Ok... So We, As A Country, Are About To Test This Quote From Frank Zappa...

[WillyT]

"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 theater."

- Frank Zappa

Seen it here before, stole it from RevStPatrick here at DU tonight (Thanks Rev), and from here on out WE... determine if this is the case.

:shrug:

[Amonester]

1. Also this one "They're only in it for the money." n t

[sunwyn]

2. Awesome.... Zappa was a man ahead of his time.

[Ohio Joe]

16. I would dis-agree

I think his comments were spot on for when he said them. It is telling that they are still spot on today.

[RedCloud]

35. Unless you were down on your luck and wanted to see him in concert.

[Amonester]

36. I saw him once, and he waved his hand at me while back stage...

and then went to perform with his band (1975, Montreal Forum concert bowl).

I had to run back to my seat not to miss too much!





"We have embraced the chance to show that America values the dignity of the street vendor in Tunisia more than the raw power of the dictator ..." - ?

[RevStPatrick]

3. Well then in that case, I'll post something...

...that I saw TBF post earlier today.
I sort of think of this Carlin bit as being a "companion piece" to Zappa's quote:


"Forget the politicians. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice . . . you don’t. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own, and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought, and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies, so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying . . . lobbying, to get what they want . . . Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I’ll tell you what they don’t want . . . they don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking ...

... They want your fuckin' retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it . . . they’ll get it all from you sooner or later cause they own this fuckin' place. It’s a big club and you ain't in it. You and I are not in The big club. By the way, it’s the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head with their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy. The table has tilted folks. The game is rigged and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. Good honest hard-working people . . . white collar, blue collar it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on...

... Good honest hard-working people continue, these are people of modest means . . . continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t give a fuck about you . . . they don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t care about you at all . . . at all . . . at all, and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. That’s what the owners count on. The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that’s being jammed up their assholes everyday, because the owners of this country know the truth. It’s called the American Dream cause you have to be asleep to believe it . . .”

- George Carlin

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TBF/77

Thanks TBF!!!

[WillyT]

5. Thanks Rev !!!

:yourock:

:hi:

:kick:

[AlbertCat]

31. Thanks Rev !!!

No doubt he also likes the Zappa quote:

"TAX THE CHURCHES! TAX THE BUSINESSES OWNED BY THE CHURCHES!"

(from "You Can't do That on Stage Anymore, Vol 1"... "Heavenly Bank Account")

[sabrina 1]

20. " they don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking ."

I wish he had stayed around a little longer, I think he would be happy to see all the critically thinking citizens who are now wide awake and know that what he was saying then, is true and are trying to do something about it.

[90-percent]

4. Zappa

I feel if he were alive during the GWB years, his commentary would have gotten Bush impeached in his first term!

Frank usually called it right, as a self proclaimed "Constitutional Fundamentalist" would. George and Frank were both pretty good thinkers. Zappa absolutely loathed cheaters.

-90% Jimmy

PS_ hmmmm, might make a good sig line?

[KoKo]

6. Yep....How are we going to change it, though. Truth to Power? Resistance...???

What?

[WillyT]

7. Wow... Two UnRecs So Far...

I'll keep my loathing to myself.

:wtf:

:puke:

[RoccoR5955]

8. I wish Frank was alive today.

He would surely be speaking out on this.

[stlsaxman]

9. My fave to a '60's Vegas crowd- "If your children knew how lame you realy are...

they'd murder you in your sleep."

[hootinholler]

10. Yeah?

Then we tear down the wall

[WillyT]

11. Oh... So Now I Have To Do A Whole Pink Floyd Thingy ???

:evilgrin:

:hi:

[hootinholler]

12. By the way

Which one's Pink?

:shrug:

I'm headed back to my crypt to groove with several species of small furry animals

[SaveOurDemocracy]

13. Ummagumma.

[hootinholler]

15. Dang I blew it.

I shoulda said ummagumma go back...

[AlbertCat]

32. with several species of small furry animals

You're a Pict?

Cooool!

