So our assignment was to choose a few songs that are politically charged. Although I like a wide variety of musical genres, one band immediately jumped out to me. Rage Against the Machine. The band name is a lightning bolt of opposition toward those in power. Not just political power, but across a broad spectrum of power such as mega-corporations and even teachers. I simply had to start with a Rage song. Many of the bands I enjoy, like a majority of any entertainment I enjoy, are liberal-leaning groups. While I don't agree with the basis of many of their political points, I can certainly enjoy the music for what it is to me - stress release.
Let's start with Rage Against the Machine's Take the Power Back. [MATURE] There are many other examples I could have used from Rage such as Testify and Killing in the Name of.
======================================
Crank the music up.
Bring that * in! Uggh!
Yeah, the movement's in motion with mass militant poetry
Now check this out...uggh!
In the right light, study becomes insight
But the system that dissed us
Teaches us to read and write
So called facts are fraud
They want us to allege and pledge
And bow down to their God
Lost the culture, the culture lost
Spun our minds and through time
Ignorance has taken over
Yo, we gotta take the power back!
Bam! Here's the plan
Mother* Uncle Sam
Step back, I know who I am
Raise up your ear, I'll drop the style and clear
It's the beats and the lyrics they fear
The rage is relentless
We need a movement with a quickness
You are the witness of change
And to counteract
We gotta take the power back
Yeah, we gotta take the power back
Come on, come on!
We gotta take the power back
The present curriculum
I put my fist in 'em
Eurocentric every last one of 'em
See right through the red, white and blue disguise
With lecture I puncture the structure of lies
Installed in our minds and attempting
To hold us back
We've got to take it back
Holes in our spirit causin' tears and fears
One-sided stories for years and years and years
I'm inferior? Whose inferior?
Yeah, they need to check the interior
Of the system, who gets em about only one culture
And that is why
We gotta take the power back
Yeah, we gotta take the power back
Come on, come on!
We gotta take the power back
Hey yo check, we're gonna have to break it, break it,
break it down
Awww *!
Uggh!
And like this...uggh!
Come on, yeah! Bring it back the other way!
The teacher stands in front of the class
But the lesson plan he can't recall
The student's eyes don't perceive the lies
Bouncing off every * wall
His composure is well kept
I guess he fears playing the fool
The complacent students sit and listen to some of that
Bull* that he learned in school
Europe ain't my rope to swing on
Can't learn a thing from it
Yet we hang from it
Gotta get it, gotta get it together then
Like the mother* weathermen
To expose and close the doors on those who try
To strangle and mangle the truth
'Cause the circle of hatred continues unless we react
We gotta take the power back
Yeah, we gotta take the power back
Come on, come on!
We gotta take the power back
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
Uggh!
Yeah!
Take it back y'all
Take it back, a-take it back
A-take it back y'all, come on!
Take it back y'all
Take it back, a-take it back
A-take it back y'all, come on!
Uggh!
Yeah!
======================================
The second politically-charged song I wanted to share comes from one of the most politically-charged eras in our country's history - the 60s and early 70s. The song is What's Going on, by Marvin Gaye. In this song, Gaye questions the rational for the Vietnam War. What the hell is going on? Marvin may have been inspired to write this song after hearing first-hand accounts of the war from his brother, Frankie.
====================================================
Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today - Ya
Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Ah, what's going on
In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on
Right on
Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you what's going on - Uh
Right on baby
Right on baby
===========================================================
sources:
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1547
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ou0wIUUZ_I&feature=player_embedded
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Take-The-Power-Back-lyrics-Rage-Against-The-Machine/DE6609124E5595C9482568A50012A47D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f39Zs0gB87c
http://www.squidoo.com/whats_going_on
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Lisa Murcowskyie?
So if you haven't heard, Lisa Murkowski was complaining to the Alaska Elections Division Board during the post-election turmoil. The senator, who was thrust into the Alaskan governorship by her father to finish out a term after Sarah Palin defeated Frank Murkowski (Lisa's father), tackled an open senate seat. The Murkowski family has held power in Alaska for decades. Alaskans have known that and attempted to end that through the Republican primary. The voters did just that and elected Republican "fresh meat" in the form of Joe Miller. Murkowski then launched a statewide write-in campaign that urged her supporters to do just that - write her into the senate.
As of now, the election is over. Murkowski has won the first senate write-in seat in fifty years by a 5 percent margin over Miller. Miller had planned on suing Murkowski over a handful of write-in votes, but the margin of victory made that a moot point. However, Murkowski was ready, willing, and able to go after those write-in ballots that were not filled out correctly (similar to the one below).
So why was Murkowski complaining? Because the Election Division was THINKING about following the Alaska state law that requires a write-in's name to be spelled correctly. She felt that her name need not be spelled correctly on the write-in ballots that were completed at the beginning of the month in order to be counted.
Hanging-chad, anyone?
