Dolly Parton: "I think Obama is going to be a great President".

[Elwood P Dowd]

On Larry King Live just now.

[Raine]

1. Good for Dolly

:thumbsup:

[zeemike]

2. She had better watch it

She could be banned from country music stations.

[LeftyMom]

19. These days country music stations don't play Dolly Parton.

Or anybody else who was releasing music more than 20 years ago, really.

[WolverineDG]

28. She's got enough money now to say "to hell with you"

if they did. :)

dg

[ejpoeta]

37. she has a program which helps kids get free books to age 5

its the imagination library and it's so great!! No income guidelines or anything. My 3 year old has been getting the books for a couple of years now. every month she gets a book. My town has a great family that funds the program for here. every school open house they are there at a table signing people up. I wish it extended to batavia and other areas too. We have always made sure to have books for our kids, but there are plenty of kids who probably wouldn't get any without this program.

[Sheltiemama]

38. Are you in Sevier?

I'm in Knox. And I think the Imagination Library is one of the best things she's ever done. She understands the importance of education in rural Appalachia.

[ejpoeta]

42. no, i live in Western NY. But i think her program is awesome!!!

I have seen first hand the benefits of reading to kids. My daughter LOVES to read and has been able to read since before she started kindergarten. Not books, but she recognized words and she reads well above her age group now. Her grades are awesome and she has great comprehension skills. I myself was taught to read early and read to a lot (I think). I have believed reading is the key to everything. It unlocks so many other things!!

[Sheltiemama]

44. I was an early reader, too.

My mother was a teacher and my father was a journalist, which is what I am now. You don't realize how lucky you are that your parents stressed reading until you grow up and see how illiteracy holds back people and keeps them back. I'm glad to hear Dolly's program has reached so far. Reading really is key. It opens up so many possibilities.

[saltpoint]

3. Give 'em hell, Dolly.

I love ya.

[LiberalinNC]

4. Dolly Parton has always been one to have her own beliefs and hasn't been

afraid to share it! Good for Dolly! She me be expelled from Country music though!

[Elwood P Dowd]

5. Talking about her gay friends.

Nashville might not like that.

[Hello_Kitty]

6. I heart Dolly.

:loveya:

I watched 9 to 5 for about the 9000th time a few days ago.

[Bjorn Against]

7. Good to hear that she is one of the sane country music stars.

I generally don't like the genre, but there are actually more progressive country music stars than many people realize. Willie Nelson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Earle, Johnny Cash, Allison Moorer, and of course the Dixie Chicks. Tim McGraw has even considered running for office as a Democrat, and his wife Faith Hill has spoken out strongly against Bush as well. Country music fans generally speaking do tend to be very right-wing, but because there are very few right-wingers that have any talent they have to listen to progressives even in the genre that is most closely associated with the right-wing.

[paulsby]

10. Even Toby Keith

is a Democrat (which many people find surprising. )

[RandySF]

14. That's ironic

considering how the sex and drugs flow in Nashville.

[CreekDog]

20. Notice the best and brightest country musicians tend to be liberals?

when i was a Republican :eyes: (i was a teen) i couldn't help but notice that the Democrats had all the cool stars. we Republicans had the 2nd stringers. :rofl:

in 1992 when i knew i was a Democrat, i could finally embrace that all the artists that i admired were working for liberal ideals, like when REM played for Bill Clinton's election and when Susanna Hoffs (Bangles) played for universal health care. :loveya:

[kestrel91316]

8. I have always loved Dolly Parton if not her music.

She was SPOT ON in the movie Nine To Five.

[paulsby]

13. She's also a brilliant songwriter

many who may not like the timber of her singing, or country music in general probably like many of her songs. She has written for disparate artists, many of whom have also covered her originals.

She's kind of like Prince in that regard.

