Bruce gets political

[Mendota Heights]

And I went onto the HuffPost Politics Facebook page HOPING AND PRAYING that one of their bloggers (they're NOT journalists) posted a story about this so I could rag on the libtards on there.

So true. It scares me Bruce said "our guy isn't any good", he does not seem to know about Ron Paul. Ron Paul IS our guy. He is everybody's guy.

Ron Paul will win, I am sure about that, Mitt Romney's campaign will soon look like a game of columnated ruins domino.

[b00ts]

Wow, an elderly, rich, white guy that thinks Obama is an asshole. Shocking

I'm a young, broke white guy who also thinks Obama is an asshole. Bradley Manning, Guãntanamo, endless war, the insurance industry gladhanding healthcare bill, I could go on forever. I wouldn't deign to call him a socialist, though, as I know the meaning of the word. I wish we had a real left wing/welfare state in this country instead of wolves in sheeps' clothing like Obama.

It's all a shell game, as I'm sure several others have already pointed out.

[the professor]

Just because I do not split infinitives does not mean I am VDP, though I continue to be flattered by the comparison.  Bruce, if you're listening, please feel free to enlist us scholars to help compose the statement. I'll work for free to serve my BB.

[stack-o-tracks]

And I went onto the HuffPost Politics Facebook page HOPING AND PRAYING that one of their bloggers (they're NOT journalists) posted a story about this so I could rag on the libtards on there.

So true. It scares me Bruce said "our guy isn't any good", he does not seem to know about Ron Paul. Ron Paul IS our guy. He is everybody's guy.

Ron Paul will win, I am sure about that, Mitt Romney's campaign will soon look like a game of columnated ruins domino.

I think you're overestimating the American people. Paul don't got a ice cubez chance in hell.

[southbay]

It would have been stupid if he called Romney or Bush or Palin the same names too.

No it wouldn'tve!    

He did in regard to Romney. Apparently nobody is up in arms about that...

[Heysaboda]

A very conservative fund manager, Jeffrey Gundlach, pointed out the coincidence of the explosion of debt in the U.S. since 1980 and the widening wealth discrepancy in the USA.

“I see problems between the haves and have nots in the U.S.,” he said, noting that the top 1% of Americans' share of national wealth increased from 8.9% in 1976 to 23.5% in 2007. “This may be oversimplifying it, but it looks like the U.S. borrowed a whole lot of money and gave it to rich people.”

Full article:

http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120424/FREE/120429968&cslet=UnhOY2lLYjlLL0NZK2lNaXM3T25UUEpyb3V6cXVHUEc=

Yeah, I get it Bruce.  You and the other 1%-ers own 23.5% of the USA and you want MORE not LESS.

But, what are you going to DO with all the EXTRA money, hmm?

[Jason]

Wow...let's not disgrace the Dear Leader with our words!

[Howie Edelson]

A mess.

This reunion has been going from strength to strength and THIS is what get picked up about the tour???
As many of us know, these comments aren't even close to the worst things Bruce has been heard to utter offstage regarding social issues.
Not even close.

This needs to be addressed publically and privately by the team running/financing this tour.

 

[endofposts]

I'm pretty sure Mike is a Republican, and Brian has leaned that way at times.  The band was a personal friend of the Reagans.  So, no surprise there.  But I'm pretty sure Al Jardine at least leans left, between his environmentalism and his expression of compassion for people of lesser means.  So, there's always Al for those of us who are, as some on this board call us, "libtards."  (Thanks, Rethuglicans.)

[runnersdialzero]

Stuff like this brings out the worst in people. The comments thread was pretty depressing to read as a Beach Boys fan.

And yeah, this totally doesn't sound like Bruce at all. Strange.

[Shady]

I'm pretty sure Bruce polished off a few shots before meeting those fans

[endofposts]

I'm pretty sure Bruce polished off a few shots before meeting those fans

You may be right.  I can't see Bruce saying anything controversial unless he's drunk or high, he's always reported to be such a people-pleaser when interacting with fans.  I'm not even sure Mike is like that unless he's had a few.  I doubt Mike was completely sober when he did the Rock Hall of Fame rant.

[SummerInParadise23]

I think the moderator should just delete the thread and everyone just focuses on the music and the tour. This is very depressing. I'm already really shocked by how Bruce talked. All those lyrics from Disney Girls have disappeared

I KNOW Mike Love & Brian Wilson would never talk like that! <3

[stack-o-tracks]

This needs to be addressed publically and privately by the team running/financing this tour.

 

Not publicly. No point in bringing it up again. It'll blow over and in a week it will be like it never happened. Every statement released by a public figure/their publicist just sounds ultra-contrived.

[runnersdialzero]

I think the moderator should just delete the thread and everyone just focuses on the music and the tour.

Ignoring reality is keen imo imo imo

[AndrewHickey]

I'm pretty sure Mike is a Republican, and Brian has leaned that way at times.  The band was a personal friend of the Reagans.  So, no surprise there.  But I'm pretty sure Al Jardine at least leans left, between his environmentalism and his expression of compassion for people of lesser means.  So, there's always Al for those of us who are, as some on this board call us, "libtards."  (Thanks, Rethuglicans.)

