Triggered - Donald Trump Jr - October 24, 2023


GOD BLESS THE USA: Country Music Star Lee Greenwood Takes You Behind the Scenes of His Hit Song - And Why He'll Never Apologize for Loving America | TRIGGERED Ep.79

Topics
police security threat cancel culture Patriot economy
Hosted by
Donald Trump Jr
Mentioned
Lee Greenwood Joe Biden Donald Trump Jason Aldean Bob Hope Vegas Al Sharpton Normandy Patriot Rudy Giuliani Universal Proud Obama Michael W. Smith Marsha Blackburn Hillary Clinton Charlie Daniels Corinne Stephens Bernie Sanders Juliette Prowse and 20 more
The Left Wants to Kill Comedy but They'll Never Stop Roseanne | TRIGGERED Ep.78 Triggered Flashback: Why my Father Keeps Being Proven Right Over and Over Again, Interview on "Letters to Trump" | TRIGGERED Ep.80

Episode Stats


Length

1 hour and 2 minutes

Words per minute

166.47

Word count

10,446

Sentence count

819

Harmful content

Misogyny

7

sentences flagged

Toxicity

16

sentences flagged

Hate speech

19

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Country Music Legend Lee Greenwood joins Triggered to talk about his hit song, "God Bless the USA" and his support of our troops. Lee Greenwood is one of America's first voices and has done 16 USO tours in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines, Panama, and many more. He is also a vocal supporter of President Trump and has been a long time supporter of his administration. Lee also has his own country music label, Lee Greenwood Records, which is available on Amazon Prime and VaynerMedia, which you should definitely check out. He's a great man and a great friend of the country music industry. He's also an avid supporter of the Democratic Party and has a long history of supporting our troops and their efforts to support our nation's First Amendment rights. He also is a vocal opponent of censorship and calls for the removal of conservative media outlets from the airwaves. You can find Lee Greenwood on all of the social medias including Fox News and other conservative networks. And you can support Lee Greenwood and his music career by becoming a patron of his charity, "The Battle of America." Vote with your wallet. It's a simple, affordable, and FREE way to give back to the causes that you believe in or you can keep giving it to the woke carriers that you can give it to. It's not complicated, it's simple, and it's free, and you can do it in a way you can be a voice in the conversation you can make a difference in the world. Vote With Your Wallet, and keep it woke and give it a chance to be heard on the next week! Today's episode is brought to you by Activated! -Triggergeredgered. - Triggered. . - The Triggered Team - TriggerEDged. Subscribe to our new show Triggered! Subscribe and Share it on Apple Podcasts! Subscribe to Our YouTube Channel - Subscribe on Podchaser.co/Triggered.co and Subscribe on iTunes - Subscribe to be Rewired! We'll Tell Us What's Triggered? Subscribe on Itunes - Like It On Social Media - Subscribe To Our Insta-Friendship - Share It's Notorious - Subscribe On Itunes? - Share it On Your Story on Instagasm? Subscribe On Webspace - Subscribe & Share It On The Vineyard - and Subscribe To Itunes - It's A Big Deal!

