Hall of Fame hurts right-winger's feelings

With the prospect of being shackled to a statist chain gang at the hands of Mitt Romney rapidly sinking into the sunset, it's time for a more frivolous story of right-wing grumpiness.

Last December, Hampton Stevens wrote a column for the far-right Washington Times that deigned to unearth a leftist conspiracy at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He says the Hall of Fame is guilty of fostering a "real divide" between "red and blue" by inducting performers who are popular in liberal states at the expense of those whose fan base resides in conservative states.

The more Stevens pounds this point, the less sense he makes. He grouses that the Hall of Fame's "big tent gets tiny" when dealing with music popular in right-wing regions. For example, he cites the bands Boston and Rush as being among "conservative" acts the Hall of Fame has ignored - even though members of both bands have criticized Republicans for misusing their music for political campaigns the bands don't agree with. He cites Guns N' Roses as a "liberal" act that the Hall of Fame has inducted - even though some of Guns N' Roses' lyrics were unambiguously unliberal.

Stevens also makes an obligatory reference to "bubble gum pop" as his article begins to depreciate into a hilariously pathetic, petulant word salad. ("Bubble gum pop" is one of these phrases that music writers seem to love but nobody else can ever figure out what it means.)

What exactly does Hampton Stevens define as a liberal act or a conservative act? He seems to be so paranoid that he thinks that if the Hall of Fame has inducted a performer, that performer must be liberal. It's all a big plot, you see. He seems to think this even if a band or musician who gets inducted is part of the same musical subgenre as a "conservative" act who doesn't.

As is typical in the wacky world of the Washington Times, Hampton Stevens is sounding like a complete idiot. Let's just let the little crybaby whine.