Frank Zappa on Crossfire, " we are headed to Fascist Theocracy"

[AmerDem]

This is an episode from a 1986 Crossfire episode with Frank Zappa, Bob Novak and a rightwing Washington Times writer by name of John Lofton. Zappa eventually tells Lofton to "kiss my ass" and states, "The biggest threat to America today is not communism, it's moving America toward a fascist theocracy. And everything that's happened during the Reagan administration is steering us right down that pike."

You can look for the Zappa video in the list on the left of the page "Zappa on Crossfire". The fascist comments are about 10 minutes into the video.

http://www.ifilm.com/viralvideo?ifilmid=2658805

[NYC]

1. 18 years later, we're still on the same path.

People don't heed the warnings.

[propagandafreegal]

25. We are FURTHER down the path nm

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

38. Make that der Fuether down that path

[Ufour20]

33. And the righties call us the party of hate

Is that a laugh? How many times have you seen "kill all muslims", "your a cowards and anti american", "Go live in France", or how about a church in Pittsburgh with a sign that states "Remember, islam is the enemy". WTF?

[NYC]

40. Go live in France,

go back to where you came from,
or if you don't like it, leave.

All right wing "advice" to those who value first amendment rights.

I've heard police tell protestors to "go back to where you came from".

[genius]

37. For a minute I thought he had returned from the dead.

Zappa was the kind of person who could do that sort of thing as a joke.

[zulchzulu]

2. FZ nailed it

When The Lie's So Big
(Zappa)
February 9, 1988
&
Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio
March 5, 1988
&
Unknown location & date]

(Pinch it good!
You know, that confinement loaf is real good stuff
Hey, you oughta try some!)

They got lies so big
They don't make a noise
They tell 'em so well
Like a secret disease
That makes you go numb

With a big ol' lie
And a flag and a pie
And a mom and a bible
Most folks are just liable
To buy any line
Any place, any time

When the lie's so big
As in Robertson's case,
(That sinister face
Behind all the Jesus hurrah)

Could result in the end
To a worrisome trend
In which every American
Not "born again"
Could be punished in cruel and unusual ways
By this treacherous cretin
Who tells everyone
That he's Jesus' best friend

When the lies get so big
And the fog gets so thick
And the facts disappear
The Republican Trick
Can be played out again
People, please tell me when
We'll be rid of these men!

Just who do they really
Suppose that they are?
And how do they manage to travel as far
As they seem to have come?
Were we really that dumb?

People, wake up
Figure it out
Religious fanatics
Around and about
The Court House, The State House,
The Congress, The White House

Criminal saints
With a "Heavenly Mission" -
A nation enraptured
By pure superstition

Do you believe in the Invisible Army?
(Yes, indeed!)

When the lie's so big
And the fog so thick
And the facts kept forgotten
Then the Republican Trick
(Ketchup is a vegetable!)
Can be played out again
People, please tell me when
We'll be rid of these men!

[zann725]

14. That IS hard-hitting and timely. Can't believe this was 16 years ago!

True 'art' is timeless.

I also like "Lives in the Balance" by Jackson Browne.

[robbedvoter]

18. Wow! W is indeed "Reagan's son" as NYT breathlesly headlined

a while ago (with intention to compliment, to be sure)

[Devil Dog Dem]

3. Boy do I miss Frank!

I asked my wife to get me "Joe's Garage, Vols. I,II, & III" for Christmas. Hope she comes through.

[Bandit]

28. Catholic Girls

:evilgrin:

[Griffy]

4. the white zone is for loading and unloading... nt

[Erika]

5. How many of us here have said the same thing.

We are fast losing America as a free country and a country of opportunity. We can see it but the Bushies keep their eyes closed.

They act as if they were victims of "liberals". It is their government not the liberals who is heading them into lack of freedom and rights.

[ailsagirl]

6. Did he ever hit the nail on the head

[hangloose]

7. Zappa was a genius

[proud patriot]

8. The song "valley girl" if for nothing else

was a good thing for turning me onto Zappa
at 13.

[ailsagirl]

9. Remember Zappa's "song" 'It Can't Happen Here' ??

I wonder if he was alluding to Sinclair Lewis' book of the same title?

Sinclair Lewis, the first American to receive the Nobel Prize For Literature, wrote this satirical political novel in 1935, a time when the United States and Western Europe had been in a depression for six years. In this novel, Sinclair Lewis asks the question – what if some ambitious politician would use the 1936 presidential election to make himself dictator by promising quick, easy solutions to the depression - just as Hitler had done in Germany in 1933.


http://www.motherbird.com/Can'tHap.htm

[Zomby Woof]

10. actually...

The song in question is "Help I'm A Rock!", and it is quite likely the Sinclair Lewis novel was the inspiration for the refrain heard in the piece, "it can't happen here!".

[ailsagirl]

13. Thanks for the clarification

I just remember him saying, "It can't happen HERE..." over and over again...

[zann725]

15. I'm beginning to understand how the 'innocents' in Germany felt...

at the beginning of Hitler's reign. How they could see it all coming, but couldn't quite do enough to stop it.

There's such a 'heavy,' oppressive, hopeless energy bellowing out from Bushco daily.

It's hard to stay centered and optimistic at times. Even though it was only 6 weeks ago...I have a hard time now remembering how much hope there was for once Kerry was elected...and the cabinet he would choose, and the good he would do for our country and economy, and the world. How to get that all back?

[Sugarbleus]

11. I have to admit..I did NOT pay attention over the years....

I was too busy working, trying to keep body and soul together, just "doing" life as best I could.