I think Mike's politics are rather more complex than that, and Brian's rather less so. Mike certainly made some comments in the 90s that suggested he didn't like Clinton, and seems to be rather socially conservative (and he doesn't seem the type who's particularly keen on taxes, either), but he was also a strong supporter of the Natural Law Party while the Maharishi was alive, and he's a *very* strong supporter of environmental causes, which are not normally a Republican strong point, and he made some comments which were mildly against the Iraq war a few years back. I've no doubt he *votes* Republican, but I suspect he probably thinks of himself as an independent.

Brian, on the other hand, has never really given the slightest indication of having any actual political opinions. I think he said he voted Republican in the last couple of Presidential elections, but he also took part in a webcast to raise funds for Barbara Boxer in the late 90s. I suspect that he's someone who doesn't give politics a great deal of thought and who votes based on the candidate's personality rather than anything else.

[Jim V.]

I think the moderator should just delete the thread and everyone just focuses on the music and the tour. This is very depressing. I'm already really shocked by how Bruce talked. All those lyrics from Disney Girls have disappeared

I KNOW Mike Love & Brian Wilson would never talk like that! <3

Let's be honest, "Disney Girls", as good of a song as it is, could be the theme song for the Republican party. They look back to the 1950s as this time of total awesomeness where everything was perfect, but that place never existed. There has always been problems. It's not a coincidence that the man fetishizes 1957 as this great time, when everything was more simple. It's bullshit. African-Americans  weren't given the same rights as whites back then, homosexuality (or even sexuality on the whole) were looked at as disgusting, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. And hey Brucie, was it ok in the '50s and '60s when taxes were actually higher than what they are under that "socialist" President Obama?

[Wirestone]

As many of us know, these comments aren't even close to the worst things Bruce has been heard to utter offstage regarding social issues.

Well, now, this IS getting juicy!

[Jim V.]

As many of us know, these comments aren't even close to the worst things Bruce has been heard to utter offstage regarding social issues.

Well, now, this IS getting juicy!

On one hand, I don't want to know, on the other...

[pixletwin]

Complete non-issue for me. I always assumed most of the BB were quite Hawkish in their political beliefs so.... meh...

[mammy blue]

Don't worry guys, I have it on good authority that the Beach Boys are about to issue a statement declaring that Bruce's remarks in no way reflect the viewpoint of the current Beach Boys lineup as a whole... only 40-60% of them!!! 

[runnersdialzero]

Complete non-issue for me. I always assumed most of the BB were quite Hawkish in their political beliefs so.... meh...

It's certainly kind of disappointing for me personally to hear this sort of thing out of people whose music I love, especially something that sounds vaguely hateful out of someone I never pegged as the least bit hateful, but it certainly doesn't stop me from enjoying their music.

[AndrewHickey]

I'm pretty sure Bruce polished off a few shots before meeting those fans

You may be right.  I can't see Bruce saying anything controversial unless he's drunk or high, he's always reported to be such a people-pleaser when interacting with fans. 

It actually seems quite in character for the few brief times I've met Bruce. He can be very friendly, but also he can be... odd... in that he'll be friendly to fans by gently mocking them in a way that *could* be seen as affectionate but could also be seen as insulting, and that seems a quite normal way for Bruce to interact. For example, one of the times I met him, he teased me about my beard, saying that my then-girlfriend 'must be blind' (I was able to fluster him a bit then by saying "she is" -- my wife is legally blind) and I've seen him behave similarly to a few other people too.

The tone he's using in that video, the sort of mock-incredulity, is very similar to the tone he uses in that kind of situation.

[Wirestone]

As I said, it's complicated. The band has been all over the place. Mike has been conservative, yet very motivated on the environment. Brian has raised money for Democrats (I think at the request of Don Was), yet has talked about voting GOP in 04 and 08. We've heard from Bruce. No idea about Al, although something suggests to me that he'd be more lefty than the others. No clue about Dave. So in other words, they're like a lot of people in this country -- not always in agreement over politics, but still working together and trying to do their best.

[SG7]

Stupid Stupid Stupid. I hope he was drunk because that's the excuse I would use. Everything's going great, Beach Boys getting rave reviews and positive press everywhere, and then boom, alienate a large swath of fans with a divisive reckless comment in public. I've been in email and phone contact with a bunch of people inside the Beach Boys world this morning and there are people who are extremely unhappy with the timing of this nugget, not to mention the word choice. I completely  think he's within his rights to criticize and dislike the President's policies and to voice his passion for whatever political sensibility he feels good about. But to call the President an "as*hole" is ugly and can only hurt the Beach Boys which really sucks because they are hitting a home run on this tour. Potential album sales at Walmarts might have improved, but they just tanked at Starbucks. It would have been a good thing to keep this one to himself until after the tour etc...

My exact sentiment as well. One big