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Originally Posted by Bill Robinson
I'm all for freedom of speech but I cannot condone songs that use explicit vulgar language, promote violence in a realistic way, promote killing cops, raping women or graphic sex. These songs should not be allowed on free airwaves. If people want to buy them that is their choice.
And it seems to be getting worse.


But people find different things offensive. I find national flag-waving offensive and songs that embrace it equally so. It reminds me of imperialism, jingoism and suchlike. And those things have killed people.

That actually is my view. I only mention it here though to illustrate that people have different views.

Many of the hip-hop tracks that some commentators claim are promoting violence are actually saying completely the opposite of that. Only people's view of the culture from which they come, and the way it's portrayed in the media, leads them to judge the songs on the words used, not their meaning or content.


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Originally Posted by Ray E. Strode
Over my 60 years of listening to country music I have never heard any song glorifying guns or murder.


Then I think that you must have selective hearing.

How about 'Battle Of New Orleans' and 'Delia's Gone'?


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as Kathy mentioned above, i've said many times after working a long shift at work and on my feet most of the 12 hours running, i've said "my dogs are barking and my a** is draggin....

and I loved Garth Brooks song with the glass/a** in it...so does that make me a bad person for liking it....but I think it was really Garth's personality singing that, that I loved...glyn

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Humm,
The Battle of New Orleans. Written by Jimmy Driftwood and popularized by Johnny Horton. I will leave it to others to decide if it glorifies Guns and Murder. To me it is more of a Folk/Patriotic song. You can hear it on YouTube.

Delia's Gone. Never heard that one. Who put it out?

For those of you that have your ears uncovered, Redd Fox put out an Album, YOU GOTTA WASH YOUR ASS. I see it in some catalogs I receive from time to time. Other racey stuff is listed from time to time also, from way back there.


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Originally Posted by Ray E. Strode
Humm,
The Battle of New Orleans. Written by Jimmy Driftwood and popularized by Johnny Horton. I will leave it to others to decide if it glorifies Guns and Murder. To me it is more of a Folk/Patriotic song. You can hear it on YouTube.

Delia's Gone. Never heard that one. Who put it out?

For those of you that have your ears uncovered, Redd Fox put out an Album, YOU GOTTA WASH YOUR ASS. I see it in some catalogs I receive from time to time. Other racey stuff is listed from time to time also, from way back there.



Well, probably like most other songs of its ilk, whether or not you think it glorifies violence depends on your politics and loyalties. Songs that celebrate victories in battle may be perceived as patriotic by one side but could seem hateful to the other side, or indeed to the neutral.

Rather like 'Christian Soldiers'. If you share its theology, then you might love the song. If you came from a Muslim culture, however, then you might associate it with the rape and pillage of the Crusades.

'Delia's Gone', which is about a fella killing his wife, was sung by a little-known country singer called Johnny Cash, first on his album The Sound of Cash (1962) and then later on his American Recordings (1994).

I believe that the same artist also sang about killing someone in Reno. And just to watch him die too.


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Come on, The "Battle of New Orleans" was a historical song. just commenting on a historical event. That is too much of a stretch for anybody. If you want to pick on something, "Folsom Prison Blues" talks about "Shot a Man in Reno, just to watch him die." But wait a minute. The guy is in prison. Oops. Doesn't glorify violence.

I guess you could go "Boy Named Sue" and the knife fight. Oops, ended up knowing his Dad better. Not glorifying violence there either.

El Paso. Found a girl, shot a guy, then got killed myself.

Green Green Grass of home. Guy getting hanged. Oops, seems like most of the "murder songs" are talking about the moral of the story.

There is not so much the glorifying of anything as much as commenting on life. That is what country does. Now depending on your own biases, and prejudices, you can read whatever you want to into it. But for the most part, those of us who write and distribute country music, try to keep our audiences in mind always. We might make statements, and go off the deep end from time to time, but usually there is a moral to the story.

That's what country is about.

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If a song describes something that happened it's a historical song. All accounts are partial. All see it from a particular perspective and get perceived in different ways by different people.

The same is true of many of the hip-hop songs that people make out as glorifying violence. One person's song about 'cop killing' is another person's angry reaction to their experience of random violence received at the hands of an out-of-control police officer. Similar morals to the tale can be found in most rap tracks that address such topics.



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"We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down.
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind."


Update the gun technology a little and have a black guy singing the words and it suddenly gets condemned as gangster rap celebrating murder.


