Oklahoma’s Toby Keith Honored Nationally for USO Service
UPDATE 10/14/08: See: Oklahoma’s Toby Keith: The Democrat Party “doesn’t stand for anything that I stand for anymore.” Re-Registers as Independent, plans to vote for McCain-Palin
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill recognizing Toby Keith’s commitment to members of the Armed Forces. The bill’s author, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) said:
“Toby Keith is a homegrown hero who never fails to show his appreciation for our men and women in uniform. He’s a true patriot and selfless in his support of our Armed Forces. And while Toby is not alone in using his talent to entertain our service members – he is certainly a leading, modern example of a musician going above and beyond to boost the morale of the military.
“Over the years Toby Keith has entertained hundreds of thousands of service members on USO tours overseas and at home. He has even taken trips to dangerous parts of our world and put his life at risk. His honorable actions and stalwart support of our troops throughout his career deserve our appreciation and support.”
Cole introduced the resolution in June to honor country music star Toby Keith for his support of the Armed Forces. Keith has shown his dedication to our service members by volunteering to perform on six United Service Organizations (USO) tours overseas. Keith has participated in USO tours to Belgium, Kosovo, Italy, Germany and Afghanistan, among other places.
Oklahoma native Toby Keith recently loaned his band, the Easy Money Band to Marine Cpl. David Thibodeaux to record “I’m Not Ready to End the Fight,” which was a musical response to the Dixie Chicks, and their anti war activities.
Because of his patriotism and pro-military efforts, Toby Keith is sometimes assumed to be a Republican, but has stated publicly that he considers himself to be a conservative Democrat. In 2004, he told The Boston Globe:
“People don’t realize that I’m a registered Democrat,” he says. “They automatically assume that I’m a chest-banging, war-drum-pounding Republican with my military stance.”
Keith goes on to compare himself to Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut: “a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party.”
"There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you." 
Lieberman was kicked out of the Democratic party by the voters in Connecticut during a primary. Lieberman was always the stooge Republicans would trot out to show “bipartisanship.”
That said, as a Democrat, I too am sometimes embarrassed by my party.
Hi, Oilfieldguy. Thanks for the comment.
Yes, I’ve attended several national conventions recently, and although I’m a registered Republican myself, I’m very often in the position of explaining that, yes, in fact, there is such a thing as a “conservative Democrat.” They’re all over the southern U.S., and, in fact, I know several.
The ones I know simply aren’t willing to give up the fight for the Democratic party – they say that’d be like giving up on half the country, and they just can’t do that.
I don’t care who he votes for. I just like to hear him sing.