Movin' On

Following on the heels of revelations about David Brin, I see that another artist I usually enjoy has decided to jump on the "speaking truth to power" bandwagon. This time around, it's none other than Long Island's favorite tree surgeon, Billy Joel, who decided to come out of retirement to pen a new "pro-soldier" song entitled "Christmas in Fallujah."

How do I know it's "pro-soldier" and not "anti-war?" Because he said so.

Certainly not because the lyrics for the song call soldiers serving in Iraq "crusaders" and "armies of the empire" fighting for "a sea of oil in the sand." No, that couldn't be it at all.

(At least he did a little better than Roger Waters. Yeesh.)

And certainly not because the left and the paleo-cons seem to be celebrating another artist coming out on the anti-war side.

It is a bit ironic (doncha think) that Joel chose to set his "typical soldier" in Fallujah, which in his mind is probably representative of the failure of "the empire." As it turns out, the early losses there were largely a media-driven failure, and Fallujah now is pretty much (but not completely) on the way to stability. Probably moreso than, say, Paris.

I will give Joel partial credit; he claims he is donating proceeds from the single to Homes For Our Troops. So at least some good will come of things.

But otherwise...maybe he should have just stayed retired. Enjoy fighting that 2004 fight, Billy, cause I don't think I'll be following much of your future work.