Toby Keith - Love Me If You Can

Sometimes the cameras turn to stare at you.  That's the moment when you can be what people want you to be, or be who you are.  Because people want you to be things, and there's increasing pressure from a the personal is political Progressive movement - say what we want you to, or suffer the consequences.

Toby Keith lived that, and was banned from ABC News for it.  It seems that Peter Jennings didn't like one of his songs, and so he was dis-invited from the 4th of July Celebration.  The one following the 9/11 attacks.  Because his song wasn't the "right sort" of patriotism, according to a Canadian (Jennings hailed from Toronto).

And so, Keith wrote a song.  In the aftermath of the Chick-Fil-A brouhaha, this song embodies the spirit of the normal Americans who turned out in their hundreds of thousands to buy lunch at that fast food chain, after it had been targeted by some Progressive politicians.  The issue became one of free speech.  The issue was the freedom to speak your mind, without finding the Government Boot on your neck.  The issue was honesty - to be allowed to be you, not who you are told to be.

This is a gentile song, as the Chick-Fil-A turnout was gentile.  There was no hate or anger there; that was all on the other side.  This song says in simple words that sometimes we can agree to disagree.  You might not like where I'm going, but you'll sure know where I stand.  This country has been told for a long time what it should be, and now it's realizing that it can instead be what it is.  Some people don't like that.  They want to coerce the country into something more to their liking.

Good luck to all that.  I say this without anger, as did Keith.  To people who don't like that, all I can say is hate me if you want too; love me if you can.




Love Me If You Can (Songwriters: Chris Wallin, Craig Wiseman)

Sometimes I think that war is necessary.
But every night I pray for peace on Earth.
I hand out my dollars to the homeless.
But believe that every able soul should work.
My father gave me my shotgun
that I'll hand down to my son,
try to teach him everything it means.

I'm a man of my convictions. Call me wrong, call me right.
But I bring my better angels to every fight.
You may not like where I'm going, but you sure know where I stand.
Hate me if you want to, love me if you can.

I stand by my right to speak freely. But I worry 'bout what kids learn from TV.
And before all of debatin' turns to angry words and hate,
sometimes we should just agree to disagree.
And I believe that Jesus
looks down here and sees us,
and if you ask him he would say

I'm a man of my convictions. Call me wrong, call me right.
But I bring my better angels to every fight.
You may not like where I'm going, but you sure know where I stand.
Hate me if you want to, love me if you can.

I'm a man of my convictions. Call me wrong, call me right.
But I bring my better angels to every fight.
You may not like where I'm going, but you sure know where I stand.
Hate me if you want to, love me if you can.

The country is waking up and finding out that they can be themselves.  That others in their millions believe what they believe.  That they're not weird, and don't need to feel shamed into silence.  Others don't like this - they want to twist arms to get their way.  Whatevs.

You may not like where I'm going, but you'll sure know where I stand.  Hate me if you want to,