Richard Petty: still believes women don’t belong in NASCAR

Richard Petty – a longtime hero of mine – really disappoints me with his belief that women don't belong behind the wheel.

From Fox Sports:

Richard Petty didn't think women belonged on the race track when Janet Guthrie became the first female driver to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 in 1976.

Thirty years later, his opinion hasn't changed.

"I just don't think it's a sport for women," Petty said in an interview with The Associated Press. "And so far, it's proved out. It's really not. It's good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity, it gives them publicity.

"But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it's kind of tough."

His son, Kyle Petty, seems to feel a little differently – sort of.

Kyle Petty, who currently runs the two-car operation built by his grandfather and father, said he would never rule out having a woman driver. He also pointed out that Petty Enterprises was one of the first teams in the garage to employ female engineers and mechanics.

But he said his father will never budge on his belief that women don't belong behind the wheel – even if Kyle Petty's daughter one day decides she wants to be a racer.

"His position is not going to change because that is who he is, that is part of who he is," Kyle Petty said. "That's just a fact of life. That's how he was raised, when he was raised, the era he was raised in. And that's just the way it is."

I can understand what Kyle Petty's saying. A lot of men of that generation, not just race car drivers, believe that women really don't belong in certain places, whether it's behind the wheel at NASCAR or behind the stick in an F-18, or even in the Chair's seat in a boardroom. 

However, I do hope that more women, especially his granddaughter, take him up on the challenge. What exactly is it does he think makes racing so difficult for women?

Yeah, it's tough and there are a lot of challenges where physical strength are important, but honestly – don't you think that maybe – just maybe – flying the world's most expensive, most technically-advanced fighter jets and helicopters in combat might be just a bit tougher?

So, if the military thinks women can do that – and do it as well as their male counterparts – driving a real expensive stick-shift in left circles for a few hours certainly shouldn't be considered male-only territory.

Especially when you consider that even Petty Enterprises allows women to be part of the teams that build and maintain these vehicles.

Proving their own idiocy

Sometimes you come across something that is definitive proof that the right-wing really does twist everything and anything to see what it wants. War is good, Bush is loved by a majority, and Republicans are honest.

The National Review handed just such proof to the world, in the form of its "Top 50 Conservative Rock Songs".

From The Rude Pundit: [emphasis mine]

The entire list – fuck, the entire effort – is sad and embarassing, like watching Grandpa do the Macarena now, thinking that he's still hip, that he's been hip for the last 30 years. Because to come up with fifty songs, the readers and editors of the National Review had to neglect, almost entirely, the politics and lifestyles of nearly every single one of the music acts on the list, like, say U2, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols, just for kicks, or noted cross-dressing androgyne David Bowie. They had to twist the meaning of lyrics so that vague references to "freedom" all of a sudden became calls to a modified libertarianism (you know, no taxes, but also no fucking). And, of course, the mention of every fucking song they could find that seems to oppose abortion or alludes to the fall of Communism or doesn't like taxes. This leads them to have to include the Scorpions, Kid Rock, Rush, Creed, After the Fire, Sammy Hagar, and Jesus Jones in a great huge pile of suck.

For, truly, what madness does it take for a magazine that not only supported the Vietnam War, but viciously attacked the anti-war movement, to include Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Who'll Stop the Rain?" as the 35th best conservative rock song? And then justify it by saying that it "takes a dim view of Communism and liberalism" in the line, "Five Year Plans and New Deals, wrapped in golden chains." Does it even matter to say that the point of the song is, would somebody, fucking anyone, make the insanity of the war end?

Thankfully he only linked to the New York Times article rather than directly to the National Review.

Let's look at a few that made the list, shall we?

50. "Stand By Your Man," by Tammy Wynette.
Hillary trashed it — isn't that enough? If you're worried that Wynette's original is too country, then check out the cover version by Motörhead.

Hill – she just can't win with these people. She might have trashed the song, but she is still standing by her man, and that pisses them off too. Guess they'd prefer her to act like Rudy and Newt, to name a couple of the many philandering Republicans. (See FireDogLake's To Sniff or Not To Sniff for more on how the press continues to worry more about Hillary and Bill's marriage than things like a lying President, Republican corruption, New Orleans and the general incompetence of pretty much everyone Bushie has hired.)