Transcript

Transcripts from "Triggered - Donald Trump Jr" are sourced from the Knowledge Fight Interactive Search Tool. Explore them interactively here.
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 you you
00:05:28.000 guys well welcome to another awesome episode of Triggered, and today is an extra special one.
00:05:53.000 We have award-winning country music legend Lee Greenwood.
00:05:57.000 All of you, of course, know Lee's hit song, God Bless the USA, which you may all know as Proud to be an American.
00:06:04.000 It's the song you hear at every Trump rally.
00:06:08.000 It's probably basically the MAGA anthem at this point.
00:06:14.000 Here's just one of the many examples of the song in action.
00:06:20.000 Check it out. I'm proud to be an American Where at least I know I'm free And I won't forget the men who died Who gave that fight to me And I gladly stand up next to you And defend her still today Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land Over his career, Lee recorded hit after hit.
00:06:55.000 He's been at the top of the country charts.
00:06:57.000 He's been at the top of the Billboard charts.
00:07:00.000 He's even been a Grammy Award winner.
00:07:03.000 Lee is also a huge supporter of our troops.
00:07:06.000 He's done 16, 16 USO tours in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines, Panama, and many, many more.
00:07:18.000 He's one of America's first voices, literally.
00:07:23.000 He's just known as that.
00:07:25.000 He's done an incredible job, and he's soon releasing a Veterans Day tribute film called An All-Star Salute to Lee Greenwood.
00:07:33.000 Lee is going to join us in just a couple seconds.
00:07:36.000 So make sure you're checking it out.
00:07:37.000 Make sure you like, you share, you subscribe, so other people can see this story
00:07:42.000 and we can keep getting the message out, guys.
00:07:45.000 Like any other week, it's another week where we see censorship, we see the bias,
00:07:51.000 and we need to make sure that other people have the ability to see through the noise.
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00:09:21.000 This is a no-brainer. 0.97
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00:10:09.000 and even getting involved in some of the school board battles that we see around this country
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00:11:00.000 And with that, guys, joining me now, country, music, all-star, American patriot, legend, Lee Greenwood.
00:11:10.000 Lee Greenwood. How's it going, Lee?
00:11:13.000 Great. Thank you, Don.
00:11:14.000 Great to talk to you and great to be on your show.
00:11:17.000 Likewise. So, so many Americans, Lee, they hear your song, God Bless the USA, but it's become really a rally cry for patriotism in this country, right?
00:11:29.000 We hear it at all my father's rallies.
00:11:31.000 We hear it anywhere where people love America.
00:11:35.000 Take us back to when you first wrote that song and how it's actually Really gained in popularities over the years.
00:11:44.000 It's been an interesting ride.
00:11:47.000 I have to go back to my childhood when I was drum major from a high school band.
00:11:51.000 We would march in parades and I'd see the military marching alongside of me.
00:11:56.000 It gave me inspiration about patriotism at a very early age.
00:12:00.000 I started working for the USO when I was 15 or 16.
00:12:04.000 I'm from California, so I worked all the air bases and army bases, marine bases.
00:12:08.000 I even flew to Alaska before it was a state, so you know how old I am.
00:12:13.000 What was that, 1957, I think?
00:12:16.000 But then I moved to Nevada, and for years, I played in the casinos in Nevada.
00:12:21.000 We're kind of in a bubble, and I'm the Vietnam-era age.
00:12:25.000 I did not serve in the military.
00:12:26.000 My father joined the Navy right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, so we have military in my family.
00:12:32.000 But when I moved to Tennessee and I got my country music career,
00:12:36.000 things just sort of changed in my head.
00:12:38.000 I'd like, well, now I have a voice.
00:12:40.000 I have something I can do.
00:12:41.000 And about three and a half years into my career, playing every doghouse, outhouse,
00:12:45.000 and roundhouse around the country, I discovered that this country is much more alike
00:12:49.000 than we are different.
00:12:51.000 And some night in my bus, as I'm traveling between Texas and Arkansas,
00:12:55.000 along with a lot of the other songs I wrote in my first 10 albums,
00:12:58.000 I wrote God Bless USA in the back of my motorcoach, my bus.
00:13:02.000 And when I played it for my producer, he said, well, this is kind of out of context for what you are known for.
00:13:08.000 And we'd already received quite a few awards for ballads and country music.
00:13:12.000 And when I took it to Universal and had them look at the album, it was 1985 called You've Got a Good Love Coming, which we already had $25,000 in a video we filmed in the London train station.
00:13:22.000 I was adamant about releasing that.
00:13:25.000 And Universal said, no, we're going to go with this other song you wrote about America.
00:13:29.000 And I'm like, really? Because I was kind of surprised.
00:13:32.000 And you know, Don, after the first four or five shows that we had in my performance, it was amazing.
00:13:38.000 I could not follow it with anything.
00:13:40.000 So it became the closer.
00:13:42.000 And then I started working for the military here in Tennessee, the National Guard.
00:13:46.000 And we did like... We had 10 or 12 US O-tours around the world.
00:13:50.000 Most of it was the Guard in Tennessee.
00:13:52.000 We had the West Virginia Guard, Minnesota and Alaska fly us on a lot of our missions.
00:13:58.000 And it just became suddenly an anthem for the military.
00:14:02.000 That made me very proud, by the way.
00:14:04.000 And then, of course, you remember things started to change in our country about the cancel culture and all that. 1.00
00:14:11.000 This was right after the emergence of a new patriotism.
00:14:15.000 That was after the terrorist attack.
00:14:17.000 And I went to New York three different times to raise America's pride about being who we are.
00:14:25.000 And that's kind of why I wrote the song, I'm Proud to Be an American, because I am proud of who I am.
00:14:30.000 And I'm not Italian-American.
00:14:32.000 I may have some history of English and Irish and Scottish, but I'm an American first.
00:14:40.000 And so when I wrote that song, it sort of resonated with everybody who is an American of any descent.
00:14:46.000 It's like, that's where American first, you know? 0.99
00:14:49.000 Maybe the indigenous people, the Indians, have a right to say I'm Indian American, but even they have a pride in saying I'm American first.
00:14:57.000 And I guess that's where USA began to take off, and it's about 10 or 15 years down.
00:15:03.000 And now here we are, 40 years later, and the song still resonates with people, in particular our military.
00:15:09.000 Yeah, I mean, do you think that some of that, I mean, obviously, you know, as a New Yorker, right, you know, at least formerly New Yorker before I had to get out of the People's Republic of New York, you know, the time post 9-11 was really an interesting time, right?
00:15:23.000 Because you think of New York, everyone's brash, everyone's aggressive, everyone...
00:15:27.000 But, like, there was a lot of unity.
00:15:29.000 You know, people sort of put aside some of their petty differences.
00:15:33.000 It was actually probably the most amazing time to have lived there, and it lasted.
00:15:38.000 It wasn't like one of those fleeting moments that, you know, people are nice for a few minutes and then they forget.
00:15:43.000 It was, you know, it was probably a couple years.
00:15:46.000 Do you think the song's popularity has even grown because there does perceive to be this sort of You know, threat to, you know, what patriotic Americans probably think of as America.
00:15:57.000 Do you think, you know, sort of the attacks from the radical left has changed?
00:16:01.000 When the song came out, you know, as many years ago as you said, I sort of feel like both sides sort of felt the same way about their country.
00:16:09.000 Maybe they disagreed on some nuance, but today that nuance is more extreme.
00:16:13.000 I mean, could there be something to that or not?
00:16:17.000 Yeah, I think so. You know, as you know, I went to New York three different times.
00:16:21.000 We sang at the Firearms Memorial at Yankee Stadium, the Polisems Memorial at Carnegie Hall, and then I did the fourth game of the World Series, and that was to uplift America.
