Here's the very, very, very, very tippiest tip of the iceberg:
- Walter Reed patient treatment
- Firing of US attorneys for political reasons
- The outing of covert CIA agent Valeria Plame
- The "war" in Iraq (WMDs? WTF?)
- Halliburton's no-bid contracts/cronyism
- And where IS Osama Bin Laden?
- Blackwater - "private security contractors," AKA mercenaries with no accountability
- The Military Commissions Act: torture, indefinite detention and the end of habeas corpus
- Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the destruction of New Orleans, the complete disregard for the black and poor, FEMA, "Heck of a job Brownie," "So many of the people in this arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them"
- Warrantless NSA wiretapping
- Homeland security: using fear to keep America in line and question free
- Abu Ghraib torture
- Tom Delay indicted for conspiracy to violate campaign laws
- Mark Foley, chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children sending sexually explicit messages to pages
- Larry Craig "going to the bathroom"
- Global warming? What global warming?
- Tax cuts for the wealthiest, for corporations and on capital gains
- Astronomical deficit, vastly increased national debt
- Immigration issues
- Healthcare?
- A growing poor and upper class and a shrinking middle class
Now, you may or may not agree with my views, but we can all agree that here - in this blog - I'm free to state my opinions. Ah, but therein lies the rub: can I state my opinions while performing with my cover band?
Remember, a cover band ain't great art, nor does it perform original music. A cover band's purpose is to entertain, to excite and thrill and to take the audience on a walk through happy memories. So, as a singer who's also involved in the political landscape of our nation, I constantly walk that tightrope of keeping it light but expressing myself about the country, and world, around us. For, although I'm paid to entertain, I'm also a functioning human being who looks at the world and strains to deal with the emotions modern times brings.
At a gig a few weeks ago there were two soldiers, on leave, in the club. These guys were kids - KIDS, I'm telling you - no more than 20 years old. Yet, they were two weeks away from going back to Iraq to fight a war our president and his cronies orchestrated to solidify their hold as the first true American monarchy, to satiate their blood and oil lust and feed money into the coffers of those smart enough to hitch a ride on their wagon (war reparations, my friends, is a great business). This is a war we never should've started and certainly shouldn't be participating in now, yet we continue to sacrifice our young to this beast with no remorse nor recompense.
So - yes, on mic I spoke up about these two, stating that whether the crowd was against or for the war they NEED to be for these soldiers - these KIDS - and we NEED to get them home to their country, their families and their lives.
I wanted to say more, but good sense took hold and I simply told the two they were heroes to me. Shortly after that the band kicked into "Pink Houses," and I interjected the word "war" into the line "It's the simple man that pays the bills, the thrills, the WAR that kills." (ASIDE: if you think "Pink Houses" is a good ol' tune about great ol' America, read the lyrics a bit more closely. Neither it, nor Springsteen's "Born in the USA" are glowing reviews of the country's machinations and what it's become, though many people think they're both fist pumping "America! F&$k Yeah!" anthems. Newsflash: they ain't.)
And so? Am I any closer to figuring out if I have the right to communicate politics while performing with a cover band? I think the two examples above are as far as I SHOULD push it, and I have my original music to best make my point without pissing off the people who write the checks to pay for quality entertainment.
Still...I often wonder if, considering the circumstances, our lives in this world, the future of our children and our planet...
...I wonder if, sometimes, pushing the boundaries and shaking people out of the fog is worth having the boss shove a finger into my face.
5 comments:
I'm partly with "Anonymous" here. I like to listen to Obama, but as a Black ex-marine might ask, how can we keep jobs if we villify ourselves to other countries, then burdon our large employers with Gov'r requirements that ain't required in foreigh countries? Our jobs can be done overseas and outside the States for less money and less regulating on enviromental and labor, so our jobs dissapear. The media wont ask them about this stuff. Why is that? Also, jobs that could be done by our own brothers, and I don't mean farm labor, are done here instead by foreigners living ten to a house. INCLUDING damage repair from Katrina! What about borders to protect jobs, Barack? I think he may be all show, like the rest of 'em. He's only half-Black i guess.