[Zorra]

14. Yeah, but the po-jama people are boring me to pieces.

They make me feel like I am wasting my time.
:D

[Ohio Joe]

17. Zappa was a man of true genius and insight

And a damn fine guitarist.

[Kat45]

18. Zappa died too soon.

I wish he was still here, both to play his music and to comment on today's world.

[azul]

19. We been conned. And robbed. And jailed. And, and stupid.

"Do you love it
Do you hate it
There it is
The way you made it"

,then I think the Mothers all said "aaahhhrrrggg"

[90-percent]

27. Post #19

Are from Brown Shoes don't Make It, from the Mothers second album, Absolutely Free.

Another nice song from that album is Plastic People, due in part to this line: "Take the day and walk around. Watch the Nazi's run your town....."

I think the line "your children will murder you in your sleep" is from a show at the Whiskey A-go-go on the Sunset Strip in the time just preceding their contract for Freak Out happened.

I'm a musically illiterate Zappaphile. Thanks to the internet, I now have potential access to a boot of the first Mothers show I ever went to, the Oct 16, 1971 Stony Brook late show!


Misc Zappa stuff that resonates with me - He sued Warner Brothers in the mid 70's and won! (Battling the greedy corporations of his time on their turf!) His arrest and jailing in the early 60's for an entrapment style arrest for making pornography must have been a profound effect on his understanding of police and government. Taught him some lessons and made him ineligible for the draft, as a convicted felon.

He took on anyone, any time, any place for any reason at all during the mid 80's ROCK RECORD RATINGS DEBATE. That led to his Senate Testimony, where Al Gore confessed he was a fan of Frank's work. When Frank knew he was dying, the Gore's sent him a personal note. Frank made it a point to mention that. Also, Tipper played drums on some single that Dweezil and a few siblings made.

Langdon Winner or some other rock journo of that era said Frank had "an overdeveloped justice gland".

The Chrome plated Megaphone of Destiny would be the most appropriate song for the OWS movement. There are instructions on the album (We're Only in It For The Money) to give you the background to enjoy the song to it's fullest.

-jim

[Enthusiast]

21. We're close.

But the entire media will continue to maintain the illusion to the extent that only a small % of us will see the brick wall until it is too late.

[woo me with science]

22. K&R

[nc4bo]

23. K&R. There is already damage to the facade. Not enough people have noticed it yet.

And I believe at the rate it's crumbling, it's only a matter of time before it will be impossible to deny it.

[hifiguy]

24. We are dumb all over

Hey, we can't really be dumb if we're just following god's orders
Well let's get serious, god knows what he's doin'
He wrote this book here and the book says, "He made us all to be just like him"
So, if we're dumb, then god is dumb and maybe even a little ugly on the side
Dumb all over, a little ugly on the side
Dumb all over, a little ugly on the side

[mlevans]

25. Frank also said "Ultimately who gives a fuck anyway..."

THE CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER: Joe has just worked himself into an imaginary frenzy during the fade-out of his imaginary song...

He begins to feel depressed now. He knows the end is near. He has realized at last that imaginary guitar notes and imaginary vocals exist only in the mind
of The Imaginer ...and ... ultimately, who gives a fuck anyway... Who gives a fuck anyway?

So he goes back to his ugly little room and quietly dreams his last imaginary guitar solo...



And they'd just love for us all to be give in to depression and retire to our rooms.

[katty]

26. well it's time to strike the set in d.c.-send the actors home

[Jim_Shorts]

28. Yes but even if we pull the curtains back and show the wall

40% of Americans will say "god never said anything about a wall so it must not be there"

20% will say "but the wall is to big, just forget about it"

10% that are Obamabots will say "Don't worry if the wall is a problem it will soon be on the List"

[lady lib]

29. Ahem...

I stole it from someone (thanks, whoever you are :)) a long time ago.

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[NICO9000]

30. That quote is from "The Real Frank Zappa Book"

A great book!

FZ
RIP

[cachukis]

33. Well, I say the smarts will always show up.

[proud patriot]

34. kick rec and shared

[Quantess]

37. How did I miss this one?

Too late to recommend.