(no subject)
Operation Save the Country
//Heather Bullard
Note: Temporarly Public
Election day is right around the corner, so why don't I set you down and share a few political views with you. I'm going to take this straight from Justin Sane of Anti-Flag as he wrote in the introductory of Rock Against Bush Volume 2 so don't read the first line, get bored, and go read someone else's journal about how they broke up with their boyfriend and now masturbate to their internet lover's letters. He writes:
"When Bush took over as a president I used to crack jokes about what insane policy he would attempt to enact next. My jokes were ridiculousy far-fetched! For example, "I bet Bush will pass off a super huge tax cut for the rich by saying he's endorsing a tax cut for American families." Ha ha! That one was funny. Then there was, "Because of the California wildfires, I bet Bush says that to save forests we need to cut them down!" That one got a lot of laughs too. But the humdinger was, "Watch Bush say that Iraq has nuclear weapons and use that excuse to invade Iraq for its oil!" the absurdity of that one killed people, until as it turns out, every ludicrous joke I made came true! Horrified that my 'prediction jokes' were somehow singularly responsible for jinxing America and the world I quit making jokes, but even in a world with no insane jokes the Bush crazies were still pushing through the most insane policy ever! I began to wonder, "If my jokes aren't responsible for every horrible act commited by the Bush Regime, how is Bush hoodwinking the public into buying obvious bullshit that I was joking about only a month ago?" After some comtemplation I've come to a few conclusions.
For starts, the Bush Regime has taken the use of Orwellian 'doublespeak' to a new level, ensuring a benevolent, positive, upbeat spin is attached to policies that are anything but. They don't call cutting down a forest to 'save' it "Excuse To Let Massive Internation Logging Conglomerates Cut Down Endangered Forests Act." No, no. That would be too reality based (sorts of like that show COPS!). Instead, they gave their destructive bill this positive upbeat name, Healthy Forests Initiative. Hell, put it that was makes me want to be the first guy to say "TIMBER! Cut down those pesky trees because I love camping!"
How about the Clear Skies Initiative? What could be wrong with clear skies? Well, nothing, except that this piece of legislation is not about clean air or clear skies. The Clear Skies Initiative gives corporations the green light to release higher levels of pollution into the enviroment including mercury and greenhouse gases. Maybe I've missed a major scientific announcement, but in the place I like to refer as "reality," allowing more pollution is not going to keep our air clean and breathable.
Finally, the Bush Regime didn't call the invasion of Iraq, "Operation Line the Pockets Of Our Buddies At every Weapons Manufacturer and every Multinational Corporation Who Gave Money To the Bush Campaign (Including Dick Cheney's Company Who Pays Cheney To This Very Day)." No way! Instead, they scared the fuck out of us with this endlesss references to Saddam "Insane" and his non-existent WMDs, and then they called the invasion which violated Internation and US Constitutional Law "Operation Iraqi Freedom." Red, White, and Brainwashed Americans listening to the misinformation repeatedday after day, month after month, thought, "I'm scared! I want safety! If Saddam is gonna nuke our ass, nuke 'em first! If you can give me safety AND set some oppressed people free, I'm for it! Besides, doesn't that oil under their sand belong to us anyway?"
Think my explanations and evaluations are too simple? I thought so too until my outrageous jokes started coming true! This revalation led me to this question, "Are the people of the USA actually voting for what they believe in?" So, I did some research and what I found is that a majority of US citizens believe in progressive, liberal principals! It's true...Public opinion polls show that a whopping 86% of Americans believe that there needs to be stricter laws and regulations to protect the enviroment; 77% think it is more important to maintain goverment services such as Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid than to cut taxes; 72% of Americans favor stricter laws related to the control of handguns; 63% of americans favor affirmative action programs designed to help blacks, women, and other minorities get better jobs and education; 62% would prefer a universal health insurance program run by goverment and financed by taxpayers. So we've got a population that, by almost two-thirds majority or more, disagress with the policies of the current administration. Is anyone else feeling like their hea dis going to explode?
