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Roger Waters

I actually find him quite interesting as over the past 40 years his political takes have been so spectacularly dumb despite arguably being well meaning. A multi-millionaire pseudo-leftist tankie is quite an odd place to end up. The support for Assad, Putin etc is definitely a trait of the extreme idiot-left, I’ve seen/moderated it here in the past.
 
"Pro-Putin". I suppose that's why there's a hammer and sickle on the side of that pig too. After all, we've determined beyond reasonable doubt that any symbol on the side of that stupid pig represents pure evil.

Don't want to go down the rabbit hole of defending Waters, as I think he's a doofus and a liability, but some "muscular liberals" have completely lost the plot.
 
I actually find him quite interesting as over the past 40 years his political takes have been so spectacularly dumb despite arguably being well meaning. A multi-millionaire pseudo-leftist tankie is quite an odd place to end up. The support for Assad, Putin etc is definitely a trait of the extreme idiot-left, I’ve seen/moderated it here in the past.

Red-brownism - the alt-left and the alt-right converging in all sorts of ways - is a real and developing thing, and no longer uncommon. They often share a love of the same "strong" leaders, and hold the same groups as enemies.
 
"Pro-Putin". I suppose that's why there's a hammer and sickle on the side of that pig too.

He's a useful idiot for Putinite propaganda, regardless of what he puts on the side of a stage prop. That's why the Putin regime invited him to address the UN.
 
He's a useful idiot for Putinite propaganda, regardless of what he puts on the side of a stage prop. That's why the Putin regime invited him to address the UN.
I suppose that's why Roger Waters described the invasion as illegal and condemned it in the strongest possible terms:

https://www.pressenza.com/2023/02/roger-waters-full-speech-at-the-un-security-council/

For what it's worth, I think Waters is a bit of an idiot, but I don't believe him to be malicious.

That said, I'm not sure how useful his speech to the UN was. A passing reference to the invasion being provoked hardly qualifies and, if I were Putin, I'd be asking for my money back.
 
FWIW that wasn’t a bad speech IMO.
It's standard-issue peacenik stuff. A bit rambling, slightly clueless and, arguably, naive.

Still, I sometimes wonder whether a little more naivety might be a good thing when I survey the devastation wrought in the Middle East by smart liberal politicians who appear to think the answer to any problem is to bomb the shit out of it.

The objectionable bit of Waters' speech (which was, inevitably, the bit screeched about in all the headlines) is his claim that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was not unprovoked - simplistic, at best (I would say misguided) but that's something it ought to be possible to discuss sanely, without degenerating into accusations of fascism and treason.

Taken as a whole, it's hard to paint the speech as pro-Putin, or supportive of the invasion, unless one is intent on deliberately misrepresenting it. This one reason I always, always, always try to find the original and complete source, before basing an opinion on what I read in newspapers or see on TV, especially when the issue is as contentious as this one.
 
Another Labour MP calling for UK venues to cancel Roger Waters' shows:

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Whatever you think of Waters, this is deranged, and dangerously illiberal.

The fact that Labour MPs are leading the charge here shows they are just as authoritarian as their Conservative counterparts.
 
Dark Side Of The Moon is regarded by many, myself included, as a milestone recording of material that deals sensitively and engagingly with themes of alienation and mental illness. Post DSOTM, he is definitely guilty of under employing any sort of editorial or critical ear to rein in his more self-obsessed, self-pitying doggerel. Waters may be guilty of, at times, opening his gob before his brain is engaged. But let’s be clear, it is as a high profile, trenchant (and at times clumsy) critic of Israel that he draws most heat.

The same people who destroyed Corbyn for the temerity of championing the Palestinians are now directing their ire against Waters. And on that basis he earns my support. I’ll take Roger over the hypocrisy and cowardice of Thom Yorke or Nick Cave any day of the week.
 
I've always thought that post-Barret Pink Floyd were pretentious and overrated. A kind of easy listening Mahler+Wagner+rock.
 
His last album is really good by the way.
‘Is This The Life We Really Want’ ? Roger Waters being himself. There are days when I suddenly crave for Brian Johnson’s refined lyrics about shooting, blowing up, killing, rocking, and cool chicks.

P.S.: You might have meant The Lockdown Sessions ? Nice recording, but Comfortably Numb without a guitar solo…
 
Waters has just made a statement on this issue:

My recent performance in Berlin has attracted bad faith attacks from those who want to smear and silence me because they disagree with my political views and moral principles.

The elements of my performance that have been questioned are quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice, and bigotry in all its forms. Attempts to portray those elements as something else are disingenuous and politically motivated. The depiction of an unhinged fascist demagogue has been a feature of my shows since Pink Floyd's "The Wall" in 1980.

I have spent my entire life speaking out against authoritarianism and oppression wherever I see it. When I was a child after the war, the name of Anne Frank was often spoken in our house, she became a permanent reminder of what happens when fascism is left unchecked. My parents fought the Nazis in World War II, with my father paying the ultimate price.

Regardless of the consequences of the attacks against me, I will continue to condemn injustice and all those who perpetrate it.


Roger Waters (Twitter).
 
I know he is a bit of a pillock but this is cancel culture in full force he has been doing the shtick since the 80s
 


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