Like I Needed Another Reason To Hate 'Gangnam Style'

[bigtree]

tweeted by, Rosie Gray ‏@RosieGray

“@MichelleFields: 'Gangnam Style' Singer Advocated Killing American Soliders "Slowly and Painfully": http://wp.me/p2FKWm-eV ” wait what

During a 2002 protest concert against the presence of 37,000 American troops in Korea, PSY took the stage in gold face-paint and, with the crowd egging him on, lifted a miniature “American tank” and smashed it on the ground to massive applause.

And then in 2004, a Korean missionary was captured in Iraq by Islamists who demanded that South Korea not send troops to aid America in the war in Iraq. Seoul refused to negotiate and the missionary was beheaded. The result: massive protests throughout Korea against both Muslim extremism and the U.S. military for indirectly bringing this fate upon a Korean missionary.

As part of the protests, PSY and several other popular Korean musicians put on a live performance of a Korean rock band’s song “Dear American.” When PSY’s turn came, he rapped:

Kill those fucking Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives
Kill those fucking Yankees who ordered them to torture
Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers
Kill them all slowly and painfully

related:

PSY's 'Gangnam Style' big hit among US troops
http://www.stripes.com/news/psy-s-gangnam-style-big-hit-among-us-troops-1.192674

. . . I wasn't that big on the macarena, either.

[cali]

1. Ugh. He shouldn't be appearing at the Christmas in Washington concert

The President and First Lady will also be present.

[bigtree]

2. he went too far

He can clean up the stuff about 'torturers' and the ones who ordered them, but the lines about the families . . . hard to pull back from something so vile as that.

[raouldukelives]

12. Agreed. And neither should anyone who approved of torture. nt

[bigtree]

13. touche

[bullwinkle428]

32. He'll be disinvited by sundown...bank on it!

[CBGLuthier]

3. Criticizing Rappers for their Shock Lyrics is so last Century.

Advocates. Yeah every songwriter and novelist advocates whatever the hell they write about.

[cali]

5. what a silly, silly comment.

[bigtree]

7. bullshit

In some contexts, lyrics are certainly benign, but Psy's were used as a political statement. I'll at least give him that.

[snooper2]

30. he is not a rapper

you are insulting a lot of folks with that

[randome]

4. We will be paying for Iraq for a long time to come.

[bigtree]

8. It had/has to be rough

. . . watching America trample all over sovereign borders with impunity.

[cali]

10. that's not an excuse for this kind of dogshit.

[randome]

11. Maybe not an excuse.

But often someone in the celebrity spotlight sees him/herself as a spokesperson for humanity. We welcome that when a celebrity speaks out in our favor.

But, yeah, the sentiments expressed are pretty obnoxious.

[immoderate]

6. It's a fucking line dance. A dance for non-dancers!

And he was against the Iraq War, and American militarism. So was I. So was Obama.

--imm

[bigtree]

9. it's annoying and boring

now it's offensive.

[Posteritatis]

38. Considering the song's not actually the one the article tantrums about, I don't see the offense. nt

[cali]

15. I was against the Iraq war as well

I never endorsed the sentiment of killing all U.S. soldiers and their families. I can assure you that neither did President Obama.

[JoeyT]

31. And neither did Psy.

Both those sentences have qualifiers in them that means it isn't *all* soldiers and families. Just the ones that tortured people.

Still a bullshit sentiment. At least the part about families.

[cthulu2016]

14. It's a great song, and your objections are comical and Fox-worthy

I am all busted up that somebody, somewhere, said bad things about Americans at a time America was behaving like Hitler in 1938.

What the fuck ever.

Oddly enough, unlike America, and unlike Islamists, Psy doesn't' seem to have actually killed anyone.

[bigtree]

19. it's a lame song and an even lamer dance

FOX doesn't own respect for military families . . . hell, they don't even give due respect to military families.

