Do you hear what I hear?

It's the sound of fascism

by Rick Johansen

I know very little about the American country singer Carrie Underwood. So little in fact that the only song I know she has sung is this version of Do You Hear What I Hear and it’s simply magnificent. I won’t be playing it for the foreseeable future after learning that she is performing America The Beautiful at Donald Trump’s inauguration next Monday. There is nothing beautiful about what’s coming down the road for the next four years.

It’s generally the norm that celebrity endorsements – and Underwood’s performance will undoubtedly be an endorsement of Trump – come from those with a liberal perspective. The many stars of stage, screen and the music business nearly all declared for Kamala Harris in November’s presidential election and a fat lot of good it did her (and America). Underwood helping to usher in an age of ultra right wing nationalism will define the rest of her career.

Apart from her opposition to mask-wearing, the singer never expressed political views in the past. In fact, she said in 2008, “I lose all respect for celebrities when they back a candidate.” Well, Trump is no longer a candidate: he’s the president elect. Maybe Underwood thinks that’s different? I suspect the real reason for her support for Trump is religion.

Underwood is a religious fanatic, like so many of our American cousins.”I grew up in church and have a wonderful family that always supported that. I grew up going to church camp and reading my Bible and having different faith books and movies in my life,” she said. Of course, in America if you are serious about God, you are a Republican. She’s always been registered as a supporter of the GOP. Now she means business.

It is strange that the devout are so keen on Trump. He’s a felon, a rapist, an adulterer, a serial liar but none of this matters. Were these things okay in the bibles she read? In fact, one must assume that voters saw Trump’s failings as assets. It is beyond bonkers. But hey, this is America.

But it’s Underwood who has staked her position out. Singing for Trump, because that’s what it is, signals overt support for him and whatever he does next. You cannot say, “Well, she’s doing this for sound patriotic reasons” because unless she’s one massive hypocrite she is endorsing the nearest thing to fascism in the White House the world has ever seen. You cannot gloss this over or pretend it doesn’t mean anything.

Do you hear what I hear? It’s the sound of me deleting Can You Hear What I Hear from my iTunes account. I very much doubt whether it will dissuade Ms Underwood from welcoming the far right into office. She’s made her bed and she will have to lie on it. I hope it isn’t comfortable.

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