Rollins
Last night I saw Henry Rollins, the thick-necked, muscle-bound, tattooed rock singer and spoken word, uh, performer (?) give an interview on the BBC. I saw Rollins in concert during the very first Lollapallooza. He was fronting "The Rollins Band" at that point. All I remember is him coming bare-chested, absolutely ripped, with this massive gothic sun tattooed across his entire back. His neck was about as thick as my torso.
Anyway, I tuned in just as Rollins was talking about the U.S. presidential election, and he was just saying how he voted for kerry. He had been doing a movie at the time. All the actors and actresses were very vocal about voting for Kerry. He alluded that the non-actor types on the set were basically very quiet about the election, and he assumed they were voting for Bush. Rollins said he wasn't surprised at all that Bush won, but he was bummed, and he said the next day some actress said something to him that really reflected how he felt. What the actress had said was that she felt the same way she did on Sept. 12, 2001.
I was slack-jawed, and apparently, so was the BBC reporter. To his credit, he asked incredulously, "But September 11 and the presidential election are totally different events! How can you compare them?"
Rollins said, "Yeah, I know, they are totally different, but it was the same feeling of depression, exhaustion and hopelessness."
Thankfully that proved to be the low point of the interview, and Rollins went on
to demonstrate intelligence and honesty. He's quite well spoken, answers questions straight and earnestly.
He was asked about his participation with the USO and why he went to Iraq and Afgahnistan to entertain the troops if was so opposed to the wars.
Rollins said that when he got the call from the USO he asked them if they had the right Henry Rollins, and suggested they might want to look at some of his recent material opposing Bush and the wars. The next day they called and said, "Well you sure are outspoken, but we want you anyway" (see, this is what crushing of dissent looks like in Ashkkkroft's Amerikkka!!!).
Then he was asked about his impression of the troops given Abu Ghraib and the
sense -- according the BBC reporter -- that "people in Iraq view the U.S as an occupying power". Rollins said Abu Ghraib was unquestionably wrong and that he had definitely met some lonely, tripping soldiers trying to cope with a surreal situation. But he said the Abu Ghraib types were a small percentage of the soldiers, a "drop in the ocean", and that you had bad soldiers just like you had some bad
cops.
Rollins was asked why he signed a bomb in Afghanistan, again in light of his anti-war activism. He said (and I paraphrase), "Yeah I really didn't want to do it but this officer was like, 'Sir we like to drop big bombs on bad people and would you please sign this bomb, sir! It would mean a lot to us if you signed this bomb, sir!Hooah!' And his guys were all pumped about me doing it and everyone was going 'Hooah!', and I figured it was better for me to swallow my personal view and do
something I didn't agree with but that meant a lot to these guys. I didn't want to say no to an officer trying to instill morale in his troops. These guys are waking up every day and going into the Hindu Kush mountains, they don't need some rock star saying no to them. And if any one disagrees with what I did, well, I take the hit for that."
Though I disagree with Rollins' stance on the war, I thought it was cool of him to set aside his ego and do something to help the troops, and then not try to duck it later but in fact take responsibility for it.
In all, Rollins came off as quite intelligent and stoked on democracy. He said a few times, in effect, "Yeah, I really don't like Bush but this is a democracy and America chose him and we have to live with that."
Anyway, I tuned in just as Rollins was talking about the U.S. presidential election, and he was just saying how he voted for kerry. He had been doing a movie at the time. All the actors and actresses were very vocal about voting for Kerry. He alluded that the non-actor types on the set were basically very quiet about the election, and he assumed they were voting for Bush. Rollins said he wasn't surprised at all that Bush won, but he was bummed, and he said the next day some actress said something to him that really reflected how he felt. What the actress had said was that she felt the same way she did on Sept. 12, 2001.
I was slack-jawed, and apparently, so was the BBC reporter. To his credit, he asked incredulously, "But September 11 and the presidential election are totally different events! How can you compare them?"
Rollins said, "Yeah, I know, they are totally different, but it was the same feeling of depression, exhaustion and hopelessness."
Thankfully that proved to be the low point of the interview, and Rollins went on
to demonstrate intelligence and honesty. He's quite well spoken, answers questions straight and earnestly.
He was asked about his participation with the USO and why he went to Iraq and Afgahnistan to entertain the troops if was so opposed to the wars.
Rollins said that when he got the call from the USO he asked them if they had the right Henry Rollins, and suggested they might want to look at some of his recent material opposing Bush and the wars. The next day they called and said, "Well you sure are outspoken, but we want you anyway" (see, this is what crushing of dissent looks like in Ashkkkroft's Amerikkka!!!).
Then he was asked about his impression of the troops given Abu Ghraib and the
sense -- according the BBC reporter -- that "people in Iraq view the U.S as an occupying power". Rollins said Abu Ghraib was unquestionably wrong and that he had definitely met some lonely, tripping soldiers trying to cope with a surreal situation. But he said the Abu Ghraib types were a small percentage of the soldiers, a "drop in the ocean", and that you had bad soldiers just like you had some bad
cops.
Rollins was asked why he signed a bomb in Afghanistan, again in light of his anti-war activism. He said (and I paraphrase), "Yeah I really didn't want to do it but this officer was like, 'Sir we like to drop big bombs on bad people and would you please sign this bomb, sir! It would mean a lot to us if you signed this bomb, sir!Hooah!' And his guys were all pumped about me doing it and everyone was going 'Hooah!', and I figured it was better for me to swallow my personal view and do
something I didn't agree with but that meant a lot to these guys. I didn't want to say no to an officer trying to instill morale in his troops. These guys are waking up every day and going into the Hindu Kush mountains, they don't need some rock star saying no to them. And if any one disagrees with what I did, well, I take the hit for that."
Though I disagree with Rollins' stance on the war, I thought it was cool of him to set aside his ego and do something to help the troops, and then not try to duck it later but in fact take responsibility for it.
In all, Rollins came off as quite intelligent and stoked on democracy. He said a few times, in effect, "Yeah, I really don't like Bush but this is a democracy and America chose him and we have to live with that."
<< Home