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Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of Michigan Citizens for Science and co-founder of The Panda's Thumb. He has written for such publications as The Bard, Skeptic and Reports of the National Center for Science Education, spoken in front of many organizations and conferences, and appeared on nationally syndicated radio shows and on C-SPAN. Ed is also a Fellow with the Center for Independent Media and the host of Declaring Independence, a one hour weekly political talk show on WPRR in Grand Rapids, Michigan.(static)
Ed Brayton also blogs at Positive Liberty and The Panda's Thumb
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Posted on: December 29, 2007 9:02 AM, by Ed Brayton
Here's a nominee for the dumbest statement of the year:
Kid Rock performed his "What if Kid rock were president of the U.S." and pledged he would "turn churches into strip clubs" but promised, "We would remain one nation under God." Both comments got cheers from the audience.
How does one pander to opposite stupid ideas at the same time? And get applauded for it? I'm clearly not cynical enough yet.
Comments
By being a Pastafarian. Remember, there is a stripper factory in the heaven of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Posted by: carlsonjok | December 29, 2007 9:10 AM
They probably aren't as opposite as you think. A lot of non-church going people are still very dedicated to the idea of religion. They just aren't fond of the practice. It might have something to do with Daniel Dennett's suggestion that most people "believe in belief". To someone who's merely enamored with the idea of religion, suggesting we close the churches while simultaneously being "one nation under God" would probably not bother them.
Posted by: Wes | December 29, 2007 9:11 AM
I guess we could also point out that the people in the audience who cheered for the first statement need not necessarily be the same as the people who cheered for the second comment.
Posted by: Wes | December 29, 2007 9:14 AM
Its a rock concert. The crowd could either be shallower than one would expect, or deeper than one would expect.
Posted by: Flying Fox | December 29, 2007 9:54 AM
I agree with Wes -- the idea that getting rid of the churches would bring us all closer to God seems to be particularly popular with the younger "spiritual but not religious" crowd.
Plus, it was a rock concert. What could he have shouted out that wouldn't be cheered? "Yeah!!! Oh YEAAAAHHHH!!!(What did he say?)"
Posted by: Sastra | December 29, 2007 10:38 AM
For crying out loud, it is Kid Rock! He has made a career out of being among the "dumbest" of the cock rockers. Still has a ways to go to reach the putridness of fellow Michiganer, Ted Nugent.
Posted by: Janine | December 29, 2007 11:16 AM
Just watch Idiocracy and see how humorously believable this could be.
I doubt many readers here would be in Kid Rock's core demographic.
Posted by: bk127001 | December 29, 2007 11:21 AM
Kid...?
Posted by: dogmeatib | December 29, 2007 11:37 AM
He didn't say which god, did he? I mean, they had temple whores in Babylon.
He probably got the idea while worshiping after another concert with somebody else's girlfriend.
Besides, it is an old and venerable Rock and Roll ideal that God doesn't want silly things like property rights and conventional morality get in the way of partying and having whatever you want.
Posted by: BaldApe | December 29, 2007 12:59 PM
Maybe he found god in a stripper's cleavage?
Posted by: MightyLambchop | December 29, 2007 2:32 PM
Better than finding him in a bible....
Posted by: Gretchen | December 29, 2007 2:38 PM
Did it occur to anyone that Kid Rock knew that the second "proposal" was inconsistent with the first "proposal" (i.e. he was joking)?
Posted by: daniel rotter | December 29, 2007 3:35 PM
Who or what is a Kid Rock and why should this be of interest?
Posted by: kehrsam | December 29, 2007 5:42 PM
I'd like to compare this obviously serious policy statement with other contenders, just so we know who to vote for in the primaries.
Marilyn Manson:
Avril Lavigne understands about world poverty:
Sherri Shepherd, of course, has her science policy worked out:
Donatella Versace is backing Hilary:
Britney Spears has strong political opinions:
And, finally, Jessica Simpson's thoughts on domestic policy:
Posted by: Pseudonym | December 29, 2007 7:32 PM
Maybe Kid Rock is also planning to turn the existing strip clubs into churches? (Cue the scene from The Simpsons Movie with the bar and the church right next to each other. . .)
Posted by: HennepinCountyLawyer | December 30, 2007 1:16 AM
Looks like the Romney campaign needs to hire Kid Rock. Romney has been taking diametrically opposed positions with different groups, on the same day. Romney needs to learn from the Master, and be able to do this to a single group.
Posted by: IanR | December 30, 2007 10:40 AM
He was married to Pam Anderson for about 2 hours or so...
Posted by: Rev. AJB | December 30, 2007 9:33 PM