"In the world which is upside down, the true is a moment of the false."
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| rock and roll means fuck "In the world which is upside down, the true is a moment of the false." |
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Saturday, September 25, 2004 from the mouths of rock stars... Voices for Change 
Dave Matthews DAVE MATTHEWS BAND We've got to get somebody new in the White House. Being from South Africa, I know how much the rest of the world fears the United States right now. It's like if the world is a room, and everybody is in there, and suddenly somebody walks in who is seething and has headphones on, and the music is playing really loud, and he's armed. That's the way the world sees us. Everyone is on tiptoes, afraid of what this country might do. It's bound to scare everybody. Chuck D PUBLIC ENEMY Today is the first day of school for my kids. I got one in eleventh grade and another in fifth grade. The older one looks upon this election almost like it's pop culture. One day she asked me about Fahrenheit 9/11, and she was talking about it like it was the latest Usher concert. You know, it's gonna be her world. And when a bunch of fifty- and sixty-year-olds fuck it up for them, that's not a cool thing. Sending these twenty- and thirty-year-olds overseas to fight and die, what the hell is that all about? The real axis of evil is Bush and Cheney. They have detached America from the rest of the planet by invading Iraq. Whenever people start saying God anointed them to do something, it's a turnoff, because I don't think anyone has God's beeper number. Adam Horovitz BEASTIE BOYS I don't understand the George Bush argument. If you wanna argue Republican or Democrat, that's one thing, but Bush - I haven't seen the argument as to why this guy should get four more years. I don't see why he should be running a baseball team, let alone be president. At one of the Democratic debates, Al Sharpton said, "I can guarantee that any one of us on the stage right now in his sleep would make a better president than George Bush." What's at stake in this election? War. People's freedoms around the world and here at home. Women's right to choose, prayer in school, my grandmother getting medicine - the list could keep on going. This election really does seem crucial. If Bush gets re-elected, he will feel like the possibilities are limitless, that he can really do whatever he wants. Jeff Tweedy WILCO When people ask why this election is so close, I can't explain it. It's like trying to figure out how Billy Ray Cyrus sold 10 million records. The Republicans have done an extremely good job of appropriating populist themes. They somehow make it seem as though they're a party of the people, even though their policies hurt some of their most ardent supporters. Bush's hypocrisy is simply staggering. He argues that stem-cell research is not justified because of the sanctity of unborn life - yet he insists that dropping bombs on innocent people will lead to a better world. I'm also worried that if he is re-elected, he may have the chance to appoint more conservative judges to the Supreme Court. He could undo three generations of progress in this country toward civil equality and women's rights. I will vote for John Kerry, and I'll do it with a good conscience. I believe that he's our only shot at steering this ship back to some calmer waters. I agree that Kerry has flip-flopped on some ideas, but I take that as a sign of intelligence. I trust someone more if he re-examines his positions and has the ability to be introspective. There's no end to the horrific things you can do when you believe you're always right. John Mellencamp During the Vietnam War, you couldn't turn on the TV without seeing an image that made you sick. Guys with legs blown off, guys just lying there dead. It made our nation say, "Fuck this! Even if we win, we lose." If the media showed that stuff now, people would have a whole different take on Iraq. I'm afraid they're going to reinstitute the draft. I have daughters who are nineteen, twenty-two and thirty. If Bush gets re-elected, those Mellencamps are all going to be in the Army. So might you. Tom DeLonge BLINK 182 Bush is like someone's old dad who just doesn't get it, a person who's not able to grow or change. Among musicians, no one is backing Bush. Except for Ted Nugent, the guy who wears loincloths. Steve Earle We are engaged in a war with fundamentalist Islam that we can't win. But we have a president who has become a fundamentalist himself, and he thinks he can win it. The administration is fond of saying that the terrorists hate us because we're free. That's not true - they hate us because we support the House of Saud and Israel. Until we're willing to talk about those two things, we're going to be in big trouble. You can't cut taxes and conquer the world at the same time. Nobody's ever tried to do that, and the reason is because it's stupid. What part of world history did Bush miss? The way you build an empire is you tax the fuck out of your citizens and draft the fuck outta them, 'cause you have to have an army and you have to feed them. The thing that scares me more than anything else is that if Bush is re-elected, he's gonna have to institute a draft next year. They're gonna need some fresh bodies out there, and they can't do that without a draft. I've got a son who's twenty-two and a son who's seventeen, so I've got a dog in this fight. That's why I support John Kerry. Mickey Hart THE DEAD The front page is filled with Iraq, terrorism, the deficit, all these giant threats. It's like we've got a bad CEO. Nothing personal, Mr. Bush, but I don't think you're running this country well. I think you're running it into the ground, and it's my personal opinion that we need a regime change. You're fired. That's all. Nothing personal, man. Maybe we'll go out and have a glass of wine sometime and talk about it after the election. He might be a charming guy. But, boy, is he a fucked CEO. Will.i.am BLACK EYED PEAS This election is not about the war in Iraq - it's about the war we're neglecting in our own country. We should be more concerned about people who are on drugs, who can't get