I was one of those that just "assumed" the leaders had some ethics and would do what was best. *slapping self around with fresh trout*

At times, I "sensed" something wasn't right. I, like others I'm sure, felt the "changes/the shifts" in our economy, cost of living, silly laws, the tension, the losing of jobs..... I just never took the time to look into what was happening.

Oddly, it is the presidency of Bush that has slapped me WIDE AWAKE. In four short (long :eyes:) years, I've come a lonnnnng way..learning catching up, researching, interfacing with the likes of you folks, watching, reading, listening......all of it. It's been a LOT to take in in just four years--I'm still learning--but I'm glad I did yet I'm deeply troubled by what I've discovered.

No, I didn't think it could happen here...it never crossed my mind. I've always known that republicans/conservatives were hard core anti-progressive, but I never dreamed a fascist revolution of this magnitude could happen here in the United States. Need I explain the shock to my system in waking up to these realities?! Holy Cow.

Now my days and nights are consumed with the need to learn, to examine what the hell has happened and to join with others to STOP IT.

Thanks for the Zappa reminder; I'd forgotten his contributions..what a flash from the past. 'I'm going to Montana to start a dental floss farm'... lol

[mogster]

16. Very good post, Sugarbleus

My thoughts, exactly!

Lately, I've been reliving my youth (during the 80's) and it all somehow clicks and fall into place now.

But then I just assumed politicians had ethics and that fascism never, ever would raise it's ugly head again.

[Sugarbleus]

19. Thanx...sadly, I suspect that many everyday republicans aren't

asking these questions or examining circumstances either...I hope some of the more decent ones come to a clear understanding SOON.

[AmerDem]

23. Many people are starting to wake up

You aren't alone. Not long ago when I would bring up our country sliding into fascism people would be taken back and ask "where are you getting that idea from". Now when I mention it I usually get nods of agreement.

[Sugarbleus]

41. Yep...seems to be the keyword of the day...now

The whole thing reminds me of the parable where you put a frog in cold water and turn the heat up SLOWLY ..it doesn't know it's in trouble until it's too late.... :(

[Brundle_Fly]

12. dynamo hum

dynamo hum
where's this dynamo coming from

[JohnOneillsMemory]

17. Zappa was a hero in eastern Europe and friends with Vaclav Havel

in Czechoslovakia. A Zappa-influenced band called 'The Plastic People of the Universe' was hassled and jailed by the dictatorship. A support and resistance movement started in response and this led to the downfall of the oppressive regime.

I was touring with a band in Germany. At a rock club there was a wall of 8 1/2x11 promo pictures of performers. Except for the 3' x 3' poster of Zappa. He was revered over there because Europeans recognized fascism and Zappa was like their FDR.

Frank Zappa wrote songs about theocratic fascist America since atleast 1966. He was my musical and political mentor.

"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre."
~ Frank Zappa, 1977

Shit, Frank. We're seeing the brick wall today.

[AmerDem]

22. It's sad our times have no one like him

Sad also he left so early.

[mogster]

39. Good story man, and VH is a hero in all of Europe too :-)

Just as Frank Zappa ;-)

[GOPBasher]

20. That was 18 years ago?? Wow! We're much closer now.

[AmerDem]

21. much closer?

More like right in it.

[HughBeaumont]

24. Frank called Kent State two years before it happened

In We're Only In It for the Money (one of the greatest albums ever made). Man's a sage, I tells ya.

[FarLeftRage]

26. Please correct me if I'm wrong

But at 3:15 minutes into this video, Frank answers Lofton and says "I'm a conservative and you might not like that..."

Just wondering if I heard him clearly.

[AmerDem]

30. yea he did say that

but he probably meant in terms of economic matters of our country ( which is supposed to be the backbone of conservatism), at least that's what I took it to mean.

[toddaa]

42. Practical Conservative

That's what FZ called it. He was politically an odd fellow. He hated religious and republican folk and skewered them every chance he got, but he also loathed the hippies and liberals as well. FZ had his tyrannical side that was anything but liberal, but he was also adamantly opposed to authoritarianism of any kind, even well meaning liberals. I grew out of my FZ infatuation, but I still admire the man for his absolutely unwavering ability to think for himself.

[Im_Your_Huckleberry]

27. my favorite zappa quote

to paraphrase:

scientists say that hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. they are incorrect. the most abundant element is actually stupidity.

[DinahMoeHum]

44. My favorite one - just check out my sig line!

:evilgrin:

[m_welby]

29. notice how frank doesnt let them redirect the issue?

novak and lofton kept trying to redirect him so they could control the message (as repukes do relentlessly today), but frank would not let go, he hit them and dragged them back to the topic at hand. Too bad the democrats still havent learned to do that.

[ElectroPrincess]

31. Yeah, Frank had that right ...

Moving to Montana soon ;)

[deutsey]

32. I met Zappa when I was in college

I talked with him for a half hour or so with some a couple other college guys.

He was one of the most articulate, intelligent people I've ever met.

[proud patriot]

35. Hi deutsey

:hi: good to see you :hi:

[deutsey]

36. Back at you!

:hi:

[ProudDad]

34. Zappa would be horrified -- It's here

The Fascist-theocratic takeover of the U.S. occurred on the day bush was selected in 2000.

What we must be concerned with now is joining with our brothers and sisters around the world in fighting it by any means necessary...

Thanks for posting this...Zappa was prescient...



:nuke: bush

43. Check this out...

Zappa was ahead of his time.

A statement on Christian Fascism and how to fight it: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1446831