Bush On The Fightin' Side Of Merle
Author: H. Wayne Nix — Published: Apr 06, 2004 at 11:57 pm 6 comments

Even Merle Haggard, who was for Vietnam and Nixon, doesn't like Bush anymore.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country singer Merle Haggard says he's as red, white and blue as they come, but has been disappointed by how President Bush responded to the panel probing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Haggard

Haggard, 66, has been critical in songs and in interviews of the Iraq war and of what he views as an erosion of individual freedom.

"I certainly wasn't going to vote for Gore, so he is my man," Haggard said of Bush in an interview with The Associated Press. "But I'm not really all that happy with him."

On Thursday he cited the administration's flip flop on National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's requested testimony to the Sept. 11 panel as another example of poor leadership.

"There have been some things, like saying no with (Condoleezza Rice) to begin with and then having a White House reversal," Haggard said in a telephone interview from California. "I don't think a White House reversal looks good anytime."

The administration at first argued that Rice shouldn't testify publicly under oath before the commission because of an infringement on the division of powers between Congress and the White House.

The White House has agreed to allow the testimony.

Haggard's many hits include Okie From Muskogee, and The Fightin' Side of Me, both patriotic songs that were released at the height of the Vietnam War. He played for Richard Nixon at the White House in 1973 and at Ronald Reagan's ranch in 1982.

I hear people talkin' bad,
About the way we have to live here in this country,
Harpin' on the wars we fight,
An' gripin' 'bout the way things oughta be.
An' I don't mind 'em switchin' sides,
An' standin' up for things they believe in.
When they're runnin' down my country, man,
They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Runnin' down the way of life,
Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.
If you don't love it, leave it:
Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.
If you're runnin' down my country, man,
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

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  • 1 - godoggo

    Apr 07, 2004 at 3:14 am

    This isn't quite out of the blue. From Counterpunch August 29, 2002:

    Far more forthright and rambunctious is Merle Haggard, according to Cheryl Burns who reports this from Kansas City: "I saw Merle Haggard tonight in KC--great show. He said something about 'so now we're in another war' and went on to say he was still proud to be an American and all that, so I was wondering just where he was headed. But then he said there was nothing good about any war except the soldiers, sailors, etc.

    "Then he says, 'I think we should give John Ashcroft a big hand ...(pause)... right in the mouth!' Went on to say, 'the way things are going I'll probably be thrown in jail tomorrow for saying that, so I hope ya'll will bail me out.'

    Cheryl concludes, "Proud to be an Okie from...um...Oklahoma City."

    Right on, Merle. At another concert, June a year ago, he was quoted by John Derbyshire in National Review online as saying, "Look at the past 25 years we went downhill, and if people don't realize it, they don't have their fucking eyes on ... In 1960, when I came out of prison as an ex-convict, I had more freedom under parolee supervision than there's available to an average citizen in America right now... God almighty, what have we done to each other?"


    p.s. not that anybody cares, but I switching to a nom de blog, because there are entirely too many Davids out there.

  • 2 - Al Barger

    Apr 07, 2004 at 4:39 am

    Merle was never quite the blind right-winger he was made out to be.

    Note also these lyrics from "That's the News." This was the single from his album last year:

    Suddenly the cost of war is somethin' out of sight.
    Lost a lotta heroes in the fight.
    Politicians do all the talkin': soldiers pay the dues.
    Suddenly the war is over, that's the news.

    That's the news, that's the news.
    That's the ever-lovin', blessed, headline news.
    Politicians do all the talkin': soldiers pay the dues.
    Suddenly the war is over, that's the news.

  • 3 - Shark

    Apr 07, 2004 at 8:57 am

    Merle is a god. Trust in Merle.

    IMO, he and Sinatra are probably America's two greatest song stylists.

    I saw him at his peak in a concert at the "World's Largest Honky Tonk."

    Appropriate setting, eh?

    This honky tonk heaven really didn't make me feeee-eeeel like hell~


  • 4 - Eric Olsen

    Apr 07, 2004 at 9:27 am

    I've always had the sense that Merle was a populist first and foremost.

  • 5 - DOLLY GLICK

    Nov 22, 2005 at 9:16 pm

    DEAR MERLE; I JUST READ THE ABOVE. AND I AGREE WITH YOU ALL THE WAY..I HAVE,BEEN TRYING TO FIND YOU SINGING "THE FIGHTING SIDE OF ME" I AM GOING TO ORDER SEVERAL OF YOUR C.D.S, SOON AS MY EYES GET BETTER..I HAD SURGERY ON THEM..I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE BACK ON THE NET.WITH YOUR FAN CLUB..YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE SINGER..I LOVE YOUR DEEP-DEEP,VOICE KEEP UP THE FANTASTIC WORK..THE FIRST SONG I WANT ON C.D. IS "THAT,S THE WAY LOVE GOES" SING IT MORE OFTEN..GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERY ONE.DID YOU GET THE CARD AND POEMS I SENT? HUGGZZ" DOLLY ."

  • 6 - Bruce Fallgren

    Jul 03, 2006 at 11:33 am

    I have always enjoyed songs that talk about life as it is. Merle is one of the best in that department. I have very high regards for singers and writers who can present a song, and make you feel like you are the one living it. Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, and especially Merle Haggard.
    I have prostate cancer, and am fighting the battle of life. Merle sings about life, and it really touches deeply in my soul. I can feel all of the pride joy, sorrow, and love that he expresses. Keep on singing Merle!!! Bruce Fallgren here

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