Imagine (John Lennon Related)
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Lennon was a closet Republican: Assistant
WENN.com
John Lennon was a closet Republican, who felt a little embarrassed by his former radicalism, at the time of his death - according to the tragic Beatles star's last personal assistant.
Fred Seaman worked alongside the music legend from 1979 to Lennon's death at the end of 1980 and he reveals the star was a Ronald Reagan fan who enjoyed arguing with left-wing radicals who reminded him of his former self.
In new documentary Beatles Stories, Seaman tells filmmaker Seth Swirsky Lennon wasn't the peace-loving militant fans thought he was while he was his assistant.
He says, "John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on (Democrat) Jimmy Carter.
"He'd met Reagan back, I think, in the 70s at some sporting event... Reagan was the guy who had ordered the National Guard, I believe, to go after the young (peace) demonstrators in Berkeley, so I think that John maybe forgot about that... He did express support for Reagan, which shocked me.
"I also saw John embark in some really brutal arguments with my uncle, who's an old-time communist... He enjoyed really provoking my uncle... Maybe he was being provocative... but it was pretty obvious to me he had moved away from his earlier radicalism.
"He was a very different person back in 1979 and 80 than he'd been when he wrote Imagine. By 1979 he looked back on that guy and was embarrassed by that guy's naivete."
WENN.com
John Lennon was a closet Republican, who felt a little embarrassed by his former radicalism, at the time of his death - according to the tragic Beatles star's last personal assistant.
Fred Seaman worked alongside the music legend from 1979 to Lennon's death at the end of 1980 and he reveals the star was a Ronald Reagan fan who enjoyed arguing with left-wing radicals who reminded him of his former self.
In new documentary Beatles Stories, Seaman tells filmmaker Seth Swirsky Lennon wasn't the peace-loving militant fans thought he was while he was his assistant.
He says, "John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on (Democrat) Jimmy Carter.
"He'd met Reagan back, I think, in the 70s at some sporting event... Reagan was the guy who had ordered the National Guard, I believe, to go after the young (peace) demonstrators in Berkeley, so I think that John maybe forgot about that... He did express support for Reagan, which shocked me.
"I also saw John embark in some really brutal arguments with my uncle, who's an old-time communist... He enjoyed really provoking my uncle... Maybe he was being provocative... but it was pretty obvious to me he had moved away from his earlier radicalism.
"He was a very different person back in 1979 and 80 than he'd been when he wrote Imagine. By 1979 he looked back on that guy and was embarrassed by that guy's naivete."
Comments
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-swirsky/the-beginning-of-the-end_b_120986.html
Also: "But, as The Nation points out on its website, Seaman might not be the most reliable source.
"A guy named Fred Seaman is all over the conservative blogs today for a new documentary in which he claims that John Lennon was 'a closet Republican' at the time he was shot. This seems unlikely," contributor Jon Wiener wrote. "First of all, who is Fred Seaman? He'd been a personal assistant to John and Yoko at the Dakota in the late seventies, but he's also a convicted criminal. He was found guilty of stealing John Lennon's personal belongings, including his diaries, after Lennon had been killed. He was sentenced to five years probation. You might say that weakens his credibility.""
Well, you might unless you're a crazy wingnut asshole like Seth Swirsky. This Seaman scumbag has found another way to rob Lennon's grave.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/161751/john-lennon-not-closet-republican
I believe this because Lennon was never one to speak his mind and if he had a major change of belief he would have kept it to himself, his assistant and his assistants commie uncle. But no one else would have known.
Now lets dissect.
"he reveals the star was a Ronald Reagan fan"
Lots of people found Reagan charming personally.
"enjoyed arguing with left-wing radicals who reminded him of his former self."
Since Lennon was never much of a radical his arguing with radicals doesn't surprise me. Nor is it news. You want to hear him argue with radicals? Listen to the song Revolution. The song is an argument with left wing radicals. When was that written? 1967?
Which brings us to the second half of the statement. How does this guy who only knew Lennon the last year of his life know anything about "his former self" or why he argued with people.
Makes more sense that the political discussions Lennon was having with others were above this guys head.
"Lennon wasn't the peace-loving militant fans thought he was"
Peace-loving militant (who hyphenates peace loving?) is an oxymoron.
Lennon was peace loving, he never was a militant.
"he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on (Democrat) Jimmy Carter."
Lots of people were sour on Jimmy Carter. That's why he lost. I wonder if this guy thinks Jimmy Carter is a "peace-loving militant"
"John embark in some really brutal arguments with my uncle, who's an old-time communist... it was pretty obvious to me he had moved away from his earlier radicalism."
Any one interested in Lennon's views on communism could listen to that old Revolution song I was talking about. Of course he argued with his communist uncle, he didn't like communism. Duh.
So what is his earlier radicalism? That he was against the Viet-Nam war? And said so? Whoa! That is radical!
"He was a very different person back in 1979 and 80 than he'd been when he wrote Imagine. By 1979 he looked back on that guy and was embarrassed by that guy's naivete."
Right. Because now the idea of world peace must have turned his stomach. That is why he was such a non-radical Reagan supporter.
Stupid article.
Or a Democrat.
and wasn't he the source for some of those crazy stories in the tabloid lennon bio
goldman wrote years ago
i thought that guy was thoroughly discredited or am i confused
And Reagan raised taxes. Shhh.
Here is the same video synced to the slow version with the scoopy doos.
There was a quote about you can't make an omelet with out cracking an egg, and a vigorous defense of Chairman Mao.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicksilver_Times
Hippies sold these on the street corner in Georgetown.
It's easy if they're fried.
how they gonna go put my tattoo on an indie rock flier!?!
The place I used to bowl at (Serra Bowl: Daly City) had that painting on their wall, I remember it being on black velvet, but it probably wasn't.
Yeah, I wasn't implying that MLK was aligned specifically with a party... I think that would have gone against what he stood for. I was actually referring to the nonsense the National Black Republicans Association was trying to push a couple of years ago, where they actually published dissertations making that claim. There was a short-lived TV ad too, I believe. I don't know of any similar claims by Democrats.
Another interesting thing about Lennon... when he did the Playboy interview a couple months before he died, he did discuss politics a bit, but never once mentioned anything that would imply support for Reagan... despite the fact that it took place a month before the election. I think Yoko actually calls herself a socialist in it, while he implies that he was a socialist but had given up on following any specific idealogy.