47. "One," by Creed.
Against racial preferences: "Society blind by color / Why hold down one to raise another / Discrimination now on both sides / Seeds of hate blossom further."

*cough* Other than the fact that conservatives are the ones pumping Miracle-Gro on the 'seeds of hate', my big problem is that Creed isn't rock. What it is, exactly, is unknown, but rock it ain't.

38. "I Can't Drive 55," by Sammy Hagar.
A rocker's objection to the nanny state.

Ummm…no, I think this was mainly about the enjoyment of driving at high speeds, which is why it's been so popular with teenage boys (and some girls) since it came out. To wit:

When I drive that slow, you know it's hard to steer.
And I can't get get my car out of second gear.
What used to take two hours now takes all day. Huh!
It took me 16 hours to get to L.A.

Gonna write me up a warrant 25
Post my face wanted dead or alive
Take my license, all that jive
I can't drive 55!

This one, as the Rude Pundit pointed out, is a pure exercise in hearing only what you want to hear:

35. "Who'll Stop the Rain," by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Written as an anti—Vietnam War song, this tune nevertheless is pessimistic about activism and takes a dim view of both Communism and liberalism: "Five—year plans and new deals, wrapped in golden chains . . ."

Here's an example of taking a body of work and cherry-picking it to get what you want:

31. "Small Town," by John Mellencamp.
A Burkean rocker: "No, I cannot forget where it is that I come from / I cannot forget the people who love me."

What about Pink Houses? American Dream? Blood on the Scarecrow? Justice and Independence '85? Let's not forget that most of John Mellencamp's hits came during the last Republican nightmare, and are as relevant and on-point as they were 20-some years ago when I was listening to them for the first time on the radio.

Another example of this kind of cherry-picking:

12. "Neighborhood Bully," by Bob Dylan.
A pro—Israel song released in 1983, two years after the bombing of Iraq's nuclear reactor, this ironic number could be a theme song for the Bush Doctrine: "He destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad / The bombs were meant for him / He was supposed to feel bad / He's the neighborhood bully."

and, here's another:

6. "Gloria," by U2.
Just because a rock song is about faith doesn't mean that it's conservative. But what about a rock song that's about faith and whose chorus is in Latin? That's beautifully reactionary: "Gloria / In te domine / Gloria / Exultate."

Can we now use the term "self-deluding maniacs" when describing the right-wing? Bob Dylan – the Bob Dylan – sings a song that "could be a theme song for the Bush Doctrine" and U2 sang a song with Latin in it. *sigh* (The Bush Doctrine – as if it were an actual plan with…you know – planning or something.)

Did they look at each other's pale, Cheeto-dusted faces and donut-glazed eyes, and say, "Hey, forget about nearly every other word Dylan every said or sang. Forget that Bono is doing more for the poor around the world than most countries. Christianity and Latin, dude! Destroying bomb factories!"

You'd think they'd praise the U2 song Sunday, Bloody Sunday (1983) as 'reactionary'? How about Peace on Earth (2000) or Mothers of the Disappeared? (1987) or Love and Peace or Else (2004)?

Still, the worst is yet to come. Number one on the list? (Spew alert: Put down your drink and swallow before reading!)

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1. "Won't Get Fooled Again," by The Who.
The conservative movement is full of disillusioned revolutionaries; this could be their theme song, an oath that swears off naive idealism once and for all. "There's nothing in the streets / Looks any different to me / And the slogans are replaced, by—the—bye. . . . Meet the new boss / Same as the old boss." The instantly recognizable synthesizer intro, Pete Townshend's ringing guitar, Keith Moon's pounding drums, and Roger Daltrey's wailing vocals make this one of the most explosive rock anthems ever recorded — the best number by a big band, and a classic for conservatives.

Ummmm…alrighty then. Once again, we are left to ask – do they really believe this nonsense they spew?!

Let's take a little gander at all the lyrics to Won't Get Fooled Again:

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

Hmmmm………..actually, I can see how real conservatives would consider this a theme song after being fooled by the neo-cons into thinking BushCo actually shared their goals and objectives.