by Don Nash, Unknown News
Oct. 29, 2004
So the Band-Aid crowd is going to remake a sappy rendition of ‘we are the world or you say this is Christmas or aren’t we special and pampered and this is how we sooth our souls .’ Just in time for the holiday sales season.
Pardon my possibly slight cynicism. It will undoubtedly make the recording industry bags full of money. The rock stars will get theirs, in good publicity if n not in royalties, and they will also undoubtedly get a nice tax write off for their effort.
Meanwhile, Iraq is unmercifully blown to little tiny pieces and innocent Iraqi people are brutally shocked and awed into smithereens. The Palestinian people are bulldozed and I.D.F.’d again. The amazing United States and their techno-color dream president sit silently by and watch. Those Israelis are so cute...especially at the holiday season. The holidays bring out the festively savage side of the Israeli army.
Meanwhile back in Iraq, Mr. Abu al-Zarqawi is single handedly putting a brutal end to the American efforts to re-army the Iraqi people. The American government continues to state that it is after all, Mr. al-Zarqawi that is doing all of this evil murder in Iraq. Mr. Abu al-Zarqawi is one very busy amputee terrorist. Without apologies, I don’t believe one single government word of it. Sometime back, I asked the nice people at Debkafile about Mr. al-Zarqawi and they categorically stated that Abu al-Zarqawi is an American figment of the “intelligence” imagination. The Debkafile is a cover for the Mossad. One doesn’t want to mess around to awfully much with these guys...they mean business and they don’t suffer American amateurs lightly. It took me about a month to get my computer running properly after my encounter with the Debkafile.
Back to the rock stars. For whatever the reason, the all-star pampered and catered to singing idols are going to subject the world to more musical irrelevance. It all rings hollow in light of our world situation. It’s just a bit much to see the rock elite condescending to those that are in suffering through out our world.
Hell Bob, I know about your humanitarian work but, what are you doing for the suffering in Iraq and Palestine? Jeez Sting, are you going to invite a Palestinian family over to your house for a Christmas meal? Golly Bruce, have you ever seen what “shock and awe” can do for an Iraqi neighborhood?
Now Bruce, I realize that you are quite busy with the “rock the vote” stuff. So, while you are “rocking the vote” for John Kerry, have you asked Mr. Kerry about when he plans to lighten up on the Iraqi people? Of course, it is a given that Kerry might not win the election. So then what? Are you going to rock the Iraqi people back from the brink of genocide? Hell Bob, Janet, Ringo, Michael, Paul, and all of the other “headliners” that are so caught up in the work of world peace, are any of you going to Palestine to share the holidays with those on the receiving end of apartheid? I’ll be the first to admit that I might be wrong but, I’m willing to wager that any one of you will be as far from the war, death, and destruction that is Palestine and Iraq, as you can be when the distance is measured from the south of France or Cancun or the beaches of Hawaii.
So you’ll understand that I find your remake of whatever it is you all are remaking, to be more than just a little disingenuous. Really, I find it crass and quite boorish, not to mention the condescending part. If you really want to make a difference in the lives of the world’s suffering and dying, set up a stage on the White House lawn and crank up your amplifiers and blow the miserable ignorance right out of the White House. Crank up those amplifiers and blast the Democrats into some semblance of responsibility for atrocity. Set up your sound stages directly in front of Wall Street and play the corporate masters of our collective politicians, into some sense of moral decency and compassion for those that are rocking in death’s grip and the receiving end of ‘shock and awe’.
My dear rock music elite, had you been on the front lines when the protests were underway just before Bush’s blitzkrieg on Iraq, I could possibly have some respect for what it is you are doing now. I don’t recall seeing any of you there. I certainly haven’t seen any of you since. Now that Bush’s preemptive war on Iraq is blatant genocide, you are going to remake a new Coke commercial song? That won’t cut it kids.
