In the interest of fairness, since we did say that Phil Labonte gay married the NRA and had an abortion, after his most recent Twitter outburst against Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, calling him a "communist and a fool" saying he "had the wool pulled over his eyes by the system." Apparently, Philly doesn't like it when the metal blogs attack him, but he can freely open his mouth on anybody he wants. Anyway, here is his statement, uninterrupted:
“Ok, so here we go. I’m taking the time to write this to clarify my 140 character comment on Tom Morello’s piece in Rolling Stone. I’ve caught a lot of heat over my remarks about it. Mostly from the metal blogs or individuals pointing out that he went to Harvard and I didn’t, so he must be right and I must be an idiot. Well I would submit to the left (the most vocal, angry and vitriolic about my comment) that GWB and Bill O’Reilly both went to Harvard. Does that make them infallible and brilliant? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
“Let me start by stating I do not support Romney/Ryan in the upcoming election. I am not a republican. I do not support statism. I know it’s hard for the far left and the far right to understand, but it’s true. I am called a ‘liberal’ by the far right for my opinion on drug policy, gay marriage, immigration, etc. I am called a “right wing nut” by the far left for my opinion on gun rights and fiscal policy. That myopic and lazy view of “right” and ‘left’ is what I am staunchly against. On to the point.
“I’ve never met Tom Morello so my comments were in no way meant to be a personal attack on his character. Though I do believe his political opinions are incoherent and foolish, I also believe he has good intentions. I said he’s a communist because I believe I have heard him call himself a communist. I have seen him wear a hat that said “COMMIE” on it in photos. If I am incorrect and my recollections are inaccurate and he is simply a socialist, then I would offer my apology. Regardless, that remark wasn’t intended to be an insult as so many people have portrayed it. It was a comment on what I believe his political ideology is, and again, if I am incorrect, I am sorry. But I don’t retract the core of my statement.
“I’m gonna quote Tom’s piece. ‘I wonder what Ryan’s favorite Rage song is… is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production?’ That one sentence speaks volumes about his perspective. He is advocating theft and the initiation of violence against a minority by the majority. That is immoral. Now I understand he is focusing his rage on “The 1%” and because of the minority in question, it’s socially acceptable to demonize them and call for theft and violence against them. But that doesn’t change the fact that he is calling for violence against, and seizure of the property of, a minority. In the piece he calls for “a more humane and just planet”. Is aggression and theft justice? Unequivocally no. It is my perspective as a libertarian, the best way to limit the power and influence of “The 1%” is to limit the power of government to influence society via legislation. If you have no favors to sell, you will have no one trying to buy favors. One may not share my libertarian views, but none the less, it is hard to reconcile advocating violence as somehow morally correct.
“He talks about covering ‘fuck the police’ and wonders if that is one of Ryan’s favorites. Yet he would need a powerful government who would use the police to force people into submission to further his agenda. His perspective and agendas could not be achieved any other way. This makes no sense.
“He condemns US imperialism, and I agree on this point, but then later in the piece he whimsically hopes that Paul Ryan is a mole who would ‘Throw US military support behind the Zapatistas’. Is that NOT a contradiction? He would condemn US intervention in one area of the world, but support it in another? Never mind the fact that constitutionally, not even the president, let alone the vice president, has the authority to do this. Again this makes no sense.
“In closing, if Tom’s perspective was not simply looking to use the force of government to further his own political predilections, I would retract my statement and offer a full apology. But I don’t believe any of the things he is advocating could be achieved without the force of government. Government is violence. Using violence to coerce is immoral. Tom’s perspective therefore is advocating violence and aggression, disguised as peace and unity. This is immoral and I’m not sorry for pointing that out.”
I'm going to keep my response to this brief. First off, I agree with a good amount of what he said, (I don't support Romeny either!). To compare his plight to Harvard to President GW Bush is laughable, as Bush coasted and got by on his last name. He talks about all of ways Morello advocates violence against our government, yet Labonte is all about the second amendment (the right to bear arms kids) so he can protect himself against this very government. DON'T TALK ABOUT HURTING THE GOVERNMENT BUT DON'T TAKE AWAY MY GUNS IN CASE THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO HURT ME…that's all I hear.
Anyway, the best part about all of this, is this statement was sent to me by his record label's publicist, which means Labonte is clearly capitalizing on this new wave of free promo he's getting from the metal blogs he "despises" in order to push his new album. Here you go Phil:
All That Remains' new album, A War You Cannont Win comes out October 26th.. there are guns on the cover, cause GUNZ R KOOL