00:16:29.000 See, what I believe is, one of the things that terrorists really wanted to do was take away our lifestyle.
00:16:34.000 And of course, with the invention of the TSA, of course they did.
00:16:39.000 I mean, it really changed the way we thought about security.
00:16:42.000 And how we traveled.
00:16:43.000 But if you look at sports events across the country, thank God we have our sports.
00:16:47.000 Because at least there, we hear the national anthem every single time.
00:16:51.000 I will give credit to everybody. 0.99
00:16:52.000 Now, the NFL stubbed their toe a little bit with all that kneeling crap. 0.91
00:16:56.000 I'm not sure about every time, Lee. 0.97
00:16:58.000 I think they all experimented with getting rid of it.
00:17:04.000 You know, they've added other things.
00:17:05.000 I guess they added, you know, the black national anthem, which I don't think anyone had ever heard of prior to sort of, you know, woke culture taking over sports.
00:17:14.000 But I guess it is a consistent theme because it's what the people actually want.
00:17:19.000 And you'll be amazed if you take away the rhetoric of the left, which is basically a minority voice.
00:17:24.000 This country is all a We're good to go.
00:17:51.000 And with our recent carrier group in sending over as support, and I sure hope we don't get involved in this.
00:17:57.000 But I tell you, if we do, I have to pray for our soldiers and our airmen, our Navy, and our Marines and Coast Guard.
00:18:03.000 You know, it's going to be a tough thing to get involved in this.
00:18:06.000 I just am so... 0.99
00:18:08.000 I can't tell you how it hurts my heart when I hear about Hamas cutting the heads off babies and burning people alive and raping women out until they die. 0.99
00:18:20.000 I'm like, you are got to be kidding me. 0.99
00:18:22.000 I've got to give Israel a thumbs up. 0.99
00:18:24.000 Go get them and take them out.
00:18:27.000 I mean, that's the right thing to do.
00:18:28.000 Yeah, and listen, I think I agree with a lot of what you're saying there.
00:18:32.000 You know, I'm not for sending American troops on the ground.
00:18:36.000 I think Israel's, you know, they're its own nation.
00:18:39.000 They're big boys. They got incredible defense forces.
00:18:41.000 You know, they can take care of the problem.
00:18:43.000 The last thing I want to do is get into another war.
00:18:46.000 And I think you saying that probably jives with every, I mean, you're one of the guys that has probably done more With the USO and our veterans and everything, then anyone.
00:18:55.000 And I imagine they feel the same way.
00:18:57.000 After 20 years in Afghanistan to pull out, you know, the way we did, it's just disgraceful. 1.00
00:19:04.000 So, you know, I'm okay with them defending themselves, certainly against a murderous regime that was raping and killing children in the streets.
00:19:13.000 And then hides behind women and children or has been launching missiles from schools and hospitals for years.
00:19:20.000 And then they say, oh, it's outrageous that Israel would strike a hospital.
00:19:24.000 It's like, no, no, no. They're not striking a hospital.
00:19:26.000 They're striking a missile launch site.
00:19:29.000 There's a difference. So, you know, to think of a Hamas leadership literally hiding behind women and children so that they can create the moral outrage when Israel strikes back and defends itself is... 0.51
00:19:41.000 It's truly sick and evil, but that's the nature of the world right now.
00:19:46.000 Well, let me just turn to the topic which most interests me, and that is taking care of our soldiers.
00:19:51.000 As I said, my father was Navy.
00:19:53.000 My wife, Kim's father, was Army, and I never served in the military.
00:19:58.000 So it is my mission really to focus on the needs of our military, particularly at a time in stress like this when they're asked to go into harm's way.
00:20:09.000 Would you know, there have been a lot of shows recently that have been filmed live and then aired in motion picture theaters, to name a couple.
00:20:17.000 Beyonce and Taylor Swift both have done that, and this coming month they have both of them in motion picture theaters.
00:20:22.000 We have done the same, but more of a slant towards country music and toward our veterans.
00:20:28.000 Welcome to my show.
00:20:49.000 Even corporations, if you'll buy out a theater and send vets for free, that would be my aim, is to make sure veterans are honored on Veterans Day this year.
00:20:57.000 It's November 12, adopt a vet in all theaters across America.
00:21:02.000 So who else partook in that with you?
00:21:04.000 Because I know this is something that you've been doing for a long time, right?
00:21:07.000 It's not like it's the trend.
00:21:09.000 You've done 16 USO missions, if I read that correctly, right?
00:21:14.000 Yeah. And it was always my privilege to do that.
00:21:17.000 I've been in four fighter jets for the Air Force.
00:21:19.000 A cat shot off the Kitty Hawk.
00:21:21.000 I shot an M1 tank in Barstow.
00:21:23.000 I've been mixing it up with the military for a long time.
00:21:25.000 And it's always a privilege to go on these USO tours around the world.
00:21:29.000 As a matter of fact, a lot of people don't know, I was on Bob Hope's last tour around the world.
00:21:34.000 That was eight stops in eight days, eight shows, 25,000 miles, with two C-141s and Hawaii Orchestra, Connie Stevens, and I can't remember who all was on there, but I was a straight man for Bob Hope.
00:21:47.000 That was pretty interesting for a singer. 0.73
00:21:49.000 What's the best Bob Hope story?
00:21:51.000 Because I imagine he was, you know, he was one of, let's call it the original wild man.
00:21:56.000 You know, when I first joined that tour, I was pretty hot.
00:21:58.000 I was in Nashville. We just had come out in 88, and I'd been touring, and we were in the news all the time.
00:22:05.000 I got the call to go to the tour.
00:22:07.000 I had to leave Nashville to get in Los Angeles and join the troupe, and then we went to Hawaii to pick up the orchestra.
00:22:12.000 Our first show was in the Philippines with 10,000 airmen in the stadium there at Clark Air Force Base, and so they played the music.
00:22:19.000 Da-da-da-da-da-da.
00:22:21.000 He does his monologue.
00:22:23.000 And they just love him.
00:22:25.000 And so the years of Vietnam, you know, there was nobody else that really could bring all of the Hollywood stars and athletes to the soldiers like they did.
00:22:34.000 So it was kind of cool being there.
00:22:35.000 So I'm waiting in the wings. He finished the monologue and introduces me.
00:22:38.000 And when he does, they start my anthem.
00:22:41.000 The band starts playing.
00:22:42.000 The full orchestra is pretty cool.
00:22:44.000 And the crowd, the men all just jumped up and started plotting.
00:22:47.000 He walked past me and he said, who are you?
00:22:51.000 I thought it was pretty...
00:22:52.000 He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that has minced words.
00:22:55.000 You know, I know my father has some pretty interesting stories with Bob Hope as well, so that's pretty amazing, yeah.
00:23:02.000 I'm sure that felt great going on stage and just being crushed right off the bat, right?
00:23:07.000 Yeah, well, they, you know, I have just so enjoyed meeting the soldiers.
00:23:12.000 I've only come under fire one particular time because they keep me away from the front lines.
00:23:16.000 And that was in Panama.
00:23:18.000 And we had, I was in a Jeep with a soldier with a letter for 200 Marines in the jungle.
00:23:23.000 And my band had got in a Chinook and went to the first location.
00:23:26.000 We did four shows across Panama for George Bush 41.
00:23:30.000 And so I've got this letter, and we're in a Jeep with a lieutenant, and we come under fire in the jungle.
00:23:35.000 It shot my driver's finger off, index finger, and I put a tourniquet on it, and the bullets are whizzing through us.
00:23:42.000 We outdrove them.
00:23:44.000 And then we got in the compound where the Marines were and they went out and took him out.
00:23:48.000 It was like 10 guys that just kind of rode around looking for something to shoot at.
00:23:52.000 And I saw him in the hospital before he was discharged.
00:23:56.000 So fast forward about 30 years and I'm in Ohio doing a show.
00:24:00.000 And my tech comes to me, Mike Thamer from Cincinnati, says, there's a guy in the audience who says he was your driver in Panama, and he wants to come back and see you.
