There’s been a lot of hubbub over Toby Keith’s country dumbness, but I thought I’d do my part to help set the record straight on Beer for my Horses:
Blumenthal never mentions that Keith sings “Beer For My Horses” with Willie Nelson, and it’s actually Nelson who sings the supposedly incriminating lyrics (as you can see at about the 1:43 mark of the music video).
Now Willie Nelson’s been called a lot of things—a pot head, a tax cheat, etc—but I don’t think anyone’s ever called Willie Nelson (who just recorded an album with Wynton Marsalis) a racist. So if Blumenthal wants to argue that Keith is pro-lynching, he needs to argue that Nelson is, too—which is something he doesn’t do.
Hat tip to Jesse Walker (one of my bosses at Reason).
Scuttlebutt is that Keith is actually pretty liberal and will be voting for Obama.
Like gangsta rappers from the Jersey suburbs, I guess you just can’t take these country musicians at face value.