Of course our media was eating this up - it was politically intriguing. However, there is one little problem. As I said earlier, the state of Alaska has a specific law pertaining to write-in candidates that Murkowski was chomping at the bit to fight. It goes as follows:
"In order to vote for a write-in candidate, the voter must write in the candidate's name in the space provided and fill in the oval opposite the candidate's name in accordance with (1) of this subsection.
A vote for a write-in candidate, other than a write-in vote for governor and lieutenant governor, shall be counted if the oval is filled in for that candidate and if the name, as it appears on the write-in declaration of candidacy, of the candidate or the last name of the candidate is written in the space provided.
The rules set out in this section are mandatory and there are no exceptions to them. A ballot may not be counted unless marked in compliance with these rules."
If Murkowski's margin of victory had been smaller, Miller would have disputed these incorrect write-ins according to AK law. Can you imaging the scene? It would be similar to the 2004 election in Florida (albeit not as important).
How has the mass media handled this story? Could you see an outlet simply omitting this law from its news piece because they want M-u-r-c-o-w-s-q-u-i's republican principles in power? Or could you see outlets that lean toward Miller's republican tendencies shouting this law at the top of their E-lungs? How do you think a liberal blog would handle it? Regardless, as a recent Gallop poll indicats - roughly 2 out of 3 of us think about voting this way in each election:
sources:
http://onemansalaska.com/blog/2010/11/09/alaska-write-in-law-statute-lisa-murkowski-campaign-senate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOO6FCTh8II
http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/10259857/article-Murkowski--Miller-camps-wrangle-over-write-in-ballot-challenges?instance=home_news_window_left_top_2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-irwin-kula/gridlock-is-good_b_778489.html
As of now, the election is over. Murkowski has won the first senate write-in seat in fifty years by a 5 percent margin over Miller. Miller had planned on suing Murkowski over a handful of write-in votes, but the margin of victory made that a moot point. However, Murkowski was ready, willing, and able to go after those write-in ballots that were not filled out correctly (similar to the one below).
So why was Murkowski complaining? Because the Election Division was THINKING about following the Alaska state law that requires a write-in's name to be spelled correctly. She felt that her name need not be spelled correctly on the write-in ballots that were completed at the beginning of the month in order to be counted.
Hanging-chad, anyone?
Of course our media was eating this up - it was politically intriguing. However, there is one little problem. As I said earlier, the state of Alaska has a specific law pertaining to write-in candidates that Murkowski was chomping at the bit to fight. It goes as follows:
"In order to vote for a write-in candidate, the voter must write in the candidate's name in the space provided and fill in the oval opposite the candidate's name in accordance with (1) of this subsection.
A vote for a write-in candidate, other than a write-in vote for governor and lieutenant governor, shall be counted if the oval is filled in for that candidate and if the name, as it appears on the write-in declaration of candidacy, of the candidate or the last name of the candidate is written in the space provided.
The rules set out in this section are mandatory and there are no exceptions to them. A ballot may not be counted unless marked in compliance with these rules."
If Murkowski's margin of victory had been smaller, Miller would have disputed these incorrect write-ins according to AK law. Can you imaging the scene? It would be similar to the 2004 election in Florida (albeit not as important).
How has the mass media handled this story? Could you see an outlet simply omitting this law from its news piece because they want M-u-r-c-o-w-s-q-u-i's republican principles in power? Or could you see outlets that lean toward Miller's republican tendencies shouting this law at the top of their E-lungs? How do you think a liberal blog would handle it? Regardless, as a recent Gallop poll indicats - roughly 2 out of 3 of us think about voting this way in each election:
sources:
http://onemansalaska.com/blog/2010/11/09/alaska-write-in-law-statute-lisa-murkowski-campaign-senate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOO6FCTh8II
http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/10259857/article-Murkowski--Miller-camps-wrangle-over-write-in-ballot-challenges?instance=home_news_window_left_top_2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-irwin-kula/gridlock-is-good_b_778489.html
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Potential Political Poison
Recently, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has come under heavy fire. Is this malice for the right or wrong reasons?
The TSA is a government body tasked with securing transportation (go figure!). The TSA's Mission, Vision, and Core Values are as follows:
"The Transportation Security Administration protects the Nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce."
The commotion with the TSA has to do with its pre-flight screening of passengers. People are having a problem grasping what the TSA are really doing - what they are 'stopping'. We lose freedom - the right to reasonable privacy - to gain what? Peace of mind? Pilots are not screened. As of today, flight attendants are not screened. Hell, do you think the baggers who put luggage on the plane are screened on a daily basis? No ... no they are not. And as you should know, the 9/11 hijackers had acceptable screening background information.
But get this, the screeners don't even have to be screened!
So why would we have to violate an 89-year-old grandmother with a gloved pat-down? A child may receive a 'modified' pat-down? So you don't really complete a proper pat-down by your own standards. Why do it at all?
But get this, the screeners don't even have to be screened!
So why would we have to violate an 89-year-old grandmother with a gloved pat-down? A child may receive a 'modified' pat-down? So you don't really complete a proper pat-down by your own standards. Why do it at all?
