Iced Earth: Metal From the Right Side
Published June 08, 2004
BW&BK: "Do you think 9/11 will be viewed as the first event in the US empire's decline and fall?"
JS: "No. This is not an empire, first of all. If the United States was an empire, your country would be our 51st state."
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bq. JS: If you understood how many people in our country and how many young kids have no fuckin' clue about history and why they have the things they have, it's frustrating to me as someone who has studied this stuff and cares deeply about it. It's kind of a big deal. I don't think anybody has all the answers for all the world's problems. But I believe if you look at the tax burden the American people have for helping so many people around the world, constantly. It's huge. People can't deny that, but it's easy to forget when people want to turn their backs on us."
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BW&BK: "So you don't see the Bush regime as being cultural imperialists? You don't see them as trying to force the American way of life on to a nation that maybe doesn't want it?"
JS: "No. If you think that's true, then why are 70 or 80 percent of the people are thrilled to have us there. Have you not seen that? And it's not a regime, by the way. You keep up that kind of language I'm going to end the interview right now."
BW&BK: "Ok. I understand."
JS: "I'm serious."
BW&BK: "I'm sorry. It's just my Canadian bias I guess."
JS: "Yeah, it is your Canadian bias. I'm sure it is."
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BW&BK: "Well, sometimes Americans believe they're very free, when they're sometimes not. There are a lot of authors, especially a guy like Noam Chomsky, who believes a lot of consent in the US is manufactured by politicians and corporations --"
JS: "Talk about one of the fuckin' ultra leftist spin doctors of the world, Noam Chomsky. You buy into that crap?"
BW&BK: "Well, I read a lot of his stuff."
JS: "But do you believe it all?"
BW&BK: "I have a degree in political science, so I believe some of it."
JS: "Hmm. Yeah. Well. And how old are you?"
BW&BK: "I'm 22."
JS: "22 years old? That's a lot of wisdom there! Come on, man. You know where I live? In the real world. When I was 16 years old I was living in abandoned houses and making my way into a career. Building things up from nothing without any kind of... well... socialist system to help me.
- Iced Earth: Metal From the Right Side
- Published: June 08, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Writer: Michele Catalano
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Comments on this articleComments
Fascinating! thanks Michele, glad to see you back. From a journalistic position, there was antagonism on both sides here, but they also both tried to work it out. The interviewer had his Canadian, leftist biases, but the Iced dude was spoiling for a fight as well.
I don't know how I came across this thread, but Iced Earth is actually pretty good, I recommend "Tribute to the Gods" as well.
Jon Schaffer was dead on.
As a Floridian, we see many Canadians coming down here and enjoying the Florida weather & amenities Florida has to offer.
It's too bad many Canadians have gone lefty-fag on us. Canada was once a great nation & ally. It's now neither.
The article is over 2 years old, but several points are still sadly true; too many Americans are ignorant of the history of their country, and too many ignorant Americans still buy into Chomsly and others.
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(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/16351)
This was a pretty good interview. I don't buy everything this cat was saying, but he does make some good points. I specifically thought he was being a little bit confrontational. I don't blame him for his response about the "Bush regime" thing, but I felt like he was on the offensive after that. I am not sure that was totally necessary. But, like I said, he did make some really great points. I will definitely check out this album as a result.
Thanks for digging this out Michele.