Posted by Tomislav U on December 30, 2003, 12:48 pm, in reply to "Re: Thompson - domoljub ili fašist?" What I'm saying overall is I would respect Thompson more if he totaly stuck by his songs and lyrics so if he supported Paraga he stuck with supporting Paraga etc... otherwise I still love his music ZA DOM SPREMAN --Previous Message--
Yeah see I've always said Thompson should be careful what he says because he has such a strong pull on the Croatian people as a whole. He should be more responsible as to what lyrics he utters. I for one did not know that he was at first supporting Paraga and the HSP because as we all know he was singing only praise for Tudjman recently(maybe he knows something more than we do? ) Also you are correct in stating that there is more to be proud of being Croatian than Ustase. Thompson should have more substance and a stance behind his lyrics than just blurting out some nationalistic words. For instance in the song Jasenovac i Gradiska Stara at the end of that song it goes "sjajna zvijezdo iznad Metkovica pozrdavi nam Antu Pavelica" thats fine and all but if Thompson is distancing himself from the Ustase and Pavelic and then casually dropping in these lyrics I think its wrong. If you are going to say Za Dom Spremni then say the saying has been used by Croatians soldiers before the Ustase but also was used by them and i respect certain things they did along with all Croatian soldiers. You can't distance yourself from the Ustase or any Croatian army because you have to believe in what they were doing was right otherwise don't use the phrase Za Dom Spremni(because it was basically made popular by the Ustase). Also switching allegiances from Paraga to Tudjman is not a small shift. One was in favour of an independant Croatia within Tito's redrawn borders and possibly a splitting of Bosna i Hercegovina. The other was also in favour of an independant Croatia but one moddeled more on the NDH along with a paramilitary wing(HOS) and at the same time a unified Bosna i Hercegovina which would realistically be controlled by Muslims and Croatians. Overall I understand what you are trying to say about Thompson and for the most part I agree. About him being a fascist? I don't know about that. Being an Ustasa or NDH sympathizer and a Fascist is 2 different things I believe. I guess we talk about these things from WW2 so much because its all a clouded mystery due to the fact that Communists made all people in yugoslavia shut up and not talk about it. This resulted in the this last war I believe(because nothing was solved in World War 2). There has to be open analization of what the Ustase did about what the Cetniks did about what the Partizans did etc... since there aren't that many concrete unbias records of any of the sides, we keep talking about it trying to come to terms with our own truth. Thompsons popularity also is due to our balkan mentality in many ways. I'll admit I have it sometimes. Very Serb like even though its actually anti-Serbian. Just like the Ustase they were very balkan like and in many ways very Serb like even though they hated them. You become what you hate sometimes.
: I certainly agree with you that he shouldnÂ’t be
: censored. A democratic society should ensure
: the right of free speech for even the most
: offensive speech. But the central question
: of the article asked whether he supports
: fascism or whether heÂ’s a misunderstood
: patriot. I donÂ’t think you can mix the two.
: Just because John Ashcroft wears an American
: flag on his lapel doesnÂ’t mean heÂ’s a patriot
: and not a dangerous extremist.
: I remember Thompson performing for American
: Croats in 1992 supporting Dobroslav Paraga
: and HSP and speaking out against Tudjman and
: HDZ. A few years later he's singing "e
: moj Franjo svak se klanjo svemu sto si
: cinio". I think heÂ’s basically nothing
: more than an opportunist who seizes on
: whatever sentiment will sell records and
: tickets.
: There will always be a strong nationalist
: sentiment in Croatia and there will always be
: people who use it for their own ends.
: FranklyÂ…I see it as our downfall. To glorify
: Ustasa leaders and use Ustasa symbols is to
: not understand history at all. Just ask
: yourself the questionsÂ…what legacy did they
: leave behindÂ…were they brought to power as a
: Croatian popular movement or did foreigners
: install them? Did they protect and defend
: Croat civilians or did their violence against
: others inspire even more brutal retribution?
: Did their leaders do everything to prevent
: Bleiburg or did they escape with the
: countryÂ’s wealth leaving innocent civilians
: and peasant soldiers to die in Bleiburg?
: I think I understand what youÂ’re trying to
: sayÂ…weÂ’ve been told for so long that being
: Croatian is equal to being a Nazi and now
: since we have our own countryÂ…we shouldnÂ’t be
: ashamed. But there are so many things to be
: proud of as a Croat from the natural beauty
: of the country to athletic success and a
: million things in between. It seems from
: your answer that youÂ’re saying yeah he is a
: fascist but itÂ’s OK. Are you saying that a
: Serbian singer that would sing about
: Srebrenica or Vukovar is actually a patriot
: expressing pride for his people?
: I just donÂ’t understand why weÂ’re so focused
: on rehashing the past rather than just
: learning from our mistakes and building a
: more prosperous future.
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