00:24:09.000 I said, does he miss a finger?
00:24:11.000 And he said, yes.
00:24:12.000 So he had joined the CIA and had a great family, and we come back and we visited about those moments.
00:24:19.000 It is interesting, you know, to be in an area where our troops really are under fire, under combat.
00:24:25.000 I can't imagine, you know, when I'm in that situation, I really, give me a gun.
00:24:28.000 You know, let me be part of, Part of the force.
00:24:31.000 I don't want to just stand back and watch this happen.
00:24:33.000 But, of course, I'm not trained to do that.
00:24:35.000 You know, I have some great respect and admiration for those who are.
00:24:38.000 Well, you're also not like Hillary Clinton, you know, telling a story that never actually happened.
00:24:43.000 Otherwise, it would have come out a long time ago, right?
00:24:46.000 When they're under fire and their gunship was taking fire.
00:24:48.000 They're like, you are in a different country.
00:24:49.000 We don't even know what you're talking about.
00:24:51.000 But it doesn't matter. It sounds good on the campaign trail, huh?
00:24:54.000 I hate that. I just hate that.
00:24:56.000 So, yeah, you're someone who's been, honestly, very open, unapologetic about your patriotism, but that's really in sharp contrast to so many of the others in the entertainment industry today, where, you know, they shy away from that.
00:25:12.000 You saw a couple of the big celebrities put up stuff, you know, just, they're standing by Israel, and then, you know, the Hamas caucus goes after them, and they have to take it down.
00:25:20.000 You know, why is that?
00:25:22.000 When did it stop being cool, You know, to love America and show business, because it seems like there's a lot of pressure to be...
00:25:30.000 It's a lot easier to be anti than it is to be pro, and I just don't think that jives with the American populace, but that doesn't matter today.
00:25:38.000 Well, maybe that's just who I am.
00:25:40.000 And I know when we sang for President Trump, your dad, at the inauguration there at Lincoln Memorial, there were a couple of entertainers who got scared off.
00:25:51.000 There's an old adage that says, if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
00:25:56.000 And I have to stand for who I am or what I believe in.
00:25:59.000 I believe in... Your dad, I believe, and Donald Trump being president again, and I want it to happen.
00:26:04.000 And I'm there for him.
00:26:06.000 And nobody's going to scare me off that.
00:26:08.000 You know, when we were gone, we actually had the sheriff watching my house here in Tennessee, just in case there was some retribution.
00:26:14.000 And actually, they did throw some iron chairs in my pool in the back, but that's whatever.
00:26:19.000 You know, I could care less.
00:26:20.000 It's just... You have to do what you believe in.
00:26:22.000 And I believe in America. I believe in freedom.
00:26:24.000 I believe in what America has done over the past.
00:26:27.000 This past year, we visited Normandy.
00:26:29.000 And if any American has not seen Normandy, you need to go there and know how much blood we left on those shores for the freedom of another country.
00:26:38.000 So I'm like, hey, you know, I believe in what America stands for.
00:26:41.000 You're not going to share me off that.
00:26:43.000 Yeah, that was actually one of the—I went with my father for the—I guess it was the 75th anniversary of D-Day and went to Normandy with him.
00:26:53.000 I mean, you know, flew in on Air Force One and then ultimately Marine One, and you see those beaches from the air, and I mean— What an incredible experience.
00:27:03.000 You're right. Any American who can get over there, you have to see it.
00:27:08.000 Truly amazing.
00:27:10.000 It's sad to see the difference.
00:27:11.000 It's sad to see some of those veterans now being targeted by the radical left.
00:27:19.000 It's just crazy what's going on right now.
00:27:23.000 You know, I've noticed that also.
00:27:24.000 I mean, talk about, you know, you're in Nashville and country music.
00:27:27.000 The performers are, for the most part, really conservative.
00:27:32.000 And yet, it feels like there's a lot of pressure from the record labels to go a different way.
00:27:38.000 I know a couple of guys, I won't name names because I'm friendly with so many people in the industry there, especially country music, because again, you know, they're probably 90, 95% MAGA, but there are a lot of them, frankly, that in 16...
00:27:51.000 Hey, man, can you do something about this?
00:27:54.000 And, you know, come out and say, I can't do that.
00:27:55.000 My record label would lose me.
00:27:57.000 Some of those guys are very vocal now.
00:27:59.000 I think they found sort of, you know, they found a sweet spot, but they wouldn't have touched it even in 16.
00:28:05.000 And now they've probably made pretty good business on it.
00:28:08.000 Why is that?
00:28:10.000 Is it bad for business being pro-conservative in country music even still today?
00:28:15.000 No, I don't think so.
00:28:17.000 It is in other genres, but not necessarily in country music.
00:28:21.000 I mean, the patriots in country and those who surround the fringes of country, for instance, two of my very close friends, Tony Orlando and Gary Sinise, and we talk occasionally about that.
00:28:30.000 With Charlie Daniels gone, one of the most outspoken patriots, we're all pretty much on the same page.
00:28:37.000 And you may be right that money comes first for the record companies, and I think It's not necessarily that they don't want them talking about America in a positive tone.
00:28:48.000 They just don't want them talking political at all.
00:28:51.000 And, Don, you know, I don't use my stage for a pulpa.
00:28:54.000 I make some nuances.
00:28:56.000 They know what I stand for.
00:28:59.000 But I never get up and start preaching about it.
00:29:02.000 I think maybe my silence is the greatest asset rather than telling everybody.
00:29:07.000 Because we've been on stage so many times with your dad.
00:29:12.000 You know, and it's a really thrill, by the way, to be able to sing for him.
00:29:16.000 And we're going to do that again soon, by the way, and be on the campaign.
00:29:20.000 So we're looking forward to that.
00:29:22.000 And I just hope that this war, Israel, I just hope that it ends really soon. 1.00
00:29:28.000 We don't get Lebanon and Egypt and Syria involved.
00:29:31.000 And I certainly would hope that we don't get a conflict with Israel and Iran, even though Iran's the really bad guy here. 0.97
00:29:38.000 But, you know, they got to do what they got to do.
00:29:41.000 And let's just pray, you know, that our soldiers and airmen and seamen are safe if they get involved.
00:29:50.000 Yeah, 100%. I think we have to do our best to get out of these wars.
00:29:54.000 We don't need another never-ending war.
00:29:56.000 I think Israel can take care of themselves.
00:29:57.000 But they are up against a lot of really bad actors in a regime.
00:30:01.000 They're being funded indefinitely.
00:30:02.000 People are talking about Hamas.
00:30:04.000 They don't have water. They don't have this.
00:30:05.000 It's like, well, that's what happens when you turn your water pipes into missiles and rockets.
00:30:10.000 It's not the same.
00:30:12.000 You know, despite what people would have you believe in it.
00:30:14.000 No one's advocating for the murder of women and children, but when the regime that represents those people hides behind them, convinces them not to leave, sets up in those places, you know, is someone supposed to sit idly by as rockets get launched into their city and not do anything about it?
00:30:30.000 I mean, you know... It's a little bit crazy, but it was shocking over the last week and change to see just how anti-Israel so many people are.
00:30:42.000 The tolerant left that tells you we've got to be tolerant of the LGBTQIA++++++, every crazy machination of trans. 1.00
00:30:52.000 They don't really seem to like the Jews very much.
00:30:55.000 Like, wait a second, what is going on here?
00:30:58.000 You know, you understand that antisemitism is a thing, but I don't think anyone realized just how bad it is and just how rampant it is.
00:31:07.000 Yeah, I really hate that.
00:31:09.000 I'm always for the underdog.
00:31:12.000 I like people to have a voice.
00:31:13.000 I think that's what America is, our democracy.
00:31:16.000 It's like give everybody a voice.
00:31:17.000 Unfortunately, the left seems to have a media voice that is overwhelming.
00:31:22.000 And you talk about it enough, you almost make people believe a lie.