If this is the case, why are so many right-wing politicians holding public office and defining American culture when a majority of US citizenssupport progressive, liberal, left-wing values? I hate to say it because it's the answer no one wants to hear, but we have to pay less attention to the marketing that these right-winged mother, father, brother, and sister fuckers are inundating us with, and more attention to their true intentions and actions. If a couple hundred more people had done this in the first place this comp wouldn't exist! It's up to YOU to know who actually supports the ideas YOU support instead of believing misleading but effective right-wing advertising campaigns that would make any corporation drool (Just think how many pairs of sneakers they could sell if their ads were half as effective!). you don't have to become a political junkie or stop doing the things you enjoy... just go out of your way once in a while to find out what is going on, ideally from a non-mainstream media source. There's a different side to the story only a few clicks awa, starting at the web sites of two British newspapers that are famous for including facts that US papers somehow fail to report. Check out the Gaurdian and The Independent at www.gaurdian.co.uk and www.independent.co.uk . Once armed with knowledge that you'll find man people don't have, you need to discuss issues with people and you need to get involved!
What news programs you can listen to? Democracy NOW! ( www.democracynow.org ) and Flash Points ( www.flashpoints.net ) are two of the best news programs in the world-period! Good print sites are www.commondreams.com , www.zmag.org , www.undergroundactionalliance.org , and www.alternet.org .
I want to leave you with the following thoughts... Is there a major difference between the mainstream American left and right wing parties? In my opinion, regarding a few impostant issues, yes; but overall, no. Is George Bush the source of all our problems? No, but Bush's track record indicates that he will continue to propose a push for every evil and fucked up thig I can think to make a joke out of, including stacking the Supreme Court with reactionary, back-sliding, uber-conservatives who believe individuals have no personal freedoms (abortion rights will be first on their list), re-sinstaing the draft (the legislation has already been introduced!!!), invading North Korea and Syria and Iran, and even MORE tax cuts for the rich, and the end of all important enviromental regulation and social prgrams. I don't know if you ever travel outside of the USA, but I do and all I hear is that the man in the white house is a lunatic. Looking back at Bush's track record makes it impossible for me to argue otheriwse and that's just pathetic.
I don't care if you like me or my band. Don't do it for me, do it for the world, your family, yourself! And for fuck's sake, PLEASE go to www.punkvoter.com and register as a member, because the more registered members Punk Voter can prove it has, the more influence Punk Voter has in Washington DC with the politicians who have the ability to introduce and back important progressive legislation.
Finally, if you're not old enough to vote in 2004, it doesn't mean you won't be able to vote forever! Punk Voter is building a coalition for the future so get involved now. WE NEED YOU!
That said, thanks for your time. Now go drink a beer, a soy milk, or whatever you drink, and rock that awesome comp!
Peace-Love-Unity
Justin Sane
of Anti-Flag
XOXO
If that's not all, go out and buy the Rock Against Bush Volume 2 and you'll find in there 20 more reasons to hate Bush. I'll give you one of the twenty as an example:
Bush campaign shirts were made in Burma under sweatsho conditions. Interestingly enough, in 2003 Bush Jr. signed a legislation banning products from Burma effective September 1st, 2003.
Eminem is also making a difference with his Bush hating song "Mosh" which imply the lyrics:
Imagine it pouring, it's raining down on us
Mosh pits outside the oval office
Someone's tryina tell us something,
Maybe this is god just sayin' we're responsible
For this monster, this coward,
That we have empowered
This is Bin Laden, look at his head noddin'
How could we allow something like this without pumping our fists
Now this is our final hour
Let me be the voice in your strength and your choice
Let me simplify the rhyme just to amplify the noise
Try to amplify the times it, and multiply by six...
Teen million people, Are equal at this high pitch
Maybe we can reach alqueda through my speech
Let the president answer a higher anarchy
Strap him with an Ak-47, let him go, fight his own war
Let him impress daddy that way
No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our own soil
No more psychological warfare, to trick us to thinking that we ain't loyal
If we don't serve our own country, we're patronizing a hero
Look in his eyes its all lies
The stars and stripes, they've been swiped, washed out and wiped
And replaced with his own face, Mosh now or die
If I get sniped tonight you know why,
Cause I told you to fight.
Now, do you really want to live in a Bush polluted world? I'm not old enough to vote, but I'm not sitting at my chair griping. I'm making a difference by sharing the news with you and the encouragement I got from this CD, so if you can't vote...post this on a forum or in your own journal...if you can vote...then do so, make a difference!
