The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated

Brandon Flowers, lead singer of the rock band The Killers, recently lambasted alleged ‘rivals’ Green Day in the press, claiming to be upset by the latter’s concert DVD Bullet in a Bible. Mr. Flowers is no stranger to courting mild controversy and telling fellow rockers what he thinks of them through the press. Not two months ago, he was practically pleading with Thom Yorke (of Radiohead fame) to return to a style of music Mr. Flowers preferred and to stop “wasting” his talents on his current projects. For a singer who fronts a band that has enjoyed a marginal amount of success for a relatively short period of time, has received less in the way of critical acclaim and has built up less of an ardent fan base than either of the bands whose actions he decries, Mr. Flowers has been nauseatingly vocal.

According to Mr. Flowers, his main gripe with the concert DVD is that it was recorded at a show in England. Apparently Mr. Flowers felt Green Day’s material was unsuitable for an overseas tour. The charge is as ridiculous as the uproar over the Dixie Chicks’ comments which were made while on tour abroad – as if Americans speaking their minds while outside the country somehow undermines the United States’ standing in the world. The Bush administration has done just fine without any help from American entertainers. In fact, such remarks should strengthen the foreigners’ view of us – that we don’t all think in lock-step with our president and that we’re not the mindless pawns of the government illuminates the dual jewels of Freedom of Expression and Democracy that America prides itself on. Clearly lacking in an understanding of how Americans are viewed in the world, Mr. Flowers launched into a diatribe fueled by nothing but his own ignorance. Billie Joe Armstrong and co. aren’t the root of anti-American feeling overseas, the US government’s foreign policy is to blame. Green Day can hardly claim any hand in shaping US foreign policy – but they can react to it in any way they like (note to Brandon Flowers: see the First Amendment to the US Constitution for more information).

That Mr. Flowers’ sensibilities have been so easily offended is humorous, but not as laughable as the next words out of his mouth: that his own band’s new album is a much better representation of America than Green Day’s. Mr. Flowers’ feeble attempt to hock his wares by assailing one of the most popular bands in the world is a cheap trick worthy of the GOP. One wonders if Mr. Flowers has been reading from Karl Rove’s and Tony Snow’s playbook since the modus operandi fits so neatly: start off with negative attacks on your rivals featuring a focus on non-issues followed by a weak attempt at proving that you are superior because you displayed the foresight not to fall into the same trap. The American public wised up to this trompe l’oeil at the midterm elections and the public has greeted The Killers new album with a similarly frosty reception. The jingoistic view of America espoused by Mr. Flowers is also reminiscent of the GOP’s party line: America is #1 no matter what we’ve done.

If Mr. Flowers had paid attention to the concert, he would hear Mr. Armstrong yell the words: “This song isn’t anti-American… it’s anti-war!” prior to the opening chords of Holiday. Rather than undermining the nation, Green Day does it a service: those outside of the US will gain a different perspective on Americans – that we’re not all war-mongers eager to strong-arm anyone who has the slightest objection to our policies and unable to engage in multi-lateral resolutions to any problem.

That Green Day are popular overseas despite being an American band means they may yet be hope – that we haven’t all been tarred with the same false WMD dossier. After all, despite the hit America’s credibility has taken in the past five years, Billie Joe Armstrong has had crowds of scores of thousands of non-Americans enraptured, hanging on his every word, following his every move. That alone should signify that there’s still hope that America may yet recover from this bleak period in our history.

Posted by Sam Clemens at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

On Monday October 23, 2006, on his daily radio show, Rush Limbaugh, the implausibly popular conservative talk show host, controversially criticized actor Michael J. Fox for appearing in campaign ads endorsing Democratic candidates who support stem cell research. His initial disgust was at the actor’s purported exaggeration of his condition. Although Mr. Limbaugh later apologized for the statement when many pointed out that the physical manifestation of Mr. Fox’s Parkinson’s Disease was in fact not deliberately amplified for the sake of the commercial, he did not relent entirely. He proceeded to lambaste the actor for apparently abusing the power of having a disease to endorse a Democratic candidate. Of course the irony was lost on him - Mr. Limbaugh is himself guilty of exploiting the issue by using his outrage at Mr. Fox’s performance as a flimsy cover to attack the Democrats in a cheap pre-election trick.

