There is an old saying that “politics makes strange bedfellows.”
And nowhere is there a better example of this than a recent tweet by SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk and punk rock icon John Lydon, better know by his stage name as Johnny Rotten, frontman for legendary punk band The Sex Pistols.
Rotten, once the King of leather clothes, spikes, and safety pins is now 66-years old. But he recently made a spot on observation that Musk could not help tweeting.
And he’s right: once unthinkable, these days, to be conservative is to be anti-establishment, and counter-culture.
To be conservative in 2022 is to be punk rock.
Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols pic.twitter.com/u8v8KFUn7N
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2022
A History Lesson
For those of you who might be too young to remember, the punk rock movement began in the late 70’s. It was popular in the U.S., but had a huge following in Great Britain. Punk rock was not so much a genre of music as it was a statement.
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And the statement to society in general was: “f**k you!”
Punk took the more peaceful anti-establishment, “don’t trust anyone over 30,” “fight the man” message from the hippies of the 60’s and spiked it’s hair, dressed it in a ripped T-shirt with an offensive picture of the Queen on it, and stuck a safety pin through its lip.
That punk was edgy, hardcore, and gritty was an understatement. If there were, as Johnny Rotten calls them, “right wingers” in the punk rock scene were few and far between, with the exception of Johnny Ramone.
That’s Sid Vicious not Johnny Rotten and they were anti establishment anarchists, basically did things to piss people off, nothing pisses people off more than a swastika
— Nathan Stubbs (@Stubbsy_PVFC) June 4, 2022
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Johnny Rotten Is Right And The Left Now Hates Him For It
Johnny Rotten has only pointed out what has also become patently obvious to the rest of the world, except the left of course. Every attempt at curbing the rights and behavior of American citizens is now coming from the left.
Maybe you would like to state your opinion or where you stand on a given issue. If it is not politically correct, you will be called racist, sexist, homophobic or some other kind of phobe, and the left will make sure no one hears you.
Radical free speech was once the province of Berkeley liberals. Now, it’s the creed of New Balance wearing suburban dads at the cookout.
“We don’t like that book, movie, website, opinion, tweet,” the list goes on and on, “we will just demand that it be shut down.” Even though the real problem here is that lefties can’t debate the points of an argument, much easier to just make it go away.
Then there is the virtue signaling and the air of superiority. If you drive an electric car (but not a Tesla, they don’t count anymore!) If you have received more than five COVID shots and still wear a mask, have solar panels on your house, you obviously care more than everyone else.
In other words, holding the exact same beliefs as the political establishment, every major multinational corporation, the TV news people, academia, and the education system – as the left now does – is not punk rock.
It’s the exact opposite.
Johnny Rotten is merely stating the obvious. The left has become everything they have always claimed to despise. They can call it whatever they like, but they have become the establishment.
Johnny Rotten had me at sniveling self-righteous twatty ones https://t.co/ZskHLRhs9a
— Jon Najarian (@jonnajarian) June 4, 2022
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Catching Heat For Having The ‘Wrong’ Opinion
As was entirely predictable, the left has vilified Johnny Rotten for outing their establishment turnaround. Boing Boing, once a punk ‘zine, published a whining blog about Rotten and Musk (though, one might notice no attempt to deal with his argument.)
Rock and Roll was founded on rebellion and questioning authority, and now, that rebellion seems to belong to conservatives. Other musicians like Kid Rock, Gene Simmons, Kanye West, and Ted Nugent have put their careers on the line by openly stating their political beliefs and like Johnny Rotten, support former President Donald Trump. It hasn’t seemed to slow down ticket sales.
Johnny Rotten has spent most of his adult life “giving the middle finger to the establishment.” And if he wants to keep it up, just add a few safety pins to that MAGA shirt.
Twitter getting mad about Johnny Rotten is exactly the kind of punk rock that Johnny Rotten strove for. Dude is the grandaddy of trolling and yall are the suckers
— ULTRA Rev. Kalli (@yokalli2) June 4, 2022
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