Not sure what to think about "Whites" as easy target villian, unless Jesse and Al and Louis needs obvious villians to get us in line behind them. I don't care what they say anyway.
As far as the U.S. as the world's bad guy, thats a crock of crap. They all wish they was here, livin the dream, instead of starving and gettin sick or shot at in their own fle-bitten country, so they think they hate us, thats obvious.
If we send troops there to clean up after their dictators and disasters, that makes us bad? I dont see Japan or China or Venesuela paying for tsunami damage, or freeing slaves in other countries, aint this one world now? what used to be far away is next door now. Its a new world, kenny. wake up and smell your microphone.
Those "kids" are the real men, they volunteered because they believe in freedom.
The US Marine
Hey buddy!
First of all, bro...I'm not quite sure WHAT to make of the current political climate and therefore I don't really have an opinion on what's going on. I have to look at my own situation and truthfully ask myself: Do I feel better off as an American now than I did when Bush took office? The answer is "no, I don't". I love my country. I've been a life-long Republican, and I've voted as such. I voted for Bush twice because I "thought" he was the right choice. I'm not saying that I regret that only because I'm still not convinced that the two other guys were any better. However, two things are clear to me now, having had the "awakening" that I've experienced as a result of several things in my life in 2007. Number one: I'm pretty disappointed in the way he has led our country and he's not the guy I thought he was when I voted him in initially. And number two: I'm just now discovering that the values that my parents said were "right" when I was taking shape as a wee lad, aren't always the right ones in the reality of the world as we know it.
BUT...The REAL point that I wanted to make here has virtually nothing to do with politics. I just met you last night. You are one hell of guy and an incredibly talented singer. We had a great time eating dinner and laughing and then getting to play on stage together, which is something I haven't done with people I actually LIKED in a very very long time. After reading this post of yours, I feel like if "Anonymous" had sat with you for over an hour and conversed with you like I did last night, his tune might change a little. I didn't take your post as a rant about you thinking we are "entitled to freedom of speech, pursuit of happiness, and prosperity, and should be paying absolutely nothing for it". Not at all. In fact, I feel like I know your heart a little as a result of the hang we had yesterday, and so I respect your post; not as an airing of your feelings on politics (nor, do I really feel that this post IS that), but as a "question" by you as to whether or not it is appropriate to convey your feelings from the stage. Those of us in the business know how tight that wire really is. Obviously.
In my opinion, you didn't even really come down one way or another on any position from the mic, yet you are being attacked fairly aggressively in your own Blog for suggesting that you might have, and asking for clarification. I mean, let's be clear: whether you like it or not or whether or not you support it, "WAR", by its very nature, often demands that lives be taken. You stated a fact. Nothing more. War DOES kill. Duh!!
In closing, I dig Kenny! You're a good dude and I could tell that from talking and hanging with you off stage AND on. We could be (and I think we ARE now) friends (especially with all we have in common and of course, the memory burn into my brain of the "tard face" - which, by the way, defies all notions of you as a "politically correct saint"!!).
I guess my point is that you really have to sit with someone for a time to get the nature of their being before you can truly form an educated opinion about them, no matter the issue. A Blog post doesn't give you the insight into a person's heart and soul the way that one-on-one communication does. I know that you have the utmost respect for people...it shows in your care for your audience and your brotherly treatment of your mates on stage. Your treatment of those soldiers at your gig was a testament to that same care and respect you have for people across the board.
Keep rockin', brother!
DO
Hm...Kenny here, and it looks like only Dean and Rob understood where I was coming from. However, since the two anonymous posters chose to cram the Fox News talking points down my throat - while getting personal about it - I'm compelled to respond.
First off, re-read the blog - MY blog. I'm entitled to spout any kind of hoo-hah I like, and I note that in the blog itself.