00:31:26.000 And they do that a lot.
00:31:28.000 Fake news, of course, your dad was the first to mention that.
00:31:31.000 And he's right.
00:31:32.000 I mean, there's so much fake news out there.
00:31:34.000 If you say it enough, people go, well, yeah, maybe that's true, you know?
00:31:37.000 And people still talk in an older generation about what's on the news.
00:31:41.000 Well, the news is not necessarily what you need to watch.
00:31:44.000 You need to watch what's not in the news and find the real answers and the truth.
00:31:50.000 So we try to do that all the time as well.
00:31:53.000 I do have a great time, by the way, touring the United States because I have an interesting perspective.
00:31:58.000 As we go coast to coast and find audiences.
00:32:01.000 Okay, a lot of my audience are kind of biased, you know.
00:32:03.000 I have ABC Supply Presents Lee Greenwood on tour.
00:32:07.000 It's a conservative red, white, and blue company out of Beloit, Wisconsin.
00:32:10.000 And I'm proud to say that.
00:32:13.000 And I am a Christian, and I'm proud to say that as well.
00:32:16.000 I'll get some nasty letters about that, but I really don't care.
00:32:20.000 You know, I have to stand where I stand.
00:32:22.000 And like you, hey, man, you know, both feet on the ground ain't going to scare me off.
00:32:26.000 Yeah, no, I mean, you hit a couple things.
00:32:29.000 A big portion of this show is about making sure that people understand what's between the lines.
00:32:33.000 I think for me, you know, throughout, you know, Russia, Russia, Russia, and coming into politics as just a business guy that, you know, wasn't all that involved.
00:32:41.000 It's like, you know, you actually, you wanted to give so many of these institutions and government the benefit of the doubt, but then you realize, like, wow, you really can't.
00:32:50.000 You know, they've been, so I look at everything through a very skeptical approach, And cynical lens at this point.
00:32:56.000 And that's not because I want to.
00:32:58.000 It's because you have no choice.
00:32:59.000 You know, they've not proven themselves to deserve the benefit of the doubt anymore.
00:33:05.000 And so, you know, it's a scary time.
00:33:07.000 But I think a big part of the show is, you know, trying to get people to understand that, you know, again, with me, Russia, Russia, Russia, Don Jr.
00:33:13.000 committed treason. I'm like, I did what?
00:33:16.000 I don't even know what they're talking about, but it didn't stop them from doing it.
00:33:20.000 And when they go after General Flynn, you say, well, it's the FBI, it's the CIA. There's got to be some truth to that.
00:33:26.000 But these same people are calling concerned parents, PTA medics, domestic terrorists.
00:33:32.000 So the bias...
00:33:35.000 We have to call that out.
00:33:37.000 And I think people are starting to figure out that sort of the utopian America that we thought we lived in or many perhaps believed in probably doesn't exist.
00:33:45.000 And we have to fight hard to make sure that those ideals, those values, the things that we actually, you know, certainly on the conservative side, hold dear, that they remain for the next generation.
00:33:57.000 Yeah, and I have to bring up the point about our border.
00:34:00.000 With the infiltration of Hamas into Israel, and they didn't even know it, there was a thousand of them had got inside the country.
00:34:07.000 With our borders open, and there's a recent entrance of many people coming across the border from that part of the country.
00:34:15.000 We have no idea who they are.
00:34:17.000 We really need to take great care in this next year or so and find out how in the world we can protect ourselves from those people who came into this country legally. 1.00
00:34:27.000 They've got to be terrorists.
00:34:29.000 There is something going to happen.
00:34:30.000 I hope the CIA and FBI are aware and their eyes are wide open because it is a warning.
00:34:37.000 I know that we've tried to close the border, and for some, I can't believe that they will not let us do that.
00:34:44.000 It's almost crazy at this point.
00:34:46.000 They know they've apprehended 250 or so known terror watchlist people.
00:34:52.000 You had Iranians last week at the border. 0.55
00:34:56.000 Imagine how many got through. 1.00
00:34:57.000 These are not stupid people. 0.99
00:34:59.000 They're reasonably well-funded by governmental entities over there. 1.00
00:35:04.000 You see the protests, massive protests across America pro-Hamas.
00:35:11.000 You know, anti-Semitic stuff going on and, you know, thousands and thousands of people showing up.
00:35:16.000 It's like, wait a second.
00:35:17.000 I mean, you're telling me that there's, you know, some of these people couldn't be sleeper cells just coming across our border?
00:35:22.000 You know, it's only a matter of time.
00:35:23.000 I mean, I spoke a lot last week about...
00:35:26.000 This is why our Second Amendment exists, contrary to the Democrat narrative.
00:35:30.000 It's not about deer hunting.
00:35:32.000 It's not about that.
00:35:34.000 This is why you have an AR-15.
00:35:36.000 This is why you have a 30-round mag.
00:35:38.000 This is why those who want to eliminate the Second Amendment and some of those things, that's what it's for.
00:35:45.000 I also have a hard time believing that Israeli intelligence...
00:35:49.000 I didn't get an inkling of a very well-coordinated attack with people flying paragliders into Israel.
00:35:54.000 I don't believe that either.
00:35:56.000 So I can be cynical across the board.
00:35:57.000 I'm not just going to take the talking points from one side.
00:36:02.000 I have a hard time that there was a lapse of intelligence that big.
00:36:06.000 But there's no question that these things are going on.
00:36:10.000 There was a place, and I think it was...
00:36:12.000 What was it? Colorado, Arkansas, where they're busting people who are openly advocating for jihad in America.
00:36:17.000 And we're letting these people in.
00:36:18.000 We welcome them in.
00:36:19.000 We don't vet the people coming in from Afghanistan.
00:36:23.000 Some of them were on terror watch lists.
00:36:24.000 And we just say, welcome home.
00:36:27.000 I'm sure they'll be great.
00:36:28.000 You know, what could possibly go wrong?
00:36:30.000 And Israel is exactly what could go wrong. 1.00
00:36:32.000 And so we better do something about it.
00:36:33.000 But... There does not seem to be much political will.
00:36:37.000 The Democrats certainly don't want to do it.
00:36:40.000 They seem the opposite of that.
00:36:43.000 Too many Republicans are far too weak to fight for the issue.
00:36:47.000 Yeah, the bipartisan thing doesn't seem to be working very well.
00:36:52.000 I've always believed that there's an axiom you can go by.
00:36:55.000 No matter what you believe or what you do, do the right thing.
00:37:00.000 I think it was General Schwarzkopf said that.
00:37:02.000 Do the right thing, no matter what it is.
00:37:04.000 And we are certainly not doing the right thing as far as protecting our nation.
00:37:09.000 All I can hope for, and I have two young sons, Dalton, who just got a PhD in cancer research at Vanderbilt, and our younger son, Parker, who is enrolled at the University of Miami and getting his master's in engineering and producing music.
00:37:24.000 That they have a chance to move forward to this next generation because we're in a free country.
00:37:30.000 The problem is we just have to keep it free and we have to have security.
00:37:35.000 We do not have security right now.
00:37:37.000 And my heart goes out to the police.
00:37:39.000 Police are really under fire in this country.
00:37:41.000 And I don't get it. You know, somebody, if a guy breaks into your home and you can't defend yourself and you dial 911, who do you think is going to come?
00:37:51.000 I thank them every day when I see them because, you know, I say, hey, man, thanks for what you guys do because they certainly don't make it easy on you to keep us safe.
00:37:58.000 And it's scary. And, you know, they're threatening people's livelihoods and their pensions and this.
00:38:04.000 And they, you know, the... It's a scary deal.
00:38:08.000 And yet we see on a daily basis how that's worked out in the places.
00:38:13.000 They wanted to defund the police and all of that.
00:38:15.000 So, you know, yeah, I mean, let's talk about that a little bit.
00:38:18.000 You mentioned the word sort of bipartisan, and that seems to be, you know, something that doesn't exist much of these days.
00:38:24.000 I know that, you know, God bless the USA. Many of them know it as just proud to be an American.
