Politico reports:
Liberty Plaza Events has signed on musical acts Lynyrd Skynyrd (Aug. 26), Trace Adkins (Aug. 28) and Kid Rock (Aug. 29) for the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.So wait -- Mitt Romney, the guy who once forcibly chopped off the hair of a long-haired prep school classmate, is going to be serenaded at the Republican convention by a band named after a teacher who disciplined the band members in high school for having long hair?
In 1970, [Ronnie] Van Zant sought a new name. "One Percent" and "The Noble Five" were each considered before the group settled on "Leonard Skinner", a mocking tribute to a physical-education teacher at Robert E. Lee High School, Leonard Skinner, who was notorious for strictly enforcing the school's policy against boys having long hair. [Gary] Rossington dropped out of school, tired of being hassled about his hair. The more distinctive spelling was adopted before they released their first album.(Full story here.)
The members of Lynyrd Skynyrd mended fences with Leonard Skinner after they became successful. Before he died, Skinner said nice things about them:
"They were good, talented, hard-working boys," Mr. Skinner once told The Florida Times-Union. "They worked hard, lived hard and boozed hard."It would have been nice if Romney and his target, John Lauber, could have had a little reconciliation. Never happened, though, did it?
