Reax to John the GOPer

From The Nation:

What exactly were Lennon’s political views at the end of 1980? Late that November, Lennon spoke out on behalf of striking workers in Los Angeles and San Francisco. (The story is told in my book Come Together: John Lennon in His Time.) The strike was against Japan Foods Corporation, a subsidiary of the Japanese multinational Kikkoman, best known for its soy sauce. The US workers, primarily Japanese, were members of the Teamsters. In LA and San Francisco, they went on strike for higher wages. The shop steward of the LA local, Shinya Ono, persuaded John and Yoko to make a public statement addressed to the striking workers:

“We are with you in spirit.… In this beautiful country where democracy is the very foundation of its constitution, it is sad that we have to still fight for equal rights and equal pay for the citizens. Boycott it must be, if it is the only way to bring justice and restore the dignity of the constitution for the sake of all citizens of the US and their children.

“Peace and love, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York City, December, 1980.”

That was Lennon’s last written political statement. It doesn’t seem to be the work of a “closet Republican.”


From Time:

Seaman made news back in 2002 when he was sued by Yoko Ono for stealing personal photographs and letters from the Lennon family. He returned 374 pictures and paid $70,000 to recompensate for the letters sold to eager buyers.

"I offer no excuses for my conduct, and ask only that you can find it in your heart to forgive me," Seaman said in a 2002 statement.


Finally, from The Washington Post:

Lennon was a contrarian. He was a barrier-breaker and innovator and very much an ambitious musician. From an early age, in the humblest of Liverpool and Hamburg nightclubs, he envisioned his little band of rockers as the best in the world. And then he and his mates kept reinventing themselves. They kept breaking their own formulas. So of course when he reached 40 Lennon was going to take issue with his younger self. That’s how he (rocked and) rolled.