00:38:28.000 It's played at every Trump rally.
00:38:30.000 So if Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders I know there's lots of liberal artists that if the song is played up in a rally, at the beginning of the rally, they're sending cease-to-desist letters, and they're going nuts, and they're taking the woke talking points and trying to use that as a pulpit to, I guess, in many cases, probably make themselves relevant again.
00:38:54.000 What would happen if that happened with your songs?
00:38:59.000 Well, first of all, it's not going to happen.
00:39:01.000 I think that's right.
00:39:03.000 The candidate on the Democrat side would be shot instantly.
00:39:06.000 He would be lynched, and he would lose the nomination in a primary 99.99999 to zero, basically.
00:39:15.000 So... But the point about music, I've always believed music is for everyone.
00:39:22.000 And even God Bless the USA, which is more of a military anthem, and then yet a song for our citizens of America, you know, that is played at every immigration ceremony.
00:39:33.000 When people come from another country and they wait however long, seven years to become an 1.00
00:39:36.000 American, God bless them, they know more about the country than probably we do because they have to
00:39:41.000 do such history research. And they hear the national anthem, the president of the time,
00:39:46.000 unfortunately, saying something, and then national anthem is played. They take an oath to the country
00:39:52.000 just like I did when I was with the National Endowment of the Arts Council, distributing
00:39:56.000 federal money for the culture, and then surrender the flag of their country. So God bless USA
00:40:01.000 represents to immigrants what we are and who we are. And if anybody on the left would say,
00:40:08.000 and I have a few Democratic friends that I really have supported and like because they're more
00:40:12.000 moderate, but if they were to say to me, can I use God bless USA in my campaign in order to get
00:40:19.000 reelected? Well, no, you can't. The cancel culture has to work both ways. 1.00
00:40:28.000 We've got to be playing the same game that they are.
00:40:31.000 So, yeah, but I think you're right.
00:40:33.000 It probably wouldn't happen because, like, that's the thing.
00:40:35.000 Like, you saw it at, you know, what was it, the Democrat convention last time.
00:40:38.000 You know, the only thing they forgot, like, American flags.
00:40:42.000 And that's scary, right?
00:40:43.000 I mean, that wouldn't have happened.
00:40:44.000 You know, that's not Kennedy's Democrat Party, right?
00:40:47.000 That's an entirely different thing.
00:40:49.000 That's Rashida Tlaib's Democratic Party. 1.00
00:40:51.000 That's Ilhan Omar's Democrat Party, where, like, of course they don't care about Americans.
00:40:55.000 They're far more concerned about, you know, again, people in far-off lands who hate us.
00:40:59.000 We want to make sure that we give them every opportunity to come here to bring that, to take us down, and it never seems to end.
00:41:07.000 Yeah, you're right. And I hate it.
00:41:09.000 I just wish we could somehow figure this out.
00:41:12.000 And you know what brings us together, unfortunately, is an attack on our own country, a military attack, as you saw, and we pointed out in 9-11 when we got hit.
00:41:22.000 We were one country, at least on the surface.
00:41:27.000 And we went after the terrorists and we found them.
00:41:30.000 It cost us a lot. We lost a lot of soldiers, but there's not been a terrorist attack since then.
00:41:36.000 But I'm telling you, we better be alert because it's coming.
00:41:40.000 We have too many people filtering across the border, have no idea who they are.
00:41:44.000 Like you said, we got 250 of them.
00:41:46.000 Who knows how many got through?
00:41:48.000 And it doesn't take very many to disturb a nuclear power or something, a nuclear reactor that produces power for a city.
00:41:56.000 It wouldn't take much to blow it up.
00:41:58.000 And so it's like, you gotta be ever alert, man.
00:42:01.000 You know what? I was a dealer in Vegas for a while.
00:42:03.000 I don't know if you know that, but I dealt a Tropicana hotel for four years.
00:42:07.000 I assume that means cards and not drugs, right?
00:42:12.000 Let's be clear, because some leftist is going to take this. 0.97
00:42:17.000 Lee Greenwood was dealing drugs.
00:42:18.000 It was terrible. No, no, no.
00:42:21.000 And so I'm standing at a dead table, and a pit boss comes up behind me and grabs a chip, and I didn't see it.
00:42:28.000 And he said, here's the problem.
00:42:30.000 He said, when you're dreaming, they're scheming.
00:42:32.000 I'll never forget that, because to be ever alert—we've been suckered a couple of times in Pearl Harbor, the attack of 9-11.
00:42:39.000 We didn't see any of that coming.
00:42:40.000 We really have to be more alert in this next century, because everybody wants to take America out.
00:42:48.000 Everybody wants to get in who wants to be free.
00:42:51.000 There's nobody leaving this country to be free.
00:42:53.000 We are the it.
00:42:55.000 We're the beacon of freedom.
00:42:58.000 And as long as Statue of Liberty stands in our harbor, we're still going to be that.
00:43:02.000 Yeah, no, it's interesting, right?
00:43:03.000 I remember all the liberals in 16.
00:43:06.000 You know, if Trump wins, I'm leaving.
00:43:07.000 I'm like, it's strange. They're still here.
00:43:09.000 I remember sort of a funny thing.
00:43:12.000 Yeah. Yeah, it happened after the election.
00:43:16.000 It was before my father was sworn in, but after the election, there's this, you know, cigar club in New York I used to go to a lot.
00:43:22.000 And, you know, Al Sharpton was there all the time.
00:43:26.000 And, you know, Rudy Giuliani was there.
00:43:28.000 And I remember it was a couple days after the election.
00:43:30.000 You know, literally Al Sharpton is here at a table with his people.
00:43:34.000 I'm here with some friends.
00:43:37.000 Rudy Giuliani's there with some friends.
00:43:39.000 And Al Sharpton walks by to go to the men's room.
00:43:42.000 And I go, listen, you know, it's New York.
00:43:45.000 I don't pretend to agree with them politically, but you sort of know each other.
00:43:48.000 You're like, you know, you just joke around and whatever.
00:43:51.000 Let's call it like your frenemies, right?
00:43:53.000 So we're joking around, and I just yell across the room.
00:43:55.000 I go, Al! What the hell are you doing here?
00:43:59.000 And he looks at me, ah, Junior, you know I'm always here. 0.98
00:44:02.000 I go, no, no, no, man.
00:44:04.000 You said you were moving to Canada.
00:44:06.000 What the hell are you still doing here? 1.00
00:44:08.000 It's almost like it's all bullshit. 1.00
00:44:09.000 And of course it was. So everyone in the place just yelling across the room. 1.00
00:44:15.000 Everyone in the place goes nuts.
00:44:17.000 It was pretty funny. Even he got a little chuckle out of it because that's the reality.
00:44:22.000 But you mentioned that you're a car dealer in Vegas.
00:44:26.000 So talk about it. How do you go from being a card dealer in Vegas to, you know, being a country music star?
00:44:32.000 What was that first big break in the business?
00:44:37.000 When did it start to sink in that you could actually do that for a living and not have to deal cards at the Tropicana?
00:44:44.000 16 years old. I left Sacramento, California as soon as I got my high school degree, and I went to work in Nevada immediately.
00:44:52.000 And I was in and around the casinos for 20 years.
00:44:55.000 Lake Tahoe and Reno first, and I settled in Las Vegas, you know, entertaining along all of the famous people, the Rat Pack.
00:45:02.000 I knew Sammy Davis quite well.
00:45:05.000 Jack Jones, Juliet Prowse, the fifth dimension.
00:45:07.000 They all were friends of mine and they saw me many years playing for shows.
00:45:10.000 I was writing music for shows.
00:45:12.000 And I'm so close to the money.
00:45:14.000 I'm so close to the tables and casinos.
00:45:16.000 Surely I can have some of it if I become a dealer.
00:45:20.000 And it was interesting.
00:45:21.000 I was good at math in school, so it was an easy break-in, and I had some people that helped me get a gig, and it's all about who you know.
00:45:31.000 And so I did that for a while, and I just like, you know, this is dead end.
00:45:36.000 I'm not, you know, maybe if I work in long enough, 25 years, I might be able to get my own joint, you know, and stuff.
00:45:41.000 And being licensed with the state of Nevada or Atlantic City or whatever.
