The best readers on the web continue to send in fascinating questions and comments, threatening to turn this into a pop-culture website. But we must not lose track of the fact that we are winning the war of the war of ideas against Islamofascism, a victory made palpable by the lawful Republican seizure of Congress. Death to the Iraqi tyrant! Now, the matter at hand.

Adam Boysen asks:

"I do not know who Avril Lavigne is. Does this make
me more punk or less punk? Also, if I find out who
she is, or hear one of her song performed will I
become more or less punk then I am now?"

The less you know, Adam, the more punk you are. That is the first rule of punk, I think, at least according to this book I've got here, "The Rules of Punk," by Lenny Kaye.

A new correspondent, Jerry Kruwl, chimes in, "I believe this discussion lends too much gravity to a form of musical expression that, like prog rock, psych rock, country rock, folk rock, cock rock, and many others, is at best a media invention and at worst a divisive right-wing ploy. It's easy to lose sight of the Big Picture and what's really at stake when we are all too busy trying to reconcile our unspoken love for "Son of a Son of a Sailor" and the new Eclipse with our alpha-position in the garage rock scene.

And I know I'm not just speaking for myself here.

I've never been a master of the metaphor, so I'll let my friend, mentor, and ex-lead vocalist "Dirty" Davey paint the picture that a thousand of my words could never express. Here is the heart of the matter, Davey says: "Let me tell you man, punk rock was a fucking speed bump in the road of rock and roll and everyone needs to get back to what rock is all about, rock is about Chuck Berry and pissing on a white girl in the bathtub."

So the real question is, "Is Ms. Lavigne Rock and Roll, much less 'punk'?"

That is a good question, Jerry. But I've decided to teach my rock class according to the Socratic method here, which is much easier than having my own ideas. So I ask my readers to ask this question of themselves, and to get back to me if they feel like it, which they probably don't.

Finally, Jesse Hicks asks, "How much blame do you bear for the spectacular flame-out of the Democratic party in the recent midterm elections?"

Well, Jesse, my fault is negligible. I've been warning the Democrats for months that their cowardly inaction regarding the War On Terror would lead to the loss of a couple of Senate seats. It's obvious to me that George W. Bush, above all human beings alive, understands the importance of wiping out our enemies using the maximum amount of force possible. To disagree with his stance is to run the risk of appeasement. And those who appease the appeasers with the slanderous term "chickenhawk" are obviously not serious people.

Adam Boysen has another question.

"Do you think Black Flag were hippies?"

No, Adam. They didn't smell good enough to be hippies.

Posted by at 2:46 PM | Permalink