//Heather Bullard
Note: Temporarly Public
Election day is right around the corner, so why don't I set you down and share a few political views with you. I'm going to take this straight from Justin Sane of Anti-Flag as he wrote in the introductory of Rock Against Bush Volume 2 so don't read the first line, get bored, and go read someone else's journal about how they broke up with their boyfriend and now masturbate to their internet lover's letters. He writes:
"When Bush took over as a president I used to crack jokes about what insane policy he would attempt to enact next. My jokes were ridiculousy far-fetched! For example, "I bet Bush will pass off a super huge tax cut for the rich by saying he's endorsing a tax cut for American families." Ha ha! That one was funny. Then there was, "Because of the California wildfires, I bet Bush says that to save forests we need to cut them down!" That one got a lot of laughs too. But the humdinger was, "Watch Bush say that Iraq has nuclear weapons and use that excuse to invade Iraq for its oil!" the absurdity of that one killed people, until as it turns out, every ludicrous joke I made came true! Horrified that my 'prediction jokes' were somehow singularly responsible for jinxing America and the world I quit making jokes, but even in a world with no insane jokes the Bush crazies were still pushing through the most insane policy ever! I began to wonder, "If my jokes aren't responsible for every horrible act commited by the Bush Regime, how is Bush hoodwinking the public into buying obvious bullshit that I was joking about only a month ago?" After some comtemplation I've come to a few conclusions.
For starts, the Bush Regime has taken the use of Orwellian 'doublespeak' to a new level, ensuring a benevolent, positive, upbeat spin is attached to policies that are anything but. They don't call cutting down a forest to 'save' it "Excuse To Let Massive Internation Logging Conglomerates Cut Down Endangered Forests Act." No, no. That would be too reality based (sorts of like that show COPS!). Instead, they gave their destructive bill this positive upbeat name, Healthy Forests Initiative. Hell, put it that was makes me want to be the first guy to say "TIMBER! Cut down those pesky trees because I love camping!"
How about the Clear Skies Initiative? What could be wrong with clear skies? Well, nothing, except that this piece of legislation is not about clean air or clear skies. The Clear Skies Initiative gives corporations the green light to release higher levels of pollution into the enviroment including mercury and greenhouse gases. Maybe I've missed a major scientific announcement, but in the place I like to refer as "reality," allowing more pollution is not going to keep our air clean and breathable.
Finally, the Bush Regime didn't call the invasion of Iraq, "Operation Line the Pockets Of Our Buddies At every Weapons Manufacturer and every Multinational Corporation Who Gave Money To the Bush Campaign (Including Dick Cheney's Company Who Pays Cheney To This Very Day)." No way! Instead, they scared the fuck out of us with this endlesss references to Saddam "Insane" and his non-existent WMDs, and then they called the invasion which violated Internation and US Constitutional Law "Operation Iraqi Freedom." Red, White, and Brainwashed Americans listening to the misinformation repeatedday after day, month after month, thought, "I'm scared! I want safety! If Saddam is gonna nuke our ass, nuke 'em first! If you can give me safety AND set some oppressed people free, I'm for it! Besides, doesn't that oil under their sand belong to us anyway?"
Think my explanations and evaluations are too simple? I thought so too until my outrageous jokes started coming true! This revalation led me to this question, "Are the people of the USA actually voting for what they believe in?" So, I did some research and what I found is that a majority of US citizens believe in progressive, liberal principals! It's true...Public opinion polls show that a whopping 86% of Americans believe that there needs to be stricter laws and regulations to protect the enviroment; 77% think it is more important to maintain goverment services such as Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid than to cut taxes; 72% of Americans favor stricter laws related to the control of handguns; 63% of americans favor affirmative action programs designed to help blacks, women, and other minorities get better jobs and education; 62% would prefer a universal health insurance program run by goverment and financed by taxpayers. So we've got a population that, by almost two-thirds majority or more, disagress with the policies of the current administration. Is anyone else feeling like their hea dis going to explode?
