Dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, & legal protection of individuals in the process of correcting the misalignment of their anatomical sex, & supporting their transition into society.
Fortunate Son. Creedence Clearwater Revival released Fortunate Son on the Willy and the Poor Boys album (1969).
John Fogarty recorded this version of Fortunate Son before a live audience at Warner Bros. Studios, Stage 15 (12-13 December 1997). Video courtesy of Warner Brothers. Time 00:03:15
Lyric:
Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail To The Chief"
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no senator's son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman come to the door
Lord, the house look a like a rummage sale, yes
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no millionaire's son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
Yeah, some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war
And when you ask them, how much should we give
Ooh, they only answer, more, more, more, yeah
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no military son
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate son
John Fogerty says that Fortunate Son was indirectly inspired by David Eisenhower, the grandson of Dwight D. Eisenhower (14 Oct 1890 — 28 Mar 1969), the 34th President. In 1968, David Eisenhower married Julie Nixon, the daughter of Richard M. Nixon (9 Jan 1913 — 22 Apr 1994), the 37th President.
Fogerty joined the Army reserve in 1966, serving at Fort Bragg, Fort Knox, and Fort Lee. The Army released him in July 1967. Following college graduation, David Eisenhower enlisted in 1970 and served as an officer in the United States Naval Reserve.
Fortunate Son became emblematic of the Vietnam War and has been used in a number of ironic settings. At times, portions of the lyric are taken out of context to promote commercial interests and causes inimical to the song's original intent (especially the first line).
Springfield, VA, USA. On the last day of the court's term in the year twenty-oh-eight, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Second Amendment [to the Constitution of the United States] protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. [N1] From the uproar, you’d have thought that Roberts, Scalia, et al had outlawed Marxism on the university campus.
BANG!
My father, born a decade into the Twentieth Century, was raised in Oakley Kansas. We have his Winchester Pump-action .22, Model 06 1911, a Short-Long or Long rifle manufactured by the Winchester repeating arms company in 1911. It still works fine. Shoots straight. Street value is $350 to $500. Not bad for a rifle a century old.
So I own a gun.
BANG!
But I’ve never shot anybody with it.
BANG!
But I could have …
BANG!
If I hadn’t missed.
BANG! BANG!
If I had been a radical in the 1960s, if I had accepted the invitation to join the SDS [N2], I could have borrowed the rifle from my father, bought a carton or two of .22 Long shells, and joined the crowds in the streets shooting at The Man. But I wasn’t a random bomb thrower, not then, not now.
If I were a Gender Activist in the new millennium, I would be expected to be a left liberal or, even better, a Marxist, full of anti-gun prohibitions and myself.
Power to the People, Y’all.
But like the vast majority of HBS men and women, I am neither a left liberal or a Marxist activist, nor a right conservative or fundamentalist reactionary. The world is larger than the incestuous community of self-appointed “transgender leaders” would have everyone believe.
I do not make my living by being a transgender activist. Sharon and I have day jobs. TS-Si is privately funded, with nary a government grant or any money with strings attached. We do not send out press releases proudly pumping up our rep with boasts of whom we talk to.
All of this to say, than HBS men and women, Transgenders and the rest, are not a single monolithic block. We don’t subscribe to a single bible of liberal purity. Some of us don’t even have bible. Some of us have even voted for Ronald Reagan rather than suffer through a second term of Jimmy Carter.
And some of us own guns, even if we don’t use them often, even as we decide whether we should vote for McCain or Obama in November.
There are a lot of gun owners out here away from the shadow government of the non-profits. We come in all shapes and voting patterns.
BANG.
If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. If guns are in-lawed, only in-laws will have guns. I would prefer the outlaws have the guns rather than some of the in-laws I have had.
If everyone can have guns, we all can have guns. Not withstanding my father’s rifle, I prefer mine to start with 4 [N3].
BANG!
And as a women, with a pastel grip and well oiled parts.
As has been often said, Lincoln freed the slaves but Colt made us equal.
BANG! BANG!
If the people of the District of Columbia can have guns …
Oh wait, they do …
But only the police officers and the gang members.
It was just illegal for the rest of us to have guns.
BANGBANG! BANGBANG! BANGBANG!
I love the sound of automatic fire after midnight.
The old saw is that we need guns to defend ourselves if the United States is invaded or, alternately, fight off a fascist central government trying to take away our civil rights.
I think it just as likely we would have to fight off a radical, left wing government trying to impose their politically correct solutions on society and Marxist, anti-capitalist theory on the economy.
Live free or die, I always say.
It makes little difference if a fascist dictator takes away our guns of if a left liberal dictator takes them. Either or, they both want to tell us what our place is and the keep us there. Either or, both will tell us it’s for our own good as they assume their watchtower vantage points.
Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief",
They point the cannon right at you, Lord … [N4]
I ain’t no fortunate daughter. Don’t impress me into your organizaton, don’t assume I will gladly accept the jackstep position you assign me. Don’t tell me how I should think or what I should think or that you alone are the owner of the only way up the mountain.
BANG!
You’d better duck, sucker.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
Ratified December 15, 1791
[N1] The court emphasized that it is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.
[N2]Students for a Democratic Society, soon to be the Weathermen.
[N3]Ask someone who is a serious gun owner.
[N4]John Fogarty, Fortunate Son. Cf. sidebar.
Ms. Lisa Jain Thompson is the Co-Founder & President of TS-Si, Inc. She also serves as a Contributing Editor and columnist for the TS-Si website. Ms. Thompson's signed articles contain her own opinions and do not necessarily convey an official position of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates.
Lisa welcomes your comments. You can use the public form below or send private correspondence via her TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.
Human dignity and human freedom imply that a man should be free to shape himself and his fate in a way that he deems best fits his personality. A transsexual does use those very fundamental rights.
Ms. Lisa Jain Thompson
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