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Yeah, history is filled with loading up amphibians with gunpowder and shot and using it as an artillary piece. Me thinks you are looking for things that aren't there and taking it a bit too literal. Not even a close analogy. Like comparing comic books or cartoons to real life. Can't be done.

Sorry. Nice try. Thanks for playing though.

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Originally Posted by Marc Barnette
Like comparing comic books or cartoons to real life.


I dunno....watching Elmer Fudd turned me into a mass murderer of fuh-wee wittle wabbits.

And now that Don Knotts is dead, it can be told....The song below was actually about Barney Fife and it tells why he and Thelma Lou never got married...

T For Texas, circa 1930, Jimmie Rodgers:

I'm gonna buy me a pistol, just as long as I'm tall
I'm gonna buy me a pistol, just as long as I'm tall
I'm gonna shoot poor Thelma, just to see her jump and fall


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Well,
Some will see the glass half full and others will see it half empty.
No doubt there are songs, generally in the Country field that talk of more gory subjects. However all of them that went anywhere had a human element to them. Not just glorifying guns and murder. But to each his own.

When writing a song with a colorful metaphor if it is poorly written it will probably not be taken seriously by those in a position to use it. I guess TOES OR ASS IN THE SAND was/is a song that has made it. Keep writing.


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Let's see - what else can I stir up........


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Make sure you don't listen to Randy Newman's "Let's Drop the Big One Now.(The Political song)"

MAB

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Well lets see
we take this song
"We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down.
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind."

And ask a rapper to put his spin on it. What might we hear?

"We fired our Uzzi till the barrel melted down
then we grabbed a whore and made her go down
We filled her head with %$@#@#^ and pounded her behind
And when we killed the cop the whore lost her mind.

Yeah, I can see where those two have the same message.


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My mom Rosalie, wanted me to repost her remark, while reminding
all of you that this is a thread about "ASS IN THE SAND", So how
did we end up with the content of the latest posts, huh?

I shared this thread with my 77 year old mom, and she busted a gut
over such a bruhaha, over such a pittance of a problem, she said
that she wondered if she had some how been time warped back to
the 40'S or 50's, when they didn't show married couples using
the same bed, etc. The word ass is the least of our worries in
todays society.........................Gus

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Originally Posted by Steven August Rieck
I shared this thread with my 77 year old mom, and she busted a gut over such a bruhaha..............
................The word ass is the least of our worries in todays society


Gus,

I think it's your 77 year old mother who is overreacting. We
know it's not a big thing...I mean even here on JPF it's just
one out 88,000 topics. It's not gonna change the world. We're
not going back to the 40s or 50s.

Sausagelink

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Originally Posted by Sausagelink
I think it's your 77 year old mother who is overreacting. We know it's not a big thing...I mean even here on JPF it's just one out 88,000 topics. It's not gonna change the world. We're not going back to the 40s or 50s.



You'd need to have left the 40s or 50s before you could go back there. ;-)


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Originally Posted by Steve Cooke

You'd need to have left the 40s or 50s before you could go back there. ;-)


Alas....I'd thumb a ride on a lizard's back if I could find a way to just go back....


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"The Battle Of New Orleans" used a PD melody from an old fiddle tune called "Eighth Of January", written after the war of 1812. It was an appropriate melody for the song because it fit the times. It's a song about a famous battle. Sorry if you're offended Steve, but we just had to kick your pretty a%ses at that time. Just couldn't let you guys get in, thanks to La feat.

It's new to allow "cuss" words into mainstream country music. Buffett never was mainstream country. Listened to David Allen Coe lately? Some of his songs are mainstream, but not most.

Remember the Congressional hearings with Tipper Gore from the 80's? Frank Zappa? She wanted to put a "warning" label on The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds".

Let 'em cuss, I don't listen to it anyway.


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Originally Posted by ben willis
"The Battle Of New Orleans" used a PD melody from an old fiddle tune called "Eighth Of January", written after the war of 1812. It was an appropriate melody for the song because it fit the times. It's a song about a famous battle. Sorry if you're offended Steve, but we just had to kick your a%ses at that time. Just couldn't let you guys get in, thanks to La feat.



My intervention in this thread has at no point claimed to be offended by that or any other song. Rather I was bemused that anyone could take offence at a song simply because it contains the word 'ass'.

And I certainly haven't said that I was offended by 'The Battle of New Orleans'. No-one who, like me, owns a copy of the album Murder Ballads by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds could possibly be offended by such a song.

My point was simply that it is a country/folk song that could reasonably be interpreted as celebrating violence in its own right or an end that was achieved by violence. It is just as violent as the hip-hop songs that people in this thread have condemned - as indeed are the songs of lynching apologists such as Toby Keith.