If this is the case, why are so many right-wing politicians holding public office and defining American culture when a majority of US citizenssupport progressive, liberal, left-wing values? I hate to say it because it's the answer no one wants to hear, but we have to pay less attention to the marketing that these right-winged mother, father, brother, and sister fuckers are inundating us with, and more attention to their true intentions and actions. If a couple hundred more people had done this in the first place this comp wouldn't exist! It's up to YOU to know who actually supports the ideas YOU support instead of believing misleading but effective right-wing advertising campaigns that would make any corporation drool (Just think how many pairs of sneakers they could sell if their ads were half as effective!). you don't have to become a political junkie or stop doing the things you enjoy... just go out of your way once in a while to find out what is going on, ideally from a non-mainstream media source. There's a different side to the story only a few clicks awa, starting at the web sites of two British newspapers that are famous for including facts that US papers somehow fail to report. Check out the Gaurdian and The Independent at www.gaurdian.co.uk and www.independent.co.uk . Once armed with knowledge that you'll find man people don't have, you need to discuss issues with people and you need to get involved!
What news programs you can listen to? Democracy NOW! ( www.democracynow.org ) and Flash Points ( www.flashpoints.net ) are two of the best news programs in the world-period! Good print sites are www.commondreams.com , www.zmag.org , www.undergroundactionalliance.org , and www.alternet.org .
I want to leave you with the following thoughts... Is there a major difference between the mainstream American left and right wing parties? In my opinion, regarding a few impostant issues, yes; but overall, no. Is George Bush the source of all our problems? No, but Bush's track record indicates that he will continue to propose a push for every evil and fucked up thig I can think to make a joke out of, including stacking the Supreme Court with reactionary, back-sliding, uber-conservatives who believe individuals have no personal freedoms (abortion rights will be first on their list), re-sinstaing the draft (the legislation has already been introduced!!!), invading North Korea and Syria and Iran, and even MORE tax cuts for the rich, and the end of all important enviromental regulation and social prgrams. I don't know if you ever travel outside of the USA, but I do and all I hear is that the man in the white house is a lunatic. Looking back at Bush's track record makes it impossible for me to argue otheriwse and that's just pathetic.
I don't care if you like me or my band. Don't do it for me, do it for the world, your family, yourself! And for fuck's sake, PLEASE go to www.punkvoter.com and register as a member, because the more registered members Punk Voter can prove it has, the more influence Punk Voter has in Washington DC with the politicians who have the ability to introduce and back important progressive legislation.
Finally, if you're not old enough to vote in 2004, it doesn't mean you won't be able to vote forever! Punk Voter is building a coalition for the future so get involved now. WE NEED YOU!
That said, thanks for your time. Now go drink a beer, a soy milk, or whatever you drink, and rock that awesome comp!
Peace-Love-Unity
Justin Sane
of Anti-Flag
XOXO
If that's not all, go out and buy the Rock Against Bush Volume 2 and you'll find in there 20 more reasons to hate Bush. I'll give you one of the twenty as an example:
Bush campaign shirts were made in Burma under sweatsho conditions. Interestingly enough, in 2003 Bush Jr. signed a legislation banning products from Burma effective September 1st, 2003.
Eminem is also making a difference with his Bush hating song "Mosh" which imply the lyrics:
Imagine it pouring, it's raining down on us
Mosh pits outside the oval office
Someone's tryina tell us something,
Maybe this is god just sayin' we're responsible
For this monster, this coward,
That we have empowered
This is Bin Laden, look at his head noddin'
How could we allow something like this without pumping our fists
Now this is our final hour
Let me be the voice in your strength and your choice
Let me simplify the rhyme just to amplify the noise
Try to amplify the times it, and multiply by six...
Teen million people, Are equal at this high pitch
Maybe we can reach alqueda through my speech
Let the president answer a higher anarchy
Strap him with an Ak-47, let him go, fight his own war
Let him impress daddy that way
No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our own soil
No more psychological warfare, to trick us to thinking that we ain't loyal
If we don't serve our own country, we're patronizing a hero
Look in his eyes its all lies
The stars and stripes, they've been swiped, washed out and wiped
And replaced with his own face, Mosh now or die
If I get sniped tonight you know why,
Cause I told you to fight.
Now, do you really want to live in a Bush polluted world? I'm not old enough to vote, but I'm not sitting at my chair griping. I'm making a difference by sharing the news with you and the encouragement I got from this CD, so if you can't vote...post this on a forum or in your own journal...if you can vote...then do so, make a difference!