And, yeah, words aren't often directly responsible for killings (you can't really generalize about that) but, they can injure. I wrote over 200 anti-American militarism articles without once threatening the military or their families. maybe Psy can explain himself, but this 'report' has put a very popular dance movement of his in an awkward spot.

What is there to defend here? Free speech? Is there really some justification for a South Korean feeling they need to openly wish for the deaths of the family members of our servicefolks? Hell, I understand the mediocrity and the banality of this, but that doesn't mean that there won't be or shouldn't be some kind of reflection or accounting for those statements.

Or, it's just, screw it, anything goes when you oppose war and torture. is that really the standard for our discourse? Is that the standard here?

[cthulu2016]

26. Your belief that discourse in other countries should adhere to your standards is noted

The OP is some particularly odious "ugly American" shit about how foreigners are not sufficiently deferential to America.

And since at least 50% of the families of the troops supported the indiscriminate murder of foreigners in Iraq it may be that someone in some other country is free to say some shit about them.

What if he had said this about people voting for Bush? Would that be appropriate?

When a Democracy invades a nation for no reason except the excitement of indiscriminate murder then the voters, and soldiers, and pretty much everyone associated with that rogue, aggressive, murderous nation can be blamed by some foreign person saying something.

Saying something.

He did not attack the world trade center. He said, rhetorically, death to everyone who supports and enables this war.

And as rhetoric it is what it is.

I am not sure whether I have been as polite as I should have been in discussing people who voted for Hitler, who supported that war effort, who served in that army...

Sometimes people say shit about folks in other countries that are murdering people. It happens.

The outrage seems to be: "A person in Korea, 8 years ago, said something as a rap lyric in a language that I do not know,in a context I don't know, but that some RW psychos translate for me and tell me about because they want people to blame Obama for it."

When he kills someone please let us know.

[bigtree]

27. I don't think their discourse should adhere to what I want to hear

. . . but I'm taking my equal right to say what I want to say that his statements are troubling and offensive. I'd defend the right of others to say so as well. It's that basic expectation and right of comment and response which is the true arbiter of our discourse. WE are ultimate arbiters of our own sense and practice of acceptance of offensive speech. Certainly, no one is trying to deny that expectation of dissent and disagreement.

Rhetorically, I'm saying that I think his discourse is unacceptable and wrong. It is what it is.

[Taverner]

16. I find it funny the amount of troop worship that goes on here...

[OldDem2012]

21. "Troop worship"? No, just a measure of respect being shown to those who have served,...

....those currently serving, and those who will serve in the future.

[Taverner]

25. If one disparages the troops in anyway, that is seen as treason here

Or at least tantamount to treason.

If one points out stuff like this:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/11/world/asia/afghanistan-us-service-member/index.html

Or this

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/06/world/asia/japan-us-rape-allegations/index.html

Or this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmudiyah_killings

We're not sufficiently supporting the troops

And in the end, they are defending an empire

[OldDem2012]

40. Did someone accuse you personally of treason or anything similar?....

....Being critical of individuals who have committed crimes while serving in the military is completely acceptable, but disparaging the vast majority of folks serving honorably is not even close to being reasonable.

[bowens43]

28. they should aotumatically get respect?!?!?!?!?

sorry respect has to be earned. taking a government job with great benefits doesn't automatically make them worthy of respect.

He's right the troop worship here and just about everywhere else in this country is way over the top.

the 'troops' deserve no more respect then the plumbers, carpenters or greeters at walmart.

[OldDem2012]

39. "the 'troops' deserve no more respect then the plumbers, carpenters or greeters at walmart"....

....I don't recall saying that they did. But anyone who volunteers these days with the almost certain knowledge they will be going into a combat zone at least once during their career deserves a certain measure of respect. Just my opinion, and you don't have to like it.

Some questions for you....

1. Did you ever serve in the military? Yes or no?

2. I sense that you don't like folks who have served, or currently serve, in the military...is that a correct observation? Yes or no?

3. I don't get the extreme dislike some posters exhibit toward folks in the military. If you answered "yes" to my question above, can you explain why you feel that way? If you answered "no", can you help me understand why others evidently feel that way?