[Lint Head]

9. Dolly is friends with Jane Fonda and very liberal.

She parted ways with Porter Waggoner partly because he was a little too conservative for her tastes.
:dem:

[Elwood P Dowd]

11. Remember Coat Of Many Colors?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1zJzr-kWsI

[Sheltiemama]

34. I love that song.

I live in a county that neighbors the one where Dolly was born. I know what kind of poverty still exists in the mountains.

[Booster]

12. In 1987 I got to work on Dolly's tv show and I can tell you

she is the real deal; very sweet, speaks her mind, was extremely good to the crew, and would talk to anybody about anything. She's an American treasure, and smart as a whip too.

[Sheltiemama]

35. Cool!

Whenever Dolly does something -- usually connected to her theme park -- we put it on the front page. She sells papers. Everyone around here loves her.

[RandySF]

15. I always thought she was just another C&W singer

until I found out how popular she is in the LGBT community.

[Zomby Woof]

16. Merle Haggard spoke up for Obama

The political wisdom of Merle Haggard: 'It's time for a change'
By Steve Wildsmith
of The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: August 01. 2008 3:01AM
Last modified: August 01. 2008 10:55AM

If he makes to November -- and, given the fact that he says he cheated death once again last May -- country legend Merle Haggard will help elect the 12th president in his lifetime to lead the nation.

His choice may come as a surprise to some, especially those who take his classic song "Okie From Muskogee," with its anti-hippie rant, to heart and believe Haggard to be a conservative.

"I think Obama's got it," Haggard told The Daily Times this week. "McCain was a hero, and nobody can say nothing bad about him, but we need some fresh ideas, and that's my vote. I vote for the new. I vote for the word change, one way or the other. I'm tired of where we've been for the last eight years."

and...

As far as Haggard is concerned, both majority parties are ill-equipped, as a whole, to handle the problems the nation faces. Too much red tape, too many opportunists, too many men intent on getting rich at the expense of everyone else -- those are problems he sees as crippling politics today, and it's one reason he refuses to be affiliated with either party.

"I wouldn't join either party, because both of them piss me off," he said. "I vote for the man for every job and every condition. I have a bit of an advantage on most people in that I know and have the ability to have shaken hands with as many as 5,000 or 6,000 sheriffs in this country. I know them personally, and about 30 percent of them are -- there's just no other word for it -- assholes.

"The other 30 percent are opportunists, and there's about 30 percent who would give their lives for what they believe in. Obama being a Democrat is not the reason I'm voting for him; I'm voting for him because conservatism, in some way or another, is a direct contradiction of freedom."

http://www.thedailytimes.com/article/20080801/ENT/293540164

I disagrre with him about McCain, but at least he sees the light about Obama. Check out this article about a new song about Obama just as further evidence:

January 26, 2009)--Merle Haggard is recovering from lung cancer surgery and feeling patriotic.

He has written a new song inspired by President Barack Obama, called "Hopes Are High."

He wrote it two days before Obama's inauguration last week.

"We got a new style with a sincere smile, and a new song to sing along,” the song says.

It's an optimistic song, but Haggard is realistic about what Obama will be able to do.

He told People.com that he "can't see that one man can walk into turmoil like this and do much about it."

He said he's not looking for Obama "to change anything overnight."

http://www.kwtx.com/entertainment/headlines/38382169.html

[jus_the_facts]

23. I just saw him last night as I watched my DVD of Centennial....

...he plays a singer named Cisco Gomez in this ol' mini-series! :hi:

[Zomby Woof]

32. I haven't seen Centennial in literally 21 years

Took long enough to get to DVD. I was overseas when it first aired, so I never caught it until it re-ran on a local Seattle station in the summer of '88, for its 10th anniversary I guess. Read the book back in high school, when I was on a Michener kick. :hi:

[jus_the_facts]

33. Mom got me the DVD for xmas...I'd finally read the book....

...and found the DVD set for around 30 bucks on Amazon...my Dad and I watched the whole series together the first time it aired back in the day...there's a short bonus feature on the second disc that's extremely interesting...comments by Michener...Robert Conrad..etc....I've also read The Source and Journey by Michener...I definitely plan on readin' more of his stuff. :)


http://centennial-dvd.com/


*thread jacked* :evilgrin:

Correction on Merle's name in the movie...it was Cisco Calender.