a meal, who aren't being educated. Our education system is fucked up. Teachers are getting paid nickels, and I'm getting lots of money to rhyme cat with bat. This election should be about how we are doing as a whole. From that standpoint, I think Bush has been a horrible president. There are people all over the world who depend on us, but they think we don't care about them - we'd rather watch American Idol. Bush doesn't understand that there is so much we can learn from the rest of the world. We're not in the world by ourselves, but we act like we are. Moby It's important to get swing voters to support Kerry. But it's also important to communicate with conservative Republicans and say, "Listen, by traditional conservative criteria, George Bush is a bad president. His foreign policy is in shambles, his economic policy is in shambles." You can be conservative and still not like George Bush. People like him because they think he seems like a strong guy who would be good to have a BBQ with. But shouldn't you hold the president to higher standards than who would you like to have a BBQ with? Jadakiss There's definitely a lot of hatred for Bush right now. He lost my trust a long time ago, when I woke up in my bed and found out the election had been rigged. I think Kerry's aiight. Everyone always ignores the hood, but I think he's a little bit more for the people than Bush. I'm for whatever is gonna make a little bit of a change. It gotta start from a pebble to get to a boulder. Art Alexakis EVERCLEAR I was an elected delegate from Oregon to the Democratic National Convention. The more I've gotten to know Kerry, the more I think he's the man for the job. I'm inspired by his humanity and his strength to be able to say unpopular things. He came back from Vietnam and said, "We're making a mistake there." This was a decorated guy, and these horrible Swift-boat people are trying to make him into a bad guy by picking four words out of a sentence and repeating them over and over. It's sad. The Republicans refuse to talk about issues - they just try and make people who are Christians believe that Bush is the only choice. As a Christian, I am offended and ashamed by that - but then again, I am offended and ashamed by most people who call themselves Christian. Ben Gibbard DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE He is like the distant friend who somehow ends up going to the party with you, and you worry he's going to get drunk and say the wrong thing and just start talking craziness. He opens his mouth and I can't trust what's gonna come out of it. By making a fool out of himself, he makes a fool out of all of us. Bob Weir THE DEAD Ralph Nader is the most arrogant and narcissistic guy I've ever met. I had a meeting with him in the early Nineties. I was jazzed going into the meeting, and I was disgusted leaving. I don't think I've ever met a bigger asshole. If he hadn't run in the last election, we wouldn't be in Iraq and thousands of people wouldn't have died needlessly. And still he's well pleased to go in and be the spoiler again! Harry Truman said that the one crime more heinous than treason is war profiteering, and yet we have the company that our vice president is still on retainer to - which is illegal - making a huge fortune. Every time the terrorists blow up another pipeline over there, Halliburton makes millions of dollars pasting it back together. They don't even have to be pumping oil to be making money. This is who owns our government now. Though I've never really endorsed a political candidate before, I'm going to have to this time. I liked the look in Kerry's eye when I met him. He looks like an aware human being and a guy with a sense of humor. So we're just going to have to hope and pray that the debates go well. Jackson Browne The people who are in charge now are old hands who were involved in the governments of Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush Sr. They're radicals and zealots whose attitude is "Bring it on." Some of them want a presence in the Middle East for oil, and some just want a front-row seat for the apocalypse. Here at home, it's hard to imagine the number of environmental gains that have already been rolled back by the Bush administration. It's like a football game: They have given the ball to corporate interests and sent them down the field while they block for them. It's not conservatism - it's just the opposite. They are using up our natural resources and selling them to the highest bidder. This administration has no respect for the rule of law itself. Whenever anyone tries to protect the environment, they just get their gnarliest and meanest lawyers to out-ugly everyone. Eddie Vedder PEARL JAM A year ago it seemed impossible to criticize Bush, because of September 11th. The Dixie Chicks and Michael Moore were attacked for speaking out. Now you've got books full of facts that show how Bush has failed. Those people dissenting a year ago were right. We have to stop treating the rest of the world like our subjects. What is the only institution more powerful than the United States government - one that can move things in a different direction? It's the American people. It's the voters. That's what I feel most strongly about: encouraging people who don't normally vote to understand their responsibility. Mike Mills REM The vote for change tour is a wake-up call. We may alienate some fans over this. I don't like that - I prefer to have music stand apart from political feelings. But this is so important, it's worth it. If I piss a few people off, good. Because, frankly, I'm scared. Unlike a lot of political issues, this is literally life or death. Kerry understands how the world works, in a way that Bush does not. When Bush ran the first time, I realized something: I want my president to be smarter than I am. I don't ask much, but I want him to be smarter than me. you might also want to check out "We've Been Misled", an interview of bruce springsteen by jann wenner. it's good stuff. public enemy: "fight the power" "refuse to lose!" 
posted by downtown |
2:21 PM
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Cost of the War in Iraq
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