Glenn Danzig Compares Democrats to Fascists

During a recent interview, Glenn Danzig was asked if the PMRC, about whom he wrote the song “Mother,” were “a problem for you specifically.” They weren’t a problem for Glenn specifically — none of his songs were amongst the “Filthy Fifteen,” the group’s proverbial “hit list” — but he didn’t actually address that issue. Instead, he said this:

Yeah, you know, Al Gore wanted to tell people what they could listen to and what they couldn’t, what they could record. It was basically coming down to the idea that he wouldn’t let anybody record any music that he didn’t think you should be doing. There was going to be an organization that would tell you what you could and couldn’t record. And certainly if you couldn’t record it, you couldn’t put it out. It was really fascist.

My view on Democrats is that they’re fascists disguised as liberals, or liberal moderates. You’re not allowed to say anything that they don’t agree with. You’re not allowed to do anything. Also, the whole Obama, “I can kill anybody with a drone with no trial,” is kind of disturbing. I’m surprised that more people who are supposedly liberal aren’t more disturbed by it. I think whatever Obama does is OK with them, because he’s Obama. It’s bullshit.

It’s the same thing with the PMRC telling you, “Bands can go on trial for their music.” What’s next, Wagner is going to get arrested? What? He’s dead. [Laughs]

I don’t think any metal fan feels kindly towards the PMRC, and Danzig’s assertion is a lot less offensive than one that, say, Ted Nugent might make. Still, calling the Democrats “fascists” is ridiculous, the kind of over-statement that makes you wish you could make Danzig live in an actual fascist state for a few weeks and see how that feels. ‘Cause, fun fact!, real fascists generally forgo the televised hearings and cut right to the imprison-the-artist-and-ban-the-art part of things.

Also worth noting: the PRMC was founded by four women, all married to prominent political figures… two of whom were Republicans (Susan Baker and Sally Nevius’ husbands, James Baker and John Nevius, served in the administrations of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush). So citing the PMRC as an example of how the Democrats are fascists and not how American politicians in general are fascists is a very, very weak argument.

And, finally, I’d just like to express confusion over Danzig’s lame joke about Wagner, a composer who has been dead for 130 years. I think the gag is supposed to be about how the PMRC were a bunch of idiots who would have wanted to arrest Wagner for being a known favorite of Adolf Hitler. But Wagner and Hitler never actually met — Wagner was long dead by the time Hitler came to power — and there’s no evidence to suggest that Wagner would have approved of Hitler’s politics/being a mass-murdering fuckface. It’s possible that Professor Danzig knew all of this and was attempting to imply that the PMRC was just that dumb, but I suspect this was really just a case of the stupid pot calling the stupid kettle the wrong color.

Thanks: Glenn Danziggy