Debunking "the 50 greatest conservative songs," part 16 - After all, he's just a man

#50."Stand By Your Man" - Tammy Wynette

NRO Take: 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 Motorhead.

DL Take: yes, ladies and gents, you simply can't have a "most conservative" anything without bashing Hillary, and Miller saves it for #50. Apparently, that is the sole reason for including it on the list. Instead of using it on this list, maybe Miller should have saved it for a ranking of songs bashed by Democrats. The PMRC was headed by Tipper Gore--he could put "Darling Nikki" on that list!

My argument however is that both Clinton and Miller were wrong in their assumptions about the song. Clinton derided "Stand By Your Man" for conveying a message of female submission--while Miller, it seems, is applauding the song for that very same message.

I'm as much a feminist as much as I am a music geek, but I don't see the same message. True, Tammy is singing that women sometime have to overlook the flaws in their men, but the key line that dispels the notion of female submission is: "After all, he's just a man." In other words, Wynette is standing by her man not because she is a doormat, but because without her, his better half, he'd most likely fall flat on his face.

Although she demanded an apology from Hillary Clinton, Wynette actually supported Bill Clinton and performed at a fundraiser for him--a fact that Miller conveniently ignores in his list. He also overlooks the fact that Wynette recorded one of the most non-conservative songs in country music history: "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." That was one song in which Tammy did NOT stand by her man.

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