say "You are just precious!" And then there's Dave who has been accused of many things during his long career but having a sense of humor has not been one of them.
I could also point out that I feel Rick Santorum blasphemes God on an entirely different level that no mere metal band could ever hope to reach. But that is an entirely different discussion.
Another discussion that's worth having but also something of a digression is that heavy metal, for all its talk of rebellion and resistance is by and large an intensely conservative culture. A lot of metalheads don't like change in their music and don't like change in their world around them. There is a big undercurrent of homophobia in the culture. I say these things as someone who loves the scene enough to be honest about its shortcomings. In a way it is not surprising that sooner or later someone of great stature within the culture would come out in favor of a politician like Rick Santorum.
I just wish it had not been Dave Mustaine. I don't hold being a Republican against him. Hell, Jon Schaeffer of Iced Earth, another prominent metal musician whom I admire, is an outspoken Libertarian and Libertarians scare the hell out of me. Schaeffer, however, seems to know how to speak about his political views without alienating his target audience. That is a skill Mustaine has never had and never cared to. Anyway, as I said I could care less about him being a Republican or voting for one. Unfortunately I feel Rick Santorum is the most destructive one available, the one most committed to destroying things I value very highly. So I'm sorry Dave, but after twenty-two years of believing in you and feeling like you were there for me through your music, this is where you and I part ways.
I keep meaning to sit down and blog about my actual life, but it takes one of my lifelong heroes coming out in favor of a man who opposes everything I care about to make me sit down and write.
I will put up with a lot from Dave Mustaine and I have. A lot of people have. I think he has garnered that coveted "crazy old uncle" quality within the metal community where he can pretty much say whatever he wants and everyone just shakes their head and says "Oh Dave..." Or at the very worst, they make fun of him and mock him, then sneak off and go headbang to "Hangar 18" and "Wake Up Dead" when nobody is looking.
But I can't look beyond this. And perhaps that is hypocritical of me because I listen to bands who are against the things I believe in all the time. Maybe the problem is attitude. You've got bands like Slayer and Cradle of Filth who blaspheme God for a living but when they're offstage they're all happy and goofy to the point where you want to pinch their cheeks and say "You are just precious!" And then there's Dave who has been accused of many things during his long career but having a sense of humor has not been one of them.
I could also point out that I feel Rick Santorum blasphemes God on an entirely different level that no mere metal band could ever hope to reach. But that is an entirely different discussion.
Another discussion that's worth having but also something of a digression is that heavy metal, for all its talk of rebellion and resistance is by and large an intensely conservative culture. A lot of metalheads don't like change in their music and don't like change in their world around them. There is a big undercurrent of homophobia in the culture. I say these things as someone who loves the scene enough to be honest about its shortcomings. In a way it is not surprising that sooner or later someone of great stature within the culture would come out in favor of a politician like Rick Santorum.
I just wish it had not been Dave Mustaine. I don't hold being a Republican against him. Hell, Jon Schaeffer of Iced Earth, another prominent metal musician whom I admire, is an outspoken Libertarian and Libertarians scare the hell out of me. Schaeffer, however, seems to know how to speak about his political views without alienating his target audience. That is a skill Mustaine has never had and never cared to. Anyway, as I said I could care less about him being a Republican or voting for one. Unfortunately I feel Rick Santorum is the most destructive one available, the one most committed to destroying things I value very highly. So I'm sorry Dave, but after twenty-two years of believing in you and feeling like you were there for me through your music, this is where you and I part ways.