[mandyky]

29. Ironically Merle the Pearl was against the Iraq war too

I say ironically because in the sixties he did the Okie from Muskogee and fighting side of me as a statement pro-Vietnam. I like his music and was happy to learn he was against the war and even said some less than flattering things about GWB.

[Zomby Woof]

31. Over the past decade

He prefaces that song by saying he was being stupid at the time, about a stupid war - actually, his intent was to write a song that reflected his parents' generation and their attitudes. He gave up trying to explain it that way, so now he just takes his lumps and moves on.

A recent interview in the LA Times was encouraging. He wants to build a massive array of solar panels on his property to not only power his home, but up to 700 or so in the region. I like how he stays current, and looks beyond his own needs. I think all these years of hanging out with Willie has paid off. :-)

[RoyGBiv]

45. There was more to that song ...

I recall some dim memory from long ago of there being more layers to the "Okie" song than how people normally interpreted it.

I loved the song as a kid 'cause it was about the only thing on the radio that even mentioned being an Okie.

I saw Haggard in concert several years ago at an outdoor venue in Oklahoma. When he started with the line about "not smoking marijuana," what happened was that pretty much everyone erupted in applause, started waving American flags ... and lit UP. People could have gotten a contact high out in the parking lot.

The whole song's a bit ironic.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. Yeah, well, she's smart and funny and cool.

So, of course. :thumbsup:

[Are_grits_groceries]

18. Ha! Let them try to ban Dolly!

She won't be afraid to still speak her mind. She doesn't scare or take shit.

[CreekDog]

21. Dolly Parton is a great musician

talented actress, great songwriter, superb businesswoman and all the while a compassionate human being.

[JCMach1]

22. Yay, Dolly...

[jus_the_facts]

24. I aaaahhhaaa will always love her......

Dolly and Burt from Best Little Whorehouse In Texas! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blvNOCdyoUk

[DevonRex]

25. That's my favorite Dolly song. Not a country fan in general, but

I sometimes play and sing that one when nobody else is home. It'd ruin my cred if my husband and boys heard me singing country.

Her voice is just perfect, IMO.

[jus_the_facts]

26. I like older country music to a degree....

...I can remember watchin' her on the Porter Wagoner Show back in the day! :)

[Sheltiemama]

36. I much prefer it to Whitney Houston's version.

With Dolly, it was a very quiet and personal song. For those who don't know, she wrote it for Porter Wagoner when she left his show to strike out on her own.

She has said that she loves it when Whitney sings it, because she makes money on it every time!

[stuntcat]

27. I LOVE Dolly!

:loveya: I named one of my feral kitties Dolly last week!

This is so cool.

[saltpoint]

30. I like how she will record anything she damn well feels like singing.

Dolly dissolves genres with creative talent and plenty of charisma.

Her recording of Woody Guthrie's "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos" is one of the most outstanding vocal performances ever. Not the sort of tune you'd think she'd record, but she totally owns it in that recording.

[Hekate]

39. I like her a lot. Loved that line of hers about not being a dumb blond...

"I'm not dumb and I'm not blonde!" Dolly Parton is a smart cookie with a big heart.

Hekate

[Sheltiemama]

40. I love that.

She says it doesn't bother her when people call her a dumb blonde, because she knows she's not dumb and she knows she's not blonde! I love when she's on talk shows. The male interviewers are totally besotted. It's so funny to watch.

[ejpoeta]

43. she's also very honest about things she has done for her appearance.

I find that refreshing. And she makes no apologies for it either. I like that about her.

[deaniac21]

41. Watching Larry King is like submitting to Chinese water torture.