Henry Rollins

So I was watching my cousin's show, The Henry Rollins Show, on IFC last night as I worked on some data I brought home from lab. His show is ALWAYS worth watching, but last night was particularly kick ass. His guests were two Iraq war veterans who were extremely articulate and effective critics of the Iraq quagmire and of Bush in particular. One of these articulate and intelligent veterans was particularly impressive: 1st Lieutenant Paul Rieckhoff.

Paul is a fellow New Yorker and he spent several weeks contributing to the rescue effort at Ground Zero. He also served for one year between 2003 and 2004 in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry and 1st Armored Divisions. Upon his return he founded the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, an organization I have written about before.

Henry Rollins asked both Veterans when they first realized that something was wrong with the war in Iraq. For Paul it was when he was first going into Bagdhad during the invasion when there was still sporadic fighting. He said he and his soldiers looked around and saw no other US military units in sight. His seargent asked him where everyone else was, and Paul had no idea. They were thrown in with too few boots on the ground (as was predicted) with insufficient supplies and almost no training of how to deal with the occupation. They were thrown in with almost no support from the US government. Paul's condemnation of the war and it's architects, the McCain/Bush/Lieberman escalation included, is harsh and his description of the poor treatment of veterans upon their return from Iraq is a condemnation of the government and our society. Those who are most willing to send our soldiers to war are the least willing to support them when they come home. I have previously particularly criticized John McCain for his failure to support government programs for veterans because he, of all people, should know better.

Don't be reading this. Henry Rollins is on IFC right now. His regular show starts 11 PM EST tonight. But before that IFC is airing a show he did in Israel. Both funny, crazy and an interesting American Jewish Punker view of Israel. If you are online right now, STOP and turn on IFC, NOW!!! Rollins rocks and he tells it like it is with both naivete and cynicism in a bizarre but mesmerizing mix. Watch it...now!

Okay, here I am plugging the efforts of a relative. Okay, a distant relative. Really distant. My great-grandfather was the brother of the great-grandfather of a man named Henry Garfinkel, better known to the world as Henry Rollins, one time lead singer of Black Flag. Yes, THAT Henry Rollins. But even if Henry Rollins wasn't a distant cousin of mine, I'd eagerly plug his show. My wife and I caught about a half dozen episodes of the Henry Rollins Show on IFC last year and we loved it. RABIDLY biting satire combined with some pretty interesting interviews and some musical guests who ranged from a bit too avant guarde for my tastes to damned good rock. Of course my favorite musical guest was his last episode of the season where his own Henry Rollins Band was the musical "guest."

Henry Rollins isn't just a punker. He is a very angry, pretty smart man. He sometimes seems a little out of his league when he is interviewing people, but this is scarcely noticeable most of the time. His monologues can be mesmerizing, like with his shaggy dog story of his trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway with intestinal disorders and axe-wielding train attendents. His bitter hatred of Bush would be dear to the hearts of many here, though those who want to see all of us get along happily and merrily petting eachother's puppies despite the disgusting and disturbing Republican attempts to demolish our democracy in a frenzy of pseudo-patriotic war-profiteering over the bodies of our dead soldiers may be disappointed by the harsh, ass-kicking sarcasm of Henry Rollins' wit. But for those who are horrified and even a bit terrified by the direct assault the Halliburton Republicans are making on our democracy will LOVE Henry Rollins' commentary.