As for the remark about kicking asses and suchlike, I assume that's directed at my British nationality. However, I'd sooner burn the UK flag than have one in my home. It means nothing to me except imperialism. And not just in the past either.


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Steve, just a cheap jab at humor on my part. Yes my comment was pointed at your nationality because we were enemy's during that war. We actually agree.

In this day and age, I can't see how any type of music can offend any adult.

I'm a big Zappa fan. His vulgar lyrics are no match to his musicianship.

I think that the point is that you shouldn't cuss in a country song.

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I guess what bugs me about the use of ass in that song is not the use of an off color word. It is the misapplication of the word for shock value. Ass is a somewhat derogatory word usually directed at others. "He is an ass", "you are an assh*le", etc. "He sits on his ass all day long". Most people do not refer to their own rear end as "my ass", do they?

It just seems like a poor application of the word in this otherwise cheery Jimmy Buffett style beach song.....just for shock value.



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Originally Posted by Colin Ward
I guess what bugs me about the use of ass in that song is not the use of an off color word. It is the misapplication of the word for shock value. Ass is a somewhat derogatory word usually directed at others. "He is an ass", "you are an assh*le", etc. "He sits on his ass all day long". Most people do not refer to their own rear end as "my ass", do they?

It just seems like a poor application of the word in this otherwise cheery Jimmy Buffett style beach song.....just for shock value.



It depends on how easily 'shocked' you are.

This song is only shocking in extremely conservative circles.


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Some more information about the song THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. Jimmy Driftwood was a School Teacher, in Arkansas as I remember. He sometimes used songs to make the class more interesting. I believe the song The Battle of New Orleans was such a song. Don't know just how the song got made into a major song but it happened somehow.

There have been much more Morbid songs recorded and released that were major hits. Probably the most morbid one is LIFE TO GO, recorded by George Jones and covered by a few others.

Another one, an old Folk Tune is KNOXVILLE GIRL, Recorded by the Louvin Brothers and others.

Steve, in today's world there isn't much that shocks anyone anymore. As a friend once told me, I.ve already been thru 3 world wars, two county fairs, and a Goat ******. So just what the hell do you think you're going to tell me I don't already know.

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Originally Posted by Steve Cooke
This song is only shocking in extremely conservative circles.


Gosh Steve, I ain't exactly shocked and I'm pretty extremely conservative. I just don't like it. I think it's bad commercial writing. (That shows you how much I know--dissing the commercial viability of a number one song.) I also think being it a number one song is harbinger of what's to come...I see a bad moon rising lyrically speaking.

I was more shocked when Jennifer Nettles put the word into that song about the "girls nite out" in Mississippi.

I was REALLY shocked when Rodney Atkins sang it in the song "These Are My People" but he changed it pretty quick to "backs." The reason that shocked me so much was it went against his other song "Watching You."

(I used "commercial viability" above because it said commerciality was spelled wrong and I hate to misspell.)

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Originally Posted by Sausagelink
Originally Posted by Steve Cooke
This song is only shocking in extremely conservative circles.


Gosh Steve, I ain't exactly shocked and I'm pretty extremely conservative. I just don't like it. I think it's bad commercial writing. (That shows you how much I know--dissing the commercial viability of a number one song.) I also think being it a number one song is harbinger of what's to come...I see a bad moon rising lyrically speaking.



Only in shockable extremely conservative circles then.

Yeah, I wish I'd been able to do "bad commercial writing" like that! A song that was a number one hit, got regular plays on radio and TV, and which generated the longest ever discussion thread on JFP.* Now that would be something.

* That statement might not be historically accurate. ;-)


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Words are words they are all harmless until we give them power. If we didn't tell kids the words were bad they would just grow up thinking it was just another word. I always find it funny that people always say that "god dammit" is blasphemy when it would by definition be the exact opposite. "Dammit God" would be blasphemy because your damning "god" but because 90% of people are to ignorant to use a little logic we tell kids it's a bad word. The F word would never exist if kids actually knew what it meant. Words are just words and until we stop being prudes and making things taboo we have to deal with ignorance. What would jesus do? he would say ass, or whatever the equivalent word of the day was, how do i know this? He already did according to the bible which is supposedly gods word right, but i guess we know more then him.