Lest the world think that I am venting spleen on the rock musicians only, allow me to continue my vitriol on the other ‘organizations’. Global Exchange where are you? I think that have you sold your soul to the Democrats. I think that you struck a deal with the devil for your silence in the face of growing and escalating genocide. Things are not going to change one iota if and that is a big if, John Kerry gets elected. Kerry will be the twenty first century incarnation of Lyndon Johnson. Time will certainly verify that assertion. Dennis Kucinich, what happened to you homeboy? Howard Dean, where are you son? I know, you are hard at work for John Kerry. What is going to be different under a Kerry administration?
The genocide and atrocities that are happening right this very minute in Iraq and Palestine, need to be addressed and dealt with. I just don’t have the resources or the connections to make even the slightest bit of difference.
I really don’t want to hear any nonsense about “wait until the election is over.” That is sanctimonious Vichy crap. Innocent Afghani, Iraqi, and Palestinian people are dying at the hands of the United States. They are dying at the hands of George Bush and company. I can’t make a dent in the facade that is mainstream media but, the rock stars are already there and the Kuciniches and the Deans are already there so, where are your voices in a cause that needs immediate attention?
Global Exchange where are you?
Anti-war any organization, where are your voices of outrage and disgust?
Oh yes I forgot, everything is on hold while we all pull together for John Kerry. Friends, no-men, and countrypersons lend me your ears and I’ll laugh you a tune of hysterical ‘I told you so’. You are under a delusional spell if you seriously think that you will get even one moment of ‘carpet time’ with John Kerry. You will get even less with George Bush. One slightly lesser evil is supposed to be better than one glaringly large evil?
That brings us to the obvious “missing” segment of this diatribe. What are we going to do and where do we turn to for some political help. The Republicans are sure as hell no answer. The Democrats are sadly, no help either. America needs to be saved from the two party strangle-hold on the political and elective process. The Republicans are a failure and the Democrats are an even bigger failure. Ralph Nader has been abandoned and put under a curse by the Democrats. The Democrats still hold Nader responsible for their own failures. There is the Libertarian Party. They strike me as just a wee bit on the loony side. I do however, have worlds of respect for Justin Raimondo who writes for anti-war.com.
America needs a third and viable alternative for the political process. It will take a Herculean building process and worlds of time. Unfortunately we are out of time. The Afghani, Iraqi, and Palestinian people have been out of time for quite a while now. Which brings me back to my original whine about the rock elite and remaking daffy tunes that do one incredibly huge disservice to the work of peace.
Musicians, give us an anthem that encapsulates the Bush genocide, the Israeli apartheid, lying American presidents and politicians, the denial of basic human rights, denial of the right to freely assemble and speak out, the plight of all of the world’s indigenous peoples, the plight of working people, and the right of universal health care. And, I want Carlos Santana to play lead guitar and the tune should have a good back beat.
Until then, rock musicians and Democrats and Michael Moore (I’ll bet you thought that I would leave him out) and Global Exchange and Tony Blair and...I’m probably expecting way too much, just sit down and shut up. Don’t remake anything and don’t work for the Democrats just because of some deal that was struck. Oh yes, I have an attitude and I am seriously pissed off. Frustration can lead one to shouting when a calm voice might be better. Oh to hell with that, let’s all just shout really loud and all at once.
© 2004, by the author.
What do you think?
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Hell Bob, I know about your humanitarian work but, what are you doing for the suffering in Iraq and Palestine?
Jeez Sting, are you going to invite a Palestinian family over to your house for a Christmas meal?
Golly Bruce, have you ever seen what “shock and awe” can do for an Iraqi neighborhood?
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Now Bruce, I realize that you are quite busy with the “rock the vote” stuff.
So, while you are “rocking the vote” for John Kerry, have you asked Mr. Kerry about when he plans to lighten up on the Iraqi people?
Of course, it is a given that Kerry might not win the election.
So then what?
Are you going to rock the Iraqi people back from the brink of genocide?
Hell Bob, Janet, Ringo, Michael, Paul, and all of the other “headliners” that are so caught up in the work of world peace, are any of you going to Palestine to share the holidays with those on the receiving end of apartheid?
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