Israel has both the most secure airports in the world as well as the most enemies in the world. How do they pull it off? Let's look to Michael J. Totten's opinion of The New York Post for how he thinks things should be handled.
"After 9/11, everything sharp -- even tweezers -- was banned. Ever since Richard Reid tried and failed to light his loafers on fire, security agents have forced us to take off our shoes. ... Terrorists have yet to use the same weapon twice, and the TSA isn't even looking for whatever they'll try to use next. i can think of all sorts of things a person could use to wreak havoc on a plan that aren't banned. Security officials should pay less attention to objects, and more attention to people."
At this point, I'm surprised we are still allowed to wear underwear on a flight given the failed "underwear bomber" from last Christmas Day.
Regardless of how you think the TSA is handling security, ask yourself this question. Can you imagine being a moderate public official being forced to make public statements about your policy and where you stand on the issue. People are outraged. On one hand, it's a constitutional violation. On the other hand, it's 'necessary' to be secure.
How is the mass media handling the situation. The material is definitely still at full steam ahead. There is plenty to go 'round. But - are they providing a balanced, objective view on the subject? Are they using anecdotal material, such as the video above, to contextualize the issue? Are they focusing on the President's reactions or lower-level politicians. Have you heard a single news anchor mention The Constitution of even another country's security practices?
Sources:
Friday, November 12, 2010
Quotable quotes? Or shocking, attention-grabbers for the mass media?
So I was stumbling the interwebs the other day and happened upon a compilation of the 50 dumbest quotes from each side of the political spectrum. The articles are titled 50 Dumb Liberal Quotes and Top 50 Dumb Conservative Quotes. The articles caught my attention for two reasons. The first reason, as you'll read an excerpt from each article, is because they are truly funny, wacky quotes. The second reason the articles caught my attention is because I've heard many of the quotes repeated many times throughout various media outlets. I wanted to question why the mass media would put forth these quotes as news. Is is to inform their audience? Is it to degrade a particular political party? Or is it to simply grab attention?
In each of the articles the speaker of each individual quote are hyper-linked to lead readers to the contextual nature (press release, blog, public appearance) of the quote. Take a look.
20 of the top 50 dumbest liberal quotes, as ranked by Jenny Erikson of Cafemom.com.
1. Sheryl Crow on Environmentalism: "I propose a limitation be put on how many sqares [sic] of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.'"
2. Joe Biden on culturalism: "In Delaware, the largest growth of population is Indian Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7/11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."
3. Whoopi Goldberg on 43-year-old Roman Polanski raping and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl: "I know it wasn't rape-rape. It was something else but I don't believe it was rape-rape. He went to jail and and [sic] when they let him out he was like "You know what this guy's going to give me a hundred years in jail I'm not staying, so that's why he left."
5. John Conyers on the Health Care Bill, which he voted for: "I love these members, they get up and say, ‘Read the bill ... What good is reading the bill if it's a thousand pages and you don't have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?'"
6. Former DNC Chairman Donald Fowler on possible delay of RNC convention due to Hurricane Gustav: "Plus they think the hurricane's going to hit (starts laughing) New Orleans about the time they start. The timing, at least it appears now, that it'll be there Monday. That just demonstrates God's on our side"
7. Barack Obama: "I've now been in 57 states? I think one left to go?"
8. John Kerry on the troops: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
9. Howard Dean: "We know that no one person can succeed unless everybody else succeeds."
10. Rosie O'Donnell: "Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers."
11. Al Gore: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
12. Congressman Hank Johnson on Guam: "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize,"
13. Alan Grayson on Health Care: "The Republican health care plan: don't get sick ... The Republicans have a back up plan in case you do get sick ... This is what the Republicans want you to do. If you get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: Die quickly!"
14. Nancy Pelosi on the economy: "every month that we do not have an economic recovery package 500 million Americans lose their jobs."
15. Helen Thomas: Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home" to Germany and Poland.
16. Wanda Sykes: "I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker but he was just so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight ... Rush Limbaugh -- I hope the country fails. I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? He needs a waterboarding, that's what he needs."
17. Bill Clinton on ordinary Americans: "African Americans watch the same news at night that ordinary Americans do."
18. Barack Obama on a tornado that killed twelve people: "In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died - an entire town destroyed"
19. Harry Reid on Iraq: "This war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything."
20. Kanye West: "George Bush doesn't care about black people.
And now 20 of the top 50 dumbest conservative quotes, according to Sasha Brown-Worsham of Cafemom.com.
So what do you think? Do the mass media use these types of quotes with any malice toward the individual speaker? Are any of you looking at these quotes and saying to yourself, "I remember that funny quote, but I have no idea when, where, or why the individual said it". Should the quote stick with you? Or should the context be what's important?
sources:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1symGm/thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/109417/50_dumb_liberal_quotes%253Fdirect
http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/109323/top_50_dumbest_conservative_quotes
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