00:45:46.000 But it just got so boring.
00:45:49.000 And I never gave up singing.
00:45:51.000 I was doubling and tripling, playing other shows, writing music for producers for other shows.
00:45:56.000 And when the economy hit, I was even playing just single, solo, in a place that was really elite in one of the casinos.
00:46:04.000 But when my record hit, that's when, you know, I mean, I finally decided I've got to get out of this This trap and go to somewhere where it's more reality and not necessarily a bubble, because Nevada has a bubble over it.
00:46:16.000 And I don't mean politically, but that's crazy stuff there.
00:46:20.000 But yeah, when I moved to Tennessee, I mean, things just took off.
00:46:24.000 And I'm not from the South, born in Los Angeles, of course, but I'm not really a big city.
00:46:30.000 I was raised on a farm in California, and my wife, Kim, and I have been married 31 years now, and she is from the same kind of area as I was, actually born in Ohio, but she's a Tennessean.
00:46:42.000 Because when her family couldn't get work in Tennessee, they worked on the rubber plants in Ohio, in Akron, and then they came back to Tennessee finally when things got well here.
00:46:51.000 And so I'm very comfortable in Tennessee.
00:46:53.000 I love where I live, and I love what I represent, and I walk the walk.
00:46:57.000 Don, I talk the talk and walk the walk, just like you.
00:47:00.000 So what year was that that you left Las Vegas?
00:47:03.000 I'm sort of curious what it was like back then.
00:47:07.000 It was great, by the way.
00:47:10.000 What year was that? That was kind of between the time of Elvis, of course, and Howard Hughes, and all of that mystique that counted all of that.
00:47:21.000 But when I left in 1979, I went to Nashville and just...
00:47:26.000 I went back a few times, but instead of working some crummy little lounge or casino back room, I ended up working the main room.
00:47:33.000 Then I woke up for Crystal Gale and then the Oprah boys and then I started headlining my own shows.
00:47:37.000 And it was kind of fun going back and looking at it from that different perspective, because as a struggling musician, it was week to week.
00:47:43.000 And, uh, and so when you go in there and you play for like two or three weeks or a month or whatever, as a, as a resident in a major casino, uh, it's a whole different ball game.
00:47:52.000 You know, I guess the same thing would be in New York.
00:47:55.000 I mean, if you're, if you've got plenty of money and you're living high on a hog, that's great.
00:47:58.000 But if you've got your low resources, it's a whole different world.
00:48:02.000 No, it's a lot harder.
00:48:03.000 Yeah, it's very curious to see, you know, Vegas in the 70s versus, you know, Vegas in the, you know, 2010s and 20s, you know, probably two very different worlds, even in terms of the demo that they're chasing and stuff like that.
00:48:18.000 It's, you know, it's amazing to me how, you know, so much of the Vegas revenue is no longer even from gaming.
00:48:23.000 It's, you know, entertainment and this and family.
00:48:26.000 I imagine in the 70s it was not at all that.
00:48:30.000 When I first went there, they actually had shills where someone would come and sit at a blackjack table who was hired by the casino, and they'd have 20 checks, which would represent a dollar each one, and they would bet one at a time, just showing there was something going on.
00:48:47.000 And then when entertainment started to be an issue, you had lounges with major acts, and I played with a lot of them.
00:48:56.000 Over a 20-year period, and who would bring the people in.
00:49:00.000 And then after a while, the casino got so well off from gambling, then they reduced the size of orchestras and bands down to three people playing in a corner somewhere.
00:49:10.000 We had a little music, you know.
00:49:12.000 But when I was there in the early years, you could almost get free food in the morning, free food in the afternoon.
00:49:16.000 Shows were cheap, and hotel rooms were cheap.
00:49:20.000 They would give anything away to get you in the casino. 0.77
00:49:22.000 And, you know, it's an old, old game, really.
00:49:24.000 It's worldwide. Yeah.
00:49:25.000 Everybody has gambling casinos.
00:49:27.000 I went to Monte Carlo with my wife.
00:49:29.000 I stopped in it. I didn't like the gambling there.
00:49:33.000 It was terrible. They had $25 slot machines and cigar smoke everywhere.
00:49:37.000 It's like a bunch of old guys around a poker table. 0.98
00:49:40.000 I'm like, this is not gambling.
00:49:41.000 I know it.
00:49:43.000 You look at Atlantic City and now, of course, all the Indian casinos, no matter where they are across the United States, they run really well.
00:49:52.000 They've done Nevada like a superstar.
00:49:56.000 They have really capitalized on a way to bring people into the area and geographically put casinos around the United States.
00:50:02.000 And I have to give them credit. They hire us.
00:50:05.000 Entertainers, we still work casinos.
00:50:07.000 Some of these great places, whether in Oklahoma or where, Minnesota, Wisconsin, upper New York, up there in Connecticut, some of the greatest casinos, they look just like Vegas to me anymore.
00:50:19.000 Yeah, no, they definitely have.
00:50:20.000 I'm not much of a gambler myself.
00:50:24.000 I don't get much excitement over it.
00:50:25.000 I figure every day of my life is enough of a gamble.
00:50:28.000 I don't need to add more excitement to it.
00:50:32.000 But the alternate options that they have, it is very different than that historically.
00:50:37.000 It's amazing to watch that evolution.
00:50:40.000 I want to get back to the USO events that you did.
00:50:44.000 If you've done 16 all over the world, you're talking about the Philippines, Panama, getting shot at.
00:50:49.000 How did you first start getting involved in those events?
00:50:53.000 But then more importantly, in doing so, how has it shaped your worldview?
00:50:59.000 Being on the ground with those guys, in those situations, did it change the way you think about things, or did it just sort of reinforce what you already believe?
00:51:09.000 Yeah, the latter. You know, because I was so very young when I first started doing USO tours, I had a band and we played, let's see, we played 29 Palms from the Marines, Fort Ord for the Army, the Presidia for the Army, McClellan and Mather Air Force bases around my home in Sacramento, California.
00:51:30.000 And I told you we even went to Alaska when I was 16 years old.
00:51:33.000 And we couldn't play in Alaska at the blockhouse where the bombers were unless I had a girl in the act. 1.00
00:51:39.000 Oddly enough, so I had to hire a Hawaiian dancer just to have a girl in the act. 1.00
00:51:43.000 Why was that?
00:51:46.000 Was that a diversity, equity, and inclusion thing?
00:51:49.000 The early precursor?
00:51:53.000 I guess that's early equality.
00:51:55.000 But we couldn't play.
00:51:56.000 The agent says, you have to have a girl in the band.
00:51:58.000 So, okay, fine. So we brought one.
00:52:00.000 It was meaningless, you know. But I could see, you know, when we did our USO tour several times, we had women that went with us.
00:52:07.000 Miss USA would go with us.
00:52:08.000 I even met Kim on a USO tour.
00:52:11.000 Our tour in the Atlantic, the North Atlantic.
00:52:14.000 And I had Miss USA, Miss Delaware, Miss Tennessee with us on our tour for like 12 days.
00:52:20.000 And we fell in love there.
00:52:22.000 And And that was a great thing.
00:52:24.000 So don't tell me the government doesn't give you anything.
00:52:26.000 At least you're one of the few people that may have gotten something for your tax dollars.
00:52:33.000 But it was fabulous.
00:52:34.000 It didn't change my view.
00:52:36.000 I already knew what the military does.
00:52:41.000 I've seen it so many times.
00:52:42.000 We've built a lot of homes to wounded warriors over the past 12 years, and seeing them get another shot at life really makes it important for me.
00:52:49.000 And that's why it's so very important to have on Veterans Day this year If people just go to adoptavet.com, send a veteran and caregiver to the movies for free.
00:52:59.000 You will love this film that we did.
00:53:01.000 Tell us about it.
00:53:03.000 What's the premise? Tell us about it.
00:53:07.000 It's a tribute to my career.
00:53:09.000 Over 40 years, and I brought to bear 40 different singers from all genres.
00:53:15.000 Gavin DeGraw, Luke Bryant, Michael W. Smith, and the Isaacs, who sing one of my songs, Jamie Johnson, the Oak Ridge Boys, Crystal Gale, the Gatlin Brothers.
