We’ve obviously seen a LOT of strong emotional reactions to the terrifying Supreme Court decision to reverse Roe v. Wade. But this may be the most decisive — if true.
Green Day were performing at the London Stadium on Friday when Billie Joe Armstrong, frontman of the seminal pop-punk band, declared he was officially done with the US. He told the crowd:
“F**k America. I’m f**king renouncing my citizenship. I’m f**king coming here.”
He’s really going to become a UK citizen instead? He insisted:
“There’s too much f**king stupid in the world to go back to that miserable f**king excuse for a country.”
And for anyone who thinks he’s joking or posturing for the stage, he clarified:
“Oh, I’m not kidding, you’re going to get a lot of me in the coming days.”
Wow. A lot of Americans threatened to leave the country when Donald Trump got elected — after all, the writing was on the wall for many at that point. However, there was very little follow-through. It will be interesting to see if Billie Joe really does move to Britain permanently.
Related: Ireland Baldwin Reveals She Was Raped & Shares Difficult Abortion Story
This is far from the first time he publicly badmouthed US political events — the American Idiot album was all about President George W. Bush rolling back American rights and profiteering off a stupid, immoral war. In retrospect that seems like the warmup act.
It’s certainly easy to see how someone could despair for the future of the US.
In poll after poll, the majority of Americans support Roe, the 1973 decision granting women the right to abortion as a part of their medical autonomy. However, a powerful minority of the most conservative Republicans have lied, stalled, and forced their way into a majority on the Court — and are using their power to go against the will of the people. Justice Clarence Thomas has made it clear they plan to go after same sex marriage next.
Meanwhile the Democrats — sadly the only opposition to this neoconservative crusade — have spent years doing nothing about it. Barack Obama could have codified Roe, protecting the rights of women from the court. He chose not to, saying it wasn’t a priority. Joe Biden has similarly refused to do everything in his power to fight — out of a misguided effort at bipartisanship with a party that has shown over and over again they have no intention of compromising.
But will anyone really abandon the country? We’ll have to see.
[Image via The Late Late Show/Green Day/YouTube.]
Related Posts
-
Categories
