Name: Charles Pierce
Hometown: Newton, Mass.
One: Who in god’s name is Robbie Fulks?
Two: As a matter of fact, yes, if you’re going to criticize Steve Earle for his JWL ballad, you better damned well have an opinion on all those other murder ballads-including the ones on Harry Smith’s anthology that celebrate the assassinations of William McKinley and James Garfield, and the dozens that celebrate the sinking of the TITANIC-or else your argument is little more than shoddy narcissism.
Three: I guess if we can’t have ballads from the point of view of people who took up arms against the lawfully constituted government of the United States, there go an awful lot of Civil War ballads, especially from the Southern side.
and, finally,
Four: Had JWL gone off and bombed an abortion clinic, he might not have had Steve Earle write a song about him-don’t count on it, by the way-but he also would have had the following:
a) a lawyer.
b) the rights guaranteed under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution.
c) people to make his bail.
and
d) prominent clerics to give him the, “We don’t approve of the tactics but...” defense.
Not to mention that:
If he’d killed a cop in Idaho, he’d get a couple of million bucks and an apology from the government.
If he’d been a lunatic apocalyptic who’d immolated children in rooms packed with gasoline, he’d be a martyred hero whose example prompted people blow up federal office buildings.
In fact, if he were a guy who’d bombed a clinic and then bombed a crowded park during the Olympics, he’d have people who’d hide him from the law, and he’d have an FBI that isn’t really looking that hard, and he wouldn’t even be in custody yet.
Given the choice, I think he’d trade in the song.
From Altercation.