Sometimes drunks make the best poets, and as per the author of this article ex-Sex Pistol and current PiL frontman Johnny Rotten had put down quite the liquid lunch before (and during) the interview. Nevertheless, Johnny's drunken rantings contain more common sense than the deep thoughtfulness of liberal icons such as, oh, say famous anti-Israeli singer-songwriter Elvis Costello.
It's a British interview, so of course anything pro-Israeli needs to go at the very, very bottom, so get ready to scroll for it:
As we're about to say our goodbyes, he pulls a sheaf of faxes out of his pocket. They are complaints, e-mailed to his manager, John "Rambo" Stevens, who lives in Arkansas, complaining that PiL will shortly be performing in Israel. One, from a fan called Lawrence Casin, declares: "I will destroy all my albums and paraphernalia that I have collected over the years if you bastards play that hell hole."
Most musicians, particularly those who have been around for 30 years, wouldn't let hate mail upset them. They probably wouldn't even read it. But John's anger is genuine. He wants me to record it, for posterity. "I really resent the presumption that I'm going there to play to right-wing Nazi jews," he tells me. "If Elvis-fucking-Costello wants to pull out of a gig in Israel because he's suddenly got this compassion for Palestinians, then good on him. But I have absolutely one rule, right? Until I see an Arab country, a Muslim country, with a democracy, I won't understand how anyone can have a problem with how they're treated."
We like it. A lot. As a matter of fact, we'll call it "Johnny's Rule" in his honor.
Of course, the British press have no honor, so the last line of the article, following Johnny's support of Israel, reads thusly:
That's our Johnny Rotten. Always lively. Always entertaining. Often wrong....
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