PRESIDENT APPLAUDS PERFORMER OF A VIOLENT SONG! (And the president was named Reagan)

There's a big to-do about a White House invitation to the rapper Common for an arts event, all because of lyrics in a couple of Common's songs.

Conor Friedersdorf and Alan Colmes have done a pretty good job reminding us of musicians who've hung out with presidents despite violent or lascivious lyrics (my favorite: Eazy-E of N.W.A, who lunched with the first President Bush).

But, um, what about the guy who had a 1967 hit song in which he said this about his "old lady"?

... What I mean is, if she must play around, don't let me catch her, because what I don't see can't hurt me, you understand? But on the other hand, if I should ever catch her, I'm not gonna talk about her and call her a bunch of bad names like you-all might. No! Mmm-mmm. What I'm gonna do, I'm gonna go downtown to the hardware store and buy myself a double-blade axe handle, come back, square off, and believe me, her soul's gonna belong to the good Lord, because her head gonna belong to me.

That would be this guy, who played at an inaugural ball for Ronald Reagan in 1981, and later at the Republican National Convention in 1984:

Here's the song. The woman-killing part is in the last verse:



I could also mention Johnny "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die" Cash, who was a guest at the Nixon White House in 1970. Or the fact that the youngest child of Sarah Palin (who has criticized the invitation to Common) is named "Trig Paxson Van Palin (an homage to the rock band Van Halen)." From World Net Daily:

Gov. Palin joked with an Anchorage Daily News reporter that she and Todd have "always liked the middle name Van because, you know, growing up in the '80s, Van Palin (which rhymes with rock band Van Halen) would be a really cool name."

You know -- these guys: