Van Morrison: 'Those who are shutting down our economy haven't missed a paycheck'



Iconic singer Van Morrison is known the world over for his instantly recognizable stellar vocals. And those among his biggest fans — in this case those who lean left politically — know something else about the veteran crooner: He has an attitude and doesn't scare easily.

So it's quite a thing to witness Morrison rip into coronavirus lockdowns, then watch leftists castigate Morrison's stance — then see the singer come back for more.

What's the background?

Morrison and fellow music superstar Eric Clapton have made a number of headlines over anti-lockdown songs. Back in September, a health minister in Northern Ireland labeled Morrison's anti-lockdown songs "dangerous." Morrison's tunes "Born to Be Free," "As I Walked Out," and "No More Lockdown" reportedly target the U.K. government for using COVID-19 lockdowns to "enslave" the people.

Clapton noted late last month that he and Morrison were releasing a new anti-lockdown song, "Stand and Deliver" — penned by Morrison and recorded by Clapton — and the guitarist took a lot of grief from the left over it.

But despite the ever-looming specter of cancel culture , Morrison just won't shut up.

On Monday the singer took to Twitter to blast politicians who suffer no economic hardships due to coronavirus lockdowns since they always stay employed as long as they're in office:

Remember, those who are shutting down our economy haven't missed a paycheck since lockdown began. We are not in this together.
— Van Morrison (@Van Morrison)1608565250.0

"Remember, those who are shutting down our economy haven't missed a paycheck since lockdown began," Morrison tweeted to his nearly 66,000 followers before adding a mocking zinger. "We are not in this together."

Earlier Monday he also tweeted, "10 months on and the @niexecutive still hasn't presented the science for the Northern Ireland lockdown."

How did folks react?

While it appears that the majority of fans lauded Morrison's stance ("You're spot on Van," one commenter replied. "We can't stand for this anymore."), others — whose ultimate loyalties are to their leftist causes — blasted Morrison:

  • "You're dead to me," one user wrote.
  • "From he who hath not had to worry about pay checks for decades!" another commenter said.
  • "I am a massive fan, but you're testing me with this bulls**t, you're in the wrong side of this argument, and you much like the people you refer to are not worried about a paycheck either, whilst huge numbers of people worry about nothing else," another user noted.

Far-left singer-songwriter David Crosby predictably skewered both Morrison and Clapton for their anti-lockdown stance:

Dumb ...childish ....masks and lockdown are how you beat this ...proof is already there ...New Zealand for instanc… https://t.co/VTqIs72dHs
— David Crosby (@David Crosby)1608581407.0

Specifically regarding Morrison, Crosby added the following:

Talented ....makes good records. ...but ....yeah that’s what my friends who know him say ...but then ...lots of peo… https://t.co/KeeDx5jims
— David Crosby (@David Crosby)1608581584.0

The media also is in lockstep against what the Morrison/Clapton collaboration hath wrought, as Consequence of Sound titled its piece, "Eric Clapton and Van Morrison Share Awful Anti-Lockdown Song 'Stand and Deliver'"; Variety said, "Van Morrison and Eric Clapton Strike the Wrong Note About COVID-19," and the Los Angeles Times took it a step further: "Eric Clapton's anti-lockdown protest song by Van Morrison is totally worth protesting."

Here's "Stand and Deliver":

Stand and Deliver by Eric Clapton - Music from The state51 Conspiracy youtu.be

(H/T: The Daily Wire)

WATCH: Van Jones weeps on air after CNN calls election for Biden

CNN's Van Jones was seen openly weeping on air on Saturday morning while announcing the news that the network had decided to call the election in favour of Joe Biden.

WATCH: Dan Crenshaw releases epic 'action movie' campaign ad

Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Congressman, just released an action-themed video where he rounds up his Republican, Texan colleagues and goes on a mission to "save Texas."

Music legend Van Morrison to release three new anti-lockdown 'protest' songs

Van Morrison makes no bones about his vehement opposition to the lockdown measures in place right now in the UK and elsewhere, and has enshrined his sentiments in three new songs.

Biden's DNC speech receives positive reviews from media, including many conservatives



Former Vice President Joe Biden's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday received rave reviews from the likely sources in left-wing media — but surprisingly earned praise from some conservatives, too.

First, the liberal reactions

CNN anchor Jake Tapper called the speech perhaps "the best" of Biden's decades-long career in politics.

"I've heard Joe Biden give I don't know — dozens, hundreds of speeches over the years," Tapper said Thursday night on air, according to the Hill. "I have to say this was one of the best if not the best performance I've ever seen."

Speaking on "Anderson Cooper 360," CNN political analyst Van Jones gushed over the speech, calling it "extraordinary." Jones would later post on Twitter that Democrats "went from 'anyone but Trump' to 'THIS GUY IS FOR US!'"

After @JoeBiden's incredible speech tonight, Democrats across the country EXHALED. We went from “anyone but Trump”… https://t.co/SNQ73Id53I
— Van Jones (@Van Jones)1597981878.0

CNN White House reporter Jim Acosta quipped in a tweet that Biden's speech "did not seem very sleepy," poking fun at President Donald Trump's "Sleepy Joe" nickname for his political foe.

MSNBC host Joy Reid added that Biden's speech was "why Donald Trump feared him so much ... his super power is who he is ... he is a regular Joe and that's what he needed to be tonight."

New York Times writer David Brooks also called it Biden's "best speech."

Best Biden speech I’ve seen. Fascinating volleying between the personal and the political.
— David Brooks (@David Brooks)1597979335.0

Fox News panel also offers praise

More surprisingly, several panelists on Fox News, including Brit Hume, Chris Wallace, Dana Perino, and Karl Rove, also spoke positively about the speech.

Wallace was the most forceful, calling the speech "enormously effective," and adding that it "blew a hole" in Trump's characterization of Biden as feeble and "mentally shot."

"It seems to me that after tonight, Donald Trump is going to have to run against a candidate, not a caricature," Wallace suggested.

Dana Parino said Biden "just hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth," followed by Karl Rove saying "it was a ver… https://t.co/o9r7Z3BVmz
— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar)1597981093.0

Perino then called the performance a "home run in the bottom of the ninth."

"He had pace, rhythm, energy, emotion and delivery. So I think that if he looks back, he's got to say that's probably the best speech of his life," Perino went on to say.

Hume echoed the sentiment, saying that it was a "very good speech" delivered with "force and clarity." Rove agreed, too, calling it "very good."

Others were less blown away

Some on social media noted it was not that the speech was not particularly strong, but rather that the bar was so low.

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said as much in a pair of tweets following the event.

[twitter_embed https://www.twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1296666137296420864 expand=1

The good news for Biden is that he looked pretty good tonight. The bad news for Biden is that he will have to inter… https://t.co/6U78TC8gSJ
— Ben Shapiro (@Ben Shapiro)1597985359.0

National Review's Jim Geraghty tweeted: "Biden is capable of walking to a podium and emphatically delivering a speech he's reading from a teleprompter. Low bar cleared."

Despite a lot of talk from the Trump campaign that Biden is senile, drooling, and must be hidden away from the publ… https://t.co/VPx1rUazWj
— Jim Geraghty (@Jim Geraghty)1597978768.0

Police: Brooklyn Man Tampered with NYPD Van Brakes

A Brooklyn, New York, man is facing charges for allegedly tampering with a New York Police Department (NYPD) van's brakes.