I hate the new Chevy commercial.

Yes, it's true, they make my beloved Corvette C6, and we own a Malibu and a Cobalt. But that John Mellencamp commercial is a hideous nightmare. The song ain't too bad, vintage sappy Johnny Cougar. But the images they selected? What the hell is going on here? Vietnam? Nixon? Katrina? This is not feel-good and apple pie.

I'm glad to see I'm not alone in these views, as Slate ("Chevy's exploitive new ad") and the NYT ("American Tragedies, to Sell Trucks") have both run articles about it.

Mellencamp sings, "This is our country" while we watch Richard Nixon, post-resignation, waving from the helicopter that will whisk him away from the White House in disgrace. That's our country? Shamed politicians? Drab, mid-'70s melancholia? Bummer, man.

When it comes to selling bars, trucks or even politicians, you can wave the flag or you can drape one over a coffin. You can’t do both.