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Toby Keith Was Synonymous With Jingoistic Songs. His Own Politics Were Much More Complex

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9 months ago

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Back in 2002, Toby Keith appeared on the very first episode of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling to perform his song “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)” — only to be interrupted midway through by the dastardly wrestler Jeff Jarrett. There is maybe no better metaphor for the kitschy nationalist spectacle of the era. A few years before, a heel in wrestling might have incited boos and jeers from the crowd by burning an American flag. But in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, you make them hate you by interrupting a Toby Keith concert.

Keith further solidified his reputation — an outspoken patriot to some, an obnoxious blowhard to others — by way of a public dispute with Natalie Maines of the then- Dixie Chicks. Keith seemed to enjoy talking smack as much as defending America, almost like a wrestler in a feud. At several concerts in 2003, he projected a doctored photo of Maines alongside Saddam Hussein, as if she were Sgt. Slaughter. Later on, he’d say he went too far.

But short of anyone who has actually held political office, few public figures have made a business out of their patriotism like Keith. The Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter, who died Monday at 62, was one of the foremost faces of country music’s commercial boom in the 1990s, but with the dawning of the new millennium, he became the symbol of a very different movement, as a hardline supporter of all things America in the “Freedom Fries” fervor of the post-9/11 era. Almost every major country artist took up flag-waving in the early 2000s, but Keith made it his brand, as songs like “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)” and “American Soldier” served as de facto national anthems for hawkish voters who believed in supporting the troops above all else.

You don’t have to look very far to find antecedents in country music to Keith’s jingoism, like Merle Haggard’s “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” but there’s an anger and aggression to a song like “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” that took it to a new level. Keith’s resounding call to stick a boot in the ass of America’s perceived enemies became a rallying cry to those looking for villains to blame. To those rightfully unsettled by Keith’s thirst for blood, that song — and Toby Keith himself — became a symbol of all that’s wrong with Nashville, an easy shorthand for the most reactionary and regressive tendencies of country music.

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But the reality of Keith’s politics was a little more complicated, and not as easy to place inside the neat and tidy box of a three-minute radio single. Though Keith always carried himself with a brash swagger, his pivot to fearmongering was somewhat startling for an artist whose prior work had not only been fairly apolitical, but even sensitive and tender. Early albums like Blue Moon and Dream Walkin’ are filled with heartbroken belting and tearful power ballads that practically beg for placement on the soundtrack of a Jerry Bruckheimer production. As much as Keith could exude arrogance, his pre-9/11 songwriting could also be self-effacing, casting him as an unreliable narrator who falls prey to his own pride and overconfidence. Even though the protagonist of “How Do You Like Me Now?!” has achieved superstardom, he still hasn’t gotten over a girl who was mean to him in high school.

That kind of petty vindictiveness also defined Keith’s political statements. As the subtitle “The Angry American” indicates, the song was not written from a carefully considered political viewpoint, but from a wounded place of unfiltered emotion. That’s not to justify any view expressed in the song, but more to suggest that it was never intended to be taken as a coherent position. On some level, the song was Keith’s response not only to 9/11, but to a more directly personal tragedy: the death of his own father, whose reaction to the terrorist attacks Keith imagines. Beneath the surface-level nationalism, there’s the despairing nihilism of a grieving child who lashes out in anger at a world they blame for the loss of a parent. The song’s misplaced rage embodies the prototypically masculine arrogance that often defined Keith, as he takes out his own emotional trauma on others rather than processing it himself.

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Keith always stood firmly behind his most reactionary songs, and he certainly never balked at Republican candidates using his music at their rallies, but he often seemed frustrated with the perception of himself as a conservative. It might have been an effort to play both sides, but he was always quick to remind interviewers that he had actually been a longtime Democrat, prior to registering as an Independent in 2008, and even spoke positively of Barack Obama. “I’d never been a Republican, and my family were Democrats, but because I made the war cry,” he said, alluding to “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” in a 2018 interview with Dan Rather, “I got the checkmark.”

Contemporary conservative politics might have taken on an anti-government edge, but Keith belonged to an older school of conservative thought, one that put a fundamental respect for the office of the President ahead of party affiliation. When questioned about his decision to perform at Trump’s inauguration in 2017, he bluntly replied that when “the president of the frickin’ United States asks you to do something and you can go, you should go instead of being a jack-off.” At the end of the day, Keith’s political persuasion mostly depended on whoever was paying the bills, like so many performers: In 2017, he would become one of the first Western musicians to publicly perform in Saudi Arabia, at a gender-segregated concert in Riyadh.

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If anything, like his heroes Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, Keith landed somewhere toward the libertarian end of the spectrum, prioritizing individual freedoms above all else. And like those icons, he often maintained an adversarial relationship with Nashville, retreating back to his native Oklahoma like a fortress of solitude as Willie would go to Austin or Merle to Lake Shasta.

But unlike his idols, the vitriol and anger that Keith was identified with — rightly or not —often overshadowed his body of work. For all his attempts to fight against the boxes other people put him in, Keith ended up boxing himself in better than anyone. Like the spotlight-hungry pop star of “How Do You Like Me Now?!” Keith was a showman playing a part. He relished a role he was cast in so long as it brought attention, whether it meant playing the avenging hero or the contemptuous heel.

 

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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4 days ago

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November 8, 2024

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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November 8, 2024

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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5 days ago

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November 7, 2024

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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