[bigtree]

22. what, are they and their families just some abstract, or pariahs. Are they people?

. . . or, are they undeserving of the basic concerns we show everyday around here for individuals? The implication in your comment is that they shouldn't be defended or given that basic respect or regard.

[bowens43]

29. nonsense. the justified implication is that many here think 'troops'

are worthy of MORE respect then the rest of us and he's right they're not. this insane idea that has been perpetrated in this country that somehow wearing a military uniform makes you in some way special or more deserving is ridiculous.

[bigtree]

33. well, that's a specious slam on criticism of his remarks

. . . your implication is that they deserve LESS respect. I've heard that argued before.

I don't know about 'special,' but it's certainly a substantial responsibility which is shared among a relative few of our country folk. We give attention to and commend all sorts of public service. We even elevate some public employment over others according to how vital we consider it. I don't think that's untoward or wrongheaded. I understand that we will sometimes disagree about the importance or efficacy of some service or the other. I don't think it's 'ridiculous' though to recognize some individuals and their family members for their sacrifices and contributions to our general defense and welfare; troops or otherwise.

[Posteritatis]

37. "not more than the rest of us" and "less than the rest of us" are not synonymous. (nt)

[pinboy3niner]

17. Are RW sources making too much of this to gin up the outrage?

Interesting that a lot of the sources pushing this are are RW sites like Newser, Michelle Malkin's Twitchy site, and a reporter for Tucker Carlson's RW Daily Caller. The first OP link is for the DC's Michelle Fields:

About Michelle

Michelle Fields is an American political journalist and political commentator. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and is of Honduran descent. Upon graduating from Pepperdine University in 2011, she gained attention after having a confrontation with actor Matt Damon over teacher tenure reform. After the Damon altercation, Fields was hired as a reporter by Tucker Carlson at The Daily Caller. Fields is a frequent guest on Fox News and Fox Business.

Michelle Fields Video Reel:

...

http://michellefields.com/about-michelle-2/

What they don't mention is that the tank-smashing performance occurred after a U.S. military armored vehicle ran over and killed two 14-year-old girls in South Korea.

Two S.Korean Girls Run Over by US Armored Vehicle
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200206/14/eng20020614_97828.shtml

In the later protest, PSY and other performers were singing another band's song that included strong lyrics against torture. The outrage isn't hard to understand.

[bigtree]

23. whoever that is doesn't own regard for military families

. . . my fingers don't feel like typing defenses about torturers, but I'd think the families could use an explanation.

[OldDem2012]

18. That was eight years ago...he may not feel the same way about Americans now....

....Additionally, I personally don't agree with the use of torture. That practice opens the door for any enemy to do the same thing, or worse, to any American they capture.

[maxsolomon]

20. Do. Not. Care.

He didn't kill any soldiers.

At the time, our soldiers were carrying out the Bush Administration's war crimes in Iraq. His entire life, American troops have been stationed in his country.

I am sick of America worshipping the Military under the guise of "Respecting the Troops". You were in the Military, great. You didn't actually Protect Our Freedom, you Projected Our Power.

Power of Pride? No, Pride of Power.

[bigtree]

24. you don't have to 'worship' troops or the 'military'

. . . to demonstrate regard and care for the individuals and their families who join up and contribute.

I don't think that's too much to expect.

[maxsolomon]

34. But it's NOT HIS COUNTRY

It may not be too much to expect (and it is certainly more than expected) of an American, but Psy is Korean.

Our nation is so militarized that we don't even think it strange that we spend 10x what the next largest military does. It is an ongoing stimulus program that can never be cut, and the troops are used as a shield against discussion of it's proper size and function.

[Posteritatis]

35. Americans don't have a lot of room to demand that from foreigners lately. (nt)

[Posteritatis]

36. I wish I could say the timing of these articles surprised me even a bit

Nice to see how totally Fox still controls national discourse.

[Turborama]

41. Bill O'Lielly agrees...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021900173