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Originally Posted by travrocks
Words are words they are all harmless until we give them power. If we didn't tell kids the words were bad they would just grow up thinking it was just another word. I always find it funny that people always say that "god dammit" is blasphemy when it would by definition be the exact opposite. "Dammit God" would be blasphemy because your damning "god" but because 90% of people are to ignorant to use a little logic we tell kids it's a bad word. The F word would never exist if kids actually knew what it meant. Words are just words and until we stop being prudes and making things taboo we have to deal with ignorance. What would jesus do? he would say ass, or whatever the equivalent word of the day was, how do i know this? He already did according to the bible which is supposedly gods word right, but i guess we know more then him.



As always, it just so happens that I've written a song about this whole topic.

Not since we started discussing it here, I mean; rather I wrote and recorded it 17 years ago. But it seems kind of relevant.

Holier Than Thou

Don't let the kid watch TV late
It incites them to fornicate
Watch for all the naughty words
Stand up for decency
For all the sin and wickedness
You blame the BBC


Chorus:
So ban the box and ban this song
Yeah, you know what's right and wrong
Protecting the weak, you're always strong
Oh, you're so ... holier than thou

Campaign against godlessness
You never mind your own business
Longing for a golden age
That never did exist
When people knew their proper place
Before permissiveness

You're standing up for royalty
Protect them from the likes of me
People now've got no respect
Not like in your day
It's time to turn back the clock
Reverse this moral decay


Repeat chorus

Eyes glues to the TV screen
You're taking notes on every scene
The government should intervene
Make it wholesome, make it clean
Write to all the top MPs
Let them know your views
But it's funny how the films you watch
Don't seem to affect you


Repeat chorus twice

http://soundcloud.com/stevecooke/holier-than-thou


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I’m with MAB. I get frustrated that I have to turn down the radio when my 7 year old son is in the car, but when ya gotta cus ya gotta cus.

I know this is a much lighter case, but take for instance, Billy Currington’s “People Are Crazy” http://popup.lala.com/popup/432627060738794393) The best line in that song, hands down, bar none, period, is “His kids were mad as hell”. It’s so hilarious. If he’d said, “His kids were mad as heck” it just wouldn’t have been the same, and if he hadn’t delivered it with such a natural, personal flair it also wouldn’t have been the same. But that line is so him. I predict People Are Crazy will be song of the year on somebody’s list. Talk about the perfect match of song and singer.

I’d say the same holds true for the line “Ass in the sand”…even if I DO have to turn down the damn radio when my son’s in the car. ;>)

Bill Renfrew

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www.cdbaby.com/billrenfrew


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Originally Posted by Steve Cooke
If we restrict the words we're allowed to use in songs, then we restrict the range of emotions that songs can convey.


As an Australian I think this thread's been fascinating. It's given me a lot of insight into language useage and how it differs in the US from my local experience. "Ass" is another word for donkey or mule here and to call someone a "silly ass" is almost an affectionate term!

Ultimately, I agree with Steve Cooke and I confess I'm no fan of censorship. But you've all managed to answer some questions I've had about what to do with an upcoming cd and I know I'll be leaving a track off the US release - it's not appropriate to the market I'm targetting. If US punters want to hear me make the air blue they'll have to buy the AU/UK/EU release

Thanks folks!

Btw, I think "keister" is one of the most gorgeous words in the english language, always makes me think of the fellow in "24", what's his name???.... Oh yes, Keister Sutherland.



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What a Hoot!

My (Half-Dutch) Mom's maiden name was Eleanor Kister..(Pronounced just like Mr. Southerland there..heh!) & she went through TONS of kidding as she grew up.

I find it truly bizarre that in America our MOST-Objectionable Cuss-Word is one that covers The Sex Act. (And that in French, there's no "Deadly" Verb IN it for such goings-on.) We're also guilty of using Baby Talk on our wee ones, which seems to delay their ability to speak REAL English early in life.

As for "Ass in the sand"...waal...my guess is the Under-30 Crowd considers that Fine-&-Dandy...&, yeah, alas, perhaps "Everyday".

I'll add my Elderly Ears never really particularly-liked hearing Bob Dylan's singing "Lay Lady Lay" either...& Nashville Cats are particularly-guilty at misusing the "lie" verb, year-after-year.

So I guess I'll lay on my ass & see how this thread ends-up.
Best Wishes,
Stan

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Has anyone here listened to the entire CD that this song comes from? "Toes" (the track in question) leads off the album. In the first line, you get handed notice that this band has an attitude. They are not really a country band...more like a coastal-party-reggae-rock-semi-sorta jam band who has had the good fortune to be produced by Keith Stegall (Alan Jackson's producer). They are probably great fun in a live setting, especially if you've been imbibing in liquid and/or smokey "refreshments". I realize that Jimmy Buffett has ceremoniously "passed the baton" to the Zac Brown Band, but they are even less country than he is. They use a gut string guitar. Their violinist can't really be called a fiddler. There are even flourishes of klezmer-like melodies on the closing song "Sic 'Em On A Chicken".