But while Mr. Limbaugh’s attack is superficially shocking – challenging the veracity of another’s disease/disability and charging that it’s merely a front used to further the campaign of a politician is practically a crime in itself – it is also repulsive at its core. Why the vehement outburst against Mr. Fox? This ad should come as no great surprise to anyone even remotely familiar with Mr. Fox’s track record as someone who has devoted his later years to increasing support for and awareness of Parkinson’s Disease, with stem cell research providing much hope in the search for a cure. Surely in this case, the reaction was spurred on by Mr. Limbaugh’s own personal intense opposition to stem cell research and the ill-informed (read: non-science based) opinions on the matter espoused by his loyal followers – members of the far right who equate embryonic stem cell research with human cloning and murder. The resistance has become so passionate that Mr. Limbaugh and those like him are blind to any facts that may enter the discussion. See the actual facts in the text version of Missouri’s Proposition 2. Moreover, what makes Mr. Limbaugh’s gut reaction so vile to the rest of us is his need to take down the person presenting the issue, rather than discuss the merits of the issue itself. He plays to his base by stoking their worst fears – human cloning, embryo destruction – without acknowledging the facts. Fact: Stem cell research would not produce embryos that could become humans. Fact: While scientists should of course tread carefully, we are a long way off from Gattaca and The Island.

Taking a page out of the Democrats’ ad, the Republicans rushed to line up their own celebrities to respond to Mr. Fox’s series of commercials. The latest miscue from the G.O.P. is almost laughable. Throwing a few C-list athletes and actors in front of the screen does not amount to a serious rebuttal. Mr. Fox lives with the disease every day and has become a prominent spokesman for its advocacy groups. He’s clearly got a vested interest in finding a cure for the disease. The various spokespeople chosen by the Republicans to state their case could not have missed the point more. Kurt Warner admits to doing the commercial (as many bloggers have noted, in an orange jumpsuit in front of a brick wall) because of his Christian faith. Hardly a strong scientific case to rebut Fox’s argument. And the inclusion of Jim Caviezel (several commentators have questioned whether his garbled introduction was given in Aramaic) was bound to invite the Jesus jokes.

On the eve of an election where pundits everywhere are predicting gains by Democrats – enough to nullify the GOP majority in both houses of Congress, if not gain a majority of their own – Mr. Limbaugh and those on the right are once again playing the same old tune: attack the Democrats on image and superficial nonsense (see: Kerry Misses a Line, GOP Misses the Point) while playing down the facts. Fact: the Republicans are running scared.

Posted by Sam Clemens at 06:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yes, it’s true. Senator John Kerry botched a joke. While the Republicans dance with glee over the election-eve verbal slip by a Democrat who’s not up for re-election, dwelling on the perceived “attack” on our troops, they continue to attack the troops in more covert and malicious ways. In the years since President Bush was first elected, they’ve revoked veteran’s benefits, have failed to provide them with the necessary armor or weapons, and have asked them to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save their own sorry hides. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow - as usual, focusing on local politics rather than providing the White House press corps with any real news - took a moment out of his usual spinning of President Bush's flubbed lines to mock Senator Kerry's flubbed line. Even the elusive Vice President, Dick Cheney, graced the country with a rare public appearance to mock Mr. Kerry. Meanwhile, October ended with the bleak news that US troops and Iraqis are dying faster than ever.

The Republicans are desperately reaching for some Democratic scandal – no matter how unscandalous the incident – that will overcome their own scandals: Iraq-gate, Foley-gate, Tom DeLay & Jack Abramoff, to name but a few. The immediate and all-too-earnest reaction by high-ranking officials in the party (the President, Vice President, and White House Press Secretary) who all took a strong stance against Mr. Kerry was bordering on embarrassing. The incident was a minor one, but as they all raced to mock Kerry’s misspoken line (as if President Bush has never slipped up during a public event), it exposed their fear. Fear that the public would pay attention to the real issues – the lack of direction in Iraq, the economic problems facing average Americans, gross problems with the state of healthcare and education, climate change, and the governmental corruption that exacerbates all of them.

All in all, it is highly unlikely that the now infamous “botched joke” will have any impact on the election outcome. The Republicans hackneyed strategy - politicians who've never served in the military attacking one who did - is ringing hollow. If the GOP sincerely thinks that it will get a last-minute boost from Kerry’s flubbed line, then they are truly beyond repair. The botched job they’ve done over the past few years has done more damage to America’s psyche than such a supposed slight could ever do.

In the meantime, here’s some real news from the front that should have gotten more press than it did:

Kevin Tillman contributed a strongly worded, passionate piece to Truthdig days before his late brother's birthday and the election.

Posted by Sam Clemens at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)