( 9:44 PM )
Rock And Roll
There was a day when I would have accused you of selling out if you let a car manufacturer or perfume company use your music to market their wares. But after a while I realized that artists have every right to make money from their art. If it's ok for Moby and the Mooney Suzuki to do it, then it's got to be ok for Joe Strummer and Pete Townshend to do it too.
But what I don't get in these new Cadillac commercials with Led Zeppelin is why bother to buy a classic rock song and then edit it to shreds? You buy the freakin' song because it's familiar to people, so why would you cut it up and make it unfamiliar? Der.
( 9:43 PM )
Rock And Roll
( 2:35 AM )
Rush, Rush (Regime Change Remix)
I'm beginning to believe President Bush's rush to begin war on Iraq was prompted by the fact that they thought they knew where Saddam was, so they wanted to run their "decapitation" move while they had him in their sights. While I'm deeply opposed to this historic, unprovoked act of aggression, I'm quickly moving onto the position of let's get this over with as quickly as possible for the sake of general human decency, the troops, the Iraqis, and so they'll stop interfering with important stuff like the NCAA tournament and the Academy Awards.
I'm proud that I took to the streets to protest and denounce this war. I was one of millions of people around the globe that broadly and loudly spoke our minds to the world's governments. Three in particular did not listen, but at least we spoke out. I've been hearing stories of some of the protests, and my favorite is about a rally in Chicago that broke out into an illegal, but mostly peaceful 10,000 person, 2 hour march through the streets. The protesters chanted "this is what democracy looks like" and I couldn't agree more. And I get the feeling that people are being aroused and they’re beginning to remember that the power base in a democracy lies should lie with We The People.
Forcing democracy on someone who doesn't want it and is not prepared for it (and for that matter will probably turn it against us if successful) is folly for fools. But this war is now a reality that we have to deal with, so I think it's time to look forward.
For now, I hope someone will be able to turn the energy from the worldwide protest movement toward something useful. The leaders of the countries sponsoring this war should be voted out of office. Forward thinking candidates should be gearing up to speak from their hearts and articulate an agenda that will defeat regimes that believe war is preferable to diplomacy. Win Without War, United For Peace and many other groups are leading protests around the world. They need to channel that momentum into the ballot box.
America is the shining exemplar of democracy. Let's show the entire world that regime change begins at home.
Peace
( 10:32 PM )
Tell Me Lies
I've been trying to stay out of the war in Iraq debate for several reasons, but mainly because, if you're looking for arguments pro or con, go to a real news source (no offense fellow 2Wallers) and get some real info. I'll leave the definition of "real news source" up to you, but any visual medium (say like Fox News) won't qualify.
But since this here's my blog, and I have strong feelings about the war, I'm going to lay down some quick thoughts on it. First off, naive and hippy-dippy as it may be, I don't believe in war. I don't believe that Saddam Hussein is connected to September 11th. I don't believe that Soddy has weapons of mass destruction. I don’t believe we’ll be any safer after Hussein is out of power than right now. I absolutely do not believe that this war is about bringing democracy to the Iraqis and the Middle East (it's not like the right to vote is going to result in leaders who are supportive of the US. Any Iraqi elected in a free election will win on a platform of ‘kill all Americans now.’ And I won't even go into the infrastructure required for democracy - like a free press and impartial courts like we have here in the States. Doh!). And I don't believe that Saddam is a threat to the US because he's contained now, and has been for the past 12 years.
I do, however, believe that North Korea poses a bigger threat to the US and to world peace. I believe the world has spoken out loudly and clearly against this war, and that only a fool would fail to listen. I believe that imperfect as it may be, the UN does a good job of keeping the peace, and providing a forum for countries to work together. I believe that attacking Iraq plays directly into Osama bin Laden's hand, and is exactly what he hoped we would do. I believe that Al Qaeda will attack the US soon after we launch war against Iraq. And I believe that Bush's stated reasons for war are blatant lies, but that it's possible he has a coherent reason for waging war (as laid out in the Bush Doctrine that calls for America to be the world's only superpower, and as such, we must secure a source of energy that will keep us there. Coherent vision? Maybe. Wrong policy? Definitely - especially when you consider that America could be a leading light in developing solar, hydrogen, and other alternative fuel sources. But I digress.). So I'm against war.
But the inspiration for writing this came after I read Bush's call for the Senate to require votes up or down on judicial nominees. As I started to think that's a crock of b.s., I realized that hey - our system of government is working. This president is trying to pack the courts with conservative ideologues and the Dems are holding him back. Which means you have to have 60 Senators on your side to hold sway over the courts. Which then means if you don't have 60 Senators, you have to nominate judges that are more mainstream and acceptable to the other side – or in other words compromise.
So I realized, I really like Democracy. With the current exception of our fourth estate, our system of government with its checks and balances is working. Sure the president got my party to cave in and basically support him on war. But my party is starting to find some backbone and challenge him on his economic policy (not that there is one - oops. Sorry - I'm partisan) and his court nominees. So I fucking dare anyone to call me unpatriotic because I don't support the war. I can love my country and my Constitutional right to criticize it when I feel its wrong, just as much as someone can support sending 18-year-old boys to war in the name of making the world a safer place.
So God bless America, and my prayers go out to any and all human beings who suffer and lose their lives in this conflict.
PEACE
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