If Toby can say "boot in your ass" on country radio, I don't see why people should be upset about "ass in the sand". It's gratuitous, but you can bet it sells downloads.

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As far as cussing goes, I guess it depends on the targeted audience. I of course resent bad language aimed at young kids but more than that, I wouldn't want to see them exposed to 'problematic' ideas and themes. Censorship is good wjen it aims at protecting young minds from evil influence, but it often poses as holier-than-thou medieval morals.
I personally don't think such a word is a serious offense in a Country song, but I'm extremely shocked to hear and see what I very often hear and see on hip-hop radios and TV channels. Apology of crime, violence and porn on a grand commercial scale are often tolerated if not encouraged. So I'll let Zac put his ass on the sand, it doesn't threaten anyone IMHO.

PS: of course I'm from France, a country famous for its lax morals all over the world ;>D


"Honey, I know, I know, I know times are changin' / It's time we all reach out 4 something new" (Prince)

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Personally, I was more offended at a recent Brad Paisley show by one of the opening acts, Justin Moore, who sang his especially poor excuse for a song "I Could Kick Your Ass" which is roughly about a guy (presumably who has very little) physically besting someone who has more money than he does.

To paraphrase Natalie Maines, I found it ignorant and not too far off from being the Country equivalent of some gangsta rap songs. Perhaps not as offensive, but of the same macho/swagger/bravado/testosterone mindset.

Relative to stuff like that, I have no problem with ZBB saying he's sitting on a beach.

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Tonight I was in a little unincorporated country hamlet called Haddock. It's the site of the Wagon Wheel Opry, where folks gather to hear country music for free every Saturday night. There are a number of such places here and there.

Haddock is a tiny berg and I pulled in to ask directions. I know that goes against "Manhood Rules 101" but I is what I is. Anyhow, I'm sitting there in the middle of nowhere at this little country store with two gas pumps. Foreigners were working the store. I was suprised. I know that's how it is in the city but I figured in the little "places out yonder" it would be diffrunt.

While I was there a guy of a different ethnicity than myself pulled up with his stereo blasting boom-boom-boom. You could feel the vibrations from the speakers. I watched as he went inside and left the boom-boom-boom still a booming. I asked him why he did that and he just said "leave me alone fat man." So I said "I might be fat but at least I ain't some punk ass with no respect for other people." We exchanged a few more words and then he squealed his wheels as he drove off.

As I logged on and saw this thread I was reminded of that moment. Even way out in the middle of nowhere you've got assholes and men like me who hardly ever cuss will say "ass."

Another thing about Zac using the word...am I wrong in thinking when most people say that word, they are usually talking about someone else's "ass?" As in "he's a smart ass," "sit your ass down," "what a dumb ass," etc.

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Originally Posted by debra manskey
Btw, I think "keister" is one of the most gorgeous words in the english language, always makes me think of the fellow in "24", what's his name???.... Oh yes, Keister Sutherland.


Oh Debra, you silly ass.

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Look there are rude people of every age color and creed out there. As far as "ass" when most people say it there are referring to a donkey weather they know it or not as in Smart ass(donkey), Dumb ass(donkey) ect. the only two times it's actually about a persons butt would be [naughty word removed] and sit your ass down, kick your ass. Evey other instance your just calling someone a donkey which isn't the worst thing in the world. Lighten up people and i bet you enjoy life a little more. if you stop telling your kids ass is a bad word you know what you might happen, it won't be bad word anymore.

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Speakin' of ass

I stopped by the Toyota Dealership yesterday, for a look at the new Tacoma.
Just for fun, I took it out for a test drive. I wanted to sense that new "feel" Before they become extinct...

The salesman (wearing an Obama "change" lapel pin) sat in the passenger seat describing the truck and all its "wonderful" options.


The seats were of particular interest.

He explained that the seats directed warm air to your butt in the winter and directed cool air to your butt in the summer heat.


Feeling like messing with his mind,


I mentioned that this must be a Republican truck.


Looking a bit angry, he asked why I thought it was a Republican truck.


I explained that if it were a Democrat truck, the seats would blow smoke up your ass year-round.

I had to walk back to the dealership........



Bill
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