Okay, so Neil Young recently demanded that either Joe Rogan's content should be pulled from Spotify, or his music would be pulled from Spotify, because statements like: [insert reasonable discussion about the vaccines and mandates] are totally unacceptable.

Listening to The Lotus Eaters Podcast, I discovered that apparently, you youngin's forgot who Neil Young is. Then I realized: "Oh shit, 1972 was 50 years ago!" and I realized that I should probably explain some things about Neil Young.

So, Neil Young was a very popular Rock and Roll musician in the 1960's Counter-Culture movement. He is the typical, 60's Leftist hippy fighting the system man. As such, his music was very political. This means he was basically a very Left-wing, anti-War, anti-Capitalism, activist.

Some of his most popular music was extremely political, though most people kind of lost the message. Three significant examples are:

Chicago - released by the group Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young in 1971 is a piece of music paying hommage to the desire for the "Justice Democrats" and other Leftist & Progressive to protest the 1968 Democratic Presidential Nomination, where Lyndon Johnson & the Democratic Establishment were planning on pushing their chosen candidate (Hubert Humphrey) as the Democratic Nominee. It's a long story about why this is important, so there will be a bullet at the end explaining.

Ohio - Released by the group Crosby, stills, Nash, and Young in 1970 about one month after the incident in question. It is probably the most famous protest song in American history excluding Yankee Doodle Dandy (technically). It is in reference to the Kent State Shootings that took place at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. This incident stemmed from many days of anti-war protests by anti-war, progressive, and communist activists at Kent State University, which had resulted in the burning down of the KSU ROTC building that nearly killed many cadets as an act of political terrorism against the US military due to the continuation of the Vietnam War. In response to the arson, the governor of Ohio deployed Ohio National Guard troops to both Kent, Ohio & KSU to end the protests due to the violence. Unfortunately, this action precipitated more protests. During one of these protests that was ordered to be ended by Ohio National Guard troops, one of the units mis-maneuvered, got cut off, surrounded against a fence line, and fired at/around/above the protesting students who were pelting them with objects. 4 Students, almost none who were even involved in the protests (as the schools was not shut down) were killed by stray gunfire. This song promotes the idea that president Richard Nixon is a tyrant seeking to kill anti-war protesters, and the listener needs to stand up and take political action against oppression. The song was actually censored form play on AM radio stations in America (these would have been the more popular frequency rage at the time, rather than FM).

Rockin' in the Free World - released by Neil Young in 1989 is quite popular among the older generations. However, despite the refrain in the title, it is an explicitly anti-American propaganda song that decries the US generally as a shithole of misery, suffering, materialism, and aggressive imperialism. The fact that Neil made this song after being told he couldn't play in the USSR due to the event being cancelled, should really tell you his Leftist perspective, even though this took place as the USSR was collapsing.

Southern Men - released in 1970 is a moderately popular political propaganda piece condeming... well, the South. He does it specifically in regards to the Civil Rights movement, and opposition to it via segregationists, and the Ku Klux Klan's activities. Note the year. This song was released 2 years after MLK was already dead, and 6 years after the 1964 Civil Rights bill had already been passed. He released another "dis track" to the state of Alabama (called "Alabama") in 1972. This managed to so annoy people that Lynyrd Skynyrd to such a degree that they released "Sweet Home Alabama" as a response to his songs. which include naming him and his songs directly, and even refusing to apologize for George Wallace (a famous pro-segregationist governor) being popular in the state.

In summation, if it's not clear: the man is a die-hard Leftist who has been aggressively political his whole life, and his music is supported by Leftists and is a major focal point of Leftist culture and history.

The hypocrisy that one of his most popular songs "Ohio" was censored for being politically intolerable to the establishment, and he HIMSELF is now calling for censorship on another medium, should really explain just how much of a group of hypocrites the political Left in this country has always been.

It was NEVER about opposition to censorship or free speech. It was just about getting what they want.

• This bullet is just an explanation on the story of the 1968 Democratic Convention, if you want it. These were not like modern conventions, and normally the nominations for president had a real chance of being decided that night. President Lyndon Johnson (D) had become very unpopular as he had expanded the war in Vietnam including massive bombing campaigns against North Vietnam generally, as well as bombing and secret attacks on North Vietnamese Army positions in the neighboring countries of Laos & Cambodia. Casualties in the war had gotten very bad, the MSM was regularly broadcasting dead American soldiers and flag draped coffins on television. Even leading MSM news personalities like Walter Cronkite were questioning the war, especially after predictions that the Vietnamese Communist forces were on the verge of defeat didn't appear to be true after the Tet Offensive happened earlier in the year and killed thousands of Americans (and attacked the US embassy). LBJ chose not to seek re-election due to the turmoil he was facing, and it looked like his heir apparent would be Hubert Humphrey who looked like he would change only a bit. The progressive candidate was Robert F. Kennedy, brother of JFK and former Secretary of State. However, he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan barely 2 months before the convention, throwing the progressives into disarray, but leaving them furious about the possibility of Humphrey getting the win. The Civil Rights movement had already completely collapsed into open violence, when in this same year MLK Jr. was assassinated (4 months before the convention), and it caused nearly 150 race riots across the US and required the deployment of US Army & Marine Corps infantry units to maintain order. When the Progressives & Communists protested around the convention, they were met with stiff resistance from the Democratic Establishment aligned Chicago Police Department (none of whom were fans of Communism anyway). This resulted in many famous scenes of significant violence, including legitimate rioter & officer brutality (including wooden nightsticks to the skull) that were broadcast on television; along with disruptions during the convention as delegates were outraged about their own political supporters being smashed in the head outside the convention hall. Nonetheless Hubert Humphrey secured the nomination. Republican nominee Richard Nixon would exploit this incident later by holding a ticker-tape parade in the same area to draw a contrast. This incident lives in the minds of Leftists and Democrats as a very significant moment in American political history as the Left basically exploded on itself and sank it's own chances of winning the 1968 election and ushering in major republican wins.