00:53:25.000 I mean, there are 40 different singers in all genres who come, and they're all highlighted singing a song I had as a career hit.
00:53:33.000 I mean, I said in the audience to watch this go down.
00:53:36.000 It was unbelievable.
00:53:37.000 But to send a veteran to see that there is a tribute to the veterans at the very end, and yes, I do, God bless the USA, with the entire cast.
00:53:45.000 I mean, you don't want to miss this one.
00:53:47.000 It's November 12, all motion picture theaters across America, adoptavet.com.
00:53:52.000 So I have people, 50 bucks, you can send a veteran and a caregiver for free.
00:53:56.000 I'm sure you know one.
00:53:58.000 I'm sure we know a lot, and I think that'd be great.
00:54:02.000 Obviously, I imagine the most memorable time with the military is getting shot at in Panama, but how has, if at all, spending that time with the military, how has it shaped your music?
00:54:16.000 I don't think it really has.
00:54:20.000 You know, I've been a tunesmith, if you will, a writer since I was like 20, you know, and a musician since I was 10 or 11 or 12.
00:54:29.000 Basically, when I step on stage, and I've had two shows this week, Night for Last, I was in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the Alabama Theater, and I'll be playing with Alabama again on December 1 in Huntsville, just like I did in the early days when Alabama was touring.
00:54:46.000 We make music, I think, that reflects the mood of the culture.
00:54:51.000 And with the song with Jason Aldean that basically talks about protecting his own home in case that some, you know, and the cancel culture jumped all over that.
00:55:01.000 Basically, it's just, if the song wasn't going to be a hit, and it was a hit long before the video was released, and suddenly some tried to make something of it, Jason Aldean is a patriot, just like the rest of us here in Nashville.
00:55:13.000 Yeah. And we may—listen, Don, if our music doesn't resonate with the people, we would not make any more of it because we wouldn't be a star anymore.
00:55:23.000 Yeah, that was like the Trump speech.
00:55:25.000 When Trump announced, you know, in 15, you know, he's running, you know, the comments, you know, when they were—he talked about rapists at the border, which, of course, there's plenty.
00:55:34.000 It's like a known thing, but it didn't matter.
00:55:36.000 That didn't become an outrage cycle.
00:55:39.000 At that moment. It became an outrage cycle two or three weeks later when his message started resonating with Americans.
00:55:46.000 When he climbed into poles, all of a sudden it became a big deal.
00:55:50.000 Just like Jason could...
00:55:51.000 And Jason's a friend also. But he could put out that song and yeah, it was a great song.
00:55:55.000 It was doing great. And then someone's like, wait a minute, it's doing too good.
00:55:58.000 Now we have to try to take them down.
00:56:00.000 We got to try to shame you into that and change things.
00:56:04.000 So... I guess country, the country's changed a lot since God Bless the USA came out and it was first released.
00:56:12.000 Even the way we view our military leadership has changed.
00:56:16.000 Are you concerned that too many of our leaders in Washington are losing sight of what it really means to be an American these days?
00:56:24.000 Because I see what they're pushing and I see where the country is.
00:56:27.000 I look at military recruitment and I'm saying these people do not, they're not looking at the same thing.
00:56:32.000 They're playing two different games and Two entirely different worldviews.
00:56:37.000 Oh, absolutely. Maybe we're talking in general terms.
00:56:42.000 Maybe only 70% are looking at that.
00:56:45.000 There's a few that are connected.
00:56:48.000 We've got a great senator here in Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn, who I love and I think she has a great...
00:56:52.000 Idea about reality, because I think the people in Congress, United States Congress, don't talk in terms of reality.
00:57:00.000 They only talk in terms of money, and they talk in terms of power.
00:57:04.000 And I don't like that.
00:57:06.000 I don't know how to change it.
00:57:09.000 It just takes, you know, every person we elect to an office, they have to just have their heart in the right place.
00:57:14.000 They have to have America first. 0.97
00:57:17.000 I mean, there you go.
00:57:18.000 Well, yeah, I wish that was the case.
00:57:21.000 Unfortunately, I don't think they often do.
00:57:23.000 Do you ever worry about cancel culture yourself?
00:57:26.000 I know that Joe Biden removed you from the National Endowment for the Arts.
00:57:31.000 I mean, my father put you on there.
00:57:34.000 I imagine there's not many conservatives on there.
00:57:38.000 You decide where some governmental funding goes for the arts.
00:57:42.000 It'd be nice to have some representation, understanding that the arts is probably
00:57:46.000 skewed far more to the left.
00:57:48.000 But what was your reaction to that and your thoughts on that?
00:57:52.000 Because I imagine you were probably one of the few sort of outspoken conservatives,
00:57:58.000 and probably one of the few outspoken patriots on that panel.
00:58:03.000 Yeah, there were two of us and we got let go at the same time.
00:58:07.000 Of course, through George Bush, and then through Obama, and your dad, and then when Biden fired me, I really wasn't surprised.
00:58:18.000 But I'd been there for 14 years, and it's a six-year term, so...
00:58:23.000 That's fine. You know, I think I did a good job and my heart was in the right place trying to always make sure that whatever part of the budget we had to make sure that the culture of America is always in the forefront and historically protected, that was our aim.
00:58:38.000 And there were... Yeah, more left than right.
00:58:41.000 But they represented different kinds of things, which my field is not sculpture or museums or dance necessarily.
00:58:49.000 And we had people who were all artistic.
00:58:51.000 And so that's where we came together and united as a panel.
00:58:54.000 It's a 14-member committee, but a council.
00:58:58.000 But I don't think...
00:59:00.000 We didn't discuss politics much.
00:59:03.000 However, the White House always had somebody sitting in on our meetings, and that bothered me.
00:59:08.000 I didn't like that. We were supposed to make decisions on our own, and they would report back to the White House.
00:59:12.000 Now, I don't know that they had anything to say about it, but they always had this cloud of influence over the council, and particularly when Obama was president and when Biden was president, and I think that's why they got rid of me.
00:59:25.000 I imagine so.
00:59:26.000 But listen, it's great that you're out there still fighting.
00:59:30.000 It's great that you're doing what you're doing for the veterans, that you've never lost touch of that.
00:59:34.000 As bleak as things may seem at times, you're doing the right thing for that.
00:59:38.000 So please let our guys know again where they can find the All-Star tribute to Lee Greenwood so that they can check it out.
00:59:48.000 They can send veterans there.
00:59:49.000 They can do their part in giving back a little bit.
00:59:53.000 Yeah, please. It's a salute to the music in my 40-year career and sung.
00:59:58.000 All of the music that we've had as hits sung by 40 different artists, and they all have a different impression of what the...
01:00:05.000 And it thrilled the heck out of me.
01:00:06.000 It is a great film edited by folks who really know what they're doing.
01:00:10.000 And motion pictures across America on November 12th.
01:00:14.000 That's Veterans Day weekend this year, 2023.
01:00:17.000 And you can, for $50, go to adoptivet.com.
01:00:22.000 Adoptivet.com and send a veteran and his caregiver to the movies for free.
01:00:27.000 That's all we ask. We'd like to fill up theaters across America with our veterans this year.
01:00:31.000 They deserve it. Well, Lee, thank you very much for everything that you do.
01:00:35.000 Thank you for your continued support and, most importantly, the friendship.
01:00:39.000 And look forward to seeing you a lot in the coming year as we get into election year because, you know, God knows that patriotism needs to shine through.
01:00:49.000 So thanks so much for everything that you do, man.
01:00:52.000 Thank you. God bless. Stay healthy.
01:00:54.000 All right. Thanks a lot, Lee. Well, guys, Lee, thank you very much. Thanks for all you do.
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