Second - I KNOW the price of freedom. Not only do I love my country, but I understand why we celebrate Independence Day, why we fought WWII and why Kennedy went eye to eye with Russia during the Cuban Missle Crisis. I also had a brother who was in the army, and gave his knee and hip to the service. So, please - shut up with your sarcasm about the price of freedom.
By the way - don't confuse my hatred of unnecessary war with supporting our boys. No one, and I mean NO ONE loves and supports our soldiers more than me. You'd understand that, if you would've read my blog! However, I DO believe sending our young servicemen off to die without a reason earns you a special chair in hell.
While I'm on this subject, it's amazing how the far right confuses hatred of war with apathy/weakness/selfishness. Bullshit. I was all for sending our troops into Afghanistan after those psychotics flew two planes into buildings on our soil. See - that's where Bin Laden WAS. Not in Iraq.
The only "selfish belief" I have is that I'm selfish enough to want my fellow Americans to live the lives our forefathers and soldiers fought and died for. Pumping billions of dollars into a war built upon a framework of lies and deceipt - while poor Americans die in filth and can't get a fresh bottle of water three days after Katrina - galls me to no end.
Really, I could go on all day, but - especially you, Poster #1 - it's like reading the checklist Sean Hannity keeps in his breast pocket. But, if nothing else, pat yourself on the back for living in fear and denial. Keep your head in the sand - staying ignorant and gulping down dishonesty is much more comfortable, and easy, than seeing the truth, anyway. And remember, when you're looking the other way and pumping your fist yelling "we kick ASS!," don't think for a minute about the good, honest Americans - here, at home, as one with us - sending their children to bed without dinner...not because they WANT to, but because they have no other choice.
I'll leave with this: I wrote a song, a few years back, and the refrain says: "I can't stand to see your sorrow/Take my eyes, I don't want to know." Essentially, the protagonist would rather have his eyes tore out then to see the pain and misery we, as Americans, have RIGHT HERE - yet choose to ignore or pretend doesn't exist.
'nuff said.
I haven't checked the blog in a long time. I checked it out tonight and there are some really interesting posts here!
If I may throw my hat into the ring, I'm Kenny's drummer. I've been playing with him for almost 5 years now. I'm proud to call him my best friend. He's a liberal Democrat, I'm a conservative Republican. There are many things that the anonymous posters wrote that I agree with.
Prior to being a full-time musician, I worked as a deputy correctional officer in a maximum security institution. I left this line of work when I injured my knee performing a cell extraction on a large inmate. This injury later required extensive bone surgery. I had to fight the county to get Worker's Comp to cover it. Meanwhile my wife (who still works at the institution,) had an assignment which entailed taking inmates to the hospital and various medical offices for a variety of reasons. Some were legitimate, life threatening situations that required immediate attention. Others, including a murderer who had fought with officers upon arrest and attempted to relieve one officer of his duty weapon, was taken multiple times for acne treatment because his therapist felt it would do wonders for his self-esteem. I don't need to go into detail regarding the level of anger, frustration, resentment and abandonment I felt after providing the county with 8 years of service only to be left out hanging in the wind.
The reason I tell this story is to make a point. I can play in a band (which in many ways is like a marriage) with a guy that has political views that on most points are 180 degrees opposite of mine. I can break bread with him, laugh with him and recreate with him without having to argue political views.
Deane's post hit the nail on the head. The reason Kenny blogged this is because he was wondering if conveying personal political views on stage in a cover band was the right thing to do. He asked my opinion after posting this and I honestly told him that I didn't think it was the proper place. Since blogging this, I can only think of one song where Kenny might choose to alter the lyrics slightly to convey his politics. You'd have to be listening closely to even catch it!
Though liberal Kenny may be, I can think of no one else that loves this country more or supports members of the armed services more. To the two anonymous posters who now know Kenny's political views, PLEASE don't let politics interfere with your enjoyment of the band or the music we play. I truly hope that you will still make it out to the shows.
Music is healing and transcends all political and religious disagreements (which is why I make it a point to try and not discuss both of those topics!)
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