According to Billboard, CMT has pulled Jason Aldean’s incendiary video for his new single, “Try That In a Small Town.” ...incendiary video...! 'Incendiary' was not the way Billboard or others described the summer of love riots in 2020! But, someone else referring to the riots the way Jason Aldean did in his music video, well, that's too much. What was the reaction to the song? Shannon Watts, an activist and the founder of the anti-gun violence group Moms Demand Action, argued the song is an "ode to a sundown town" that suggests "people be beaten or shot for expressing free speech" and "insinuates that guns are being confiscated, the penalty for which is apparently death." Rep. Justin Jones, a Tennessee state representative, condemned Aldean's "heinous song calling for racist violence," describing it as a "shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilantism." Sheryl Crow also tweeted that there's "nothing small-town or American about promoting violence," and Aldean "should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting." None of that is true.  This is all about not letting Aldean freely expose political narratives, and to simultaneously reinforce political narratives of their own. This 'controversy' actually has several political narratives being exposed. Remember, political narratives are not issues, they are the media and political narratives developed and wrapped around an issue to favor one side or the other's position on that issue. In this manufactured 'controversy' you have narratives like gun violence, gun extremism, lynching, standing up or defending oneself, vigilantism (think militia), mass shootings, and free speech. That last one is both and issue and a narrative. The humorous part is that the use of free speech here is very selective. Both sides claim the importance of free speech. One side, those enraged by Aldean's video, go so far as to describe violence as free speech if it supports one of their narratives like racist police, unequal treatment of blacks, and guns. They describe free speech as violence, when it attacks one of their political narratives. Supposedly 'the summer of love' 2020 was free speech about the outrage to the George Floyd killing. Protest, quickly turned to riots, lawlessness, then violence and assault, then takeover of cities, destruction of property (including government buildings, monuments and historic buildings), but none of this represents anything but 'free speech' we are told to remember. Aldean's video once again displays that 'insurrection' for what it was. That is a major affront to continued acceptance of established narratives. Aldean's video brings up guns for defense, another third rail narrative you cannot make in a positive manner. That is supposed to be viewed as 'gun extremism', which leads to 'gun violence', both of which are false narratives. These two narratives are supposed to feed nicely into another narrative, 'vigilantism' which calls to mind militia and the supposed Jan 6th 'insurrection', another major narrative. Though no one could possibly know about the lynching of a black man that occurred 100 years ago, in the town in which the building Aldean is standing in front of occurred. But, I would expect that if anyone had known, they would have chosen another backdrop for the video. The backdrop could have been 1000 other locations in the country, but this one was frequently used and nearby. This was clearly not a veiled attempt at threatening more 'lynching'. That is just a convenient narrative for the 'race industry' to use to inflame (or, should I say 'incendiary') race relations (a real issue). Since the 'controversy' exploded, Jason Aldean's song & video "Try That in a Small Town," has scored a major win through increased social media popularity. The song—which compares city life to small-town lifestyles—generated a notable boost in followers on Instagram and Twitter in recent days....and the song was No. 1 on iTunes' songs chart. He has also used his sizable online audience to defend himself from critics. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy suggested the singer was being "sacrificed at the altar of censorship & cancellation" for "defending the values that ALL Americans used to share - faith, family, hard work, patriotism." He also promised that "we'll do our part & play it at our rallies." South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) similarly said she was "shocked" by "people attempting to cancel this song," which she praised for talking about the "value of small towns and how we have our priorities right." Sarah Sanders slams 'The Left' for outrage over Jason Aldean song while not stopping 'looters and criminals'. Okay, the lines are drawn for more damaging political narrative arguments. Is that the best we can do? What is the reality in this situation? -does anyone really think Jason Aldean is racist, promoting violence, vigilantism and mass shootings? Of course, not. That is just silly. -is there a realistic discussion to be had about the word 'insurrection ' in America? Yes. Was Jan 6th and insurrection? Was the 'summer of love' 202o an insurrection? Were they both riots, out of control protests that should never happen again? Yes! - is defending ones self in America no longer appropriate? To some it is not. The narrative for that position is 'a duty to retreat'. By its name that narrative is ludicrous and you can se how it flies in the face of self defense. Realistically this is about who controls the messaging narratives in this country. Is it the media or the people? We know both the answer and the problem.

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