Author: =][= Morok
Email: evilcanofjoy@kidsloveguns.com
It is shocking the stupidity of people these days, and not the least people in the “alternative” music scene, of which Anti-Flag call their home. In reading an article linked to from the amazing Dr. Balls web blog I came across a little gem of politicking from a band claiming they are fighting the “power” and for the people. The fact that Anti-Flag couldn’t win influence through music with the election because their small fan base (yes, it is small) and that they couldn’t fight the power with half the successfulness of Rage Against the Machine is beside the point.
Here’s what Justin Sane wrote in a rant about the unsuccessful Rock Against Bush Tour:
"We hooked up with Congressman McDermott again in Seattle. He is really concerned about the draft coming back. He spoke to the kids at the show and then invited us to visit with him again when we passed through DC… SO WE DID! During that visit he gave us a tour of Congress, introduced us to a ton of lawmakers including House Minority Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. During that visit we talked about the possibility of the draft coming back and what young people need to fight it and/or protect themselves."
"In order to draw attention to the draft, Congressman McDermott, and Congressman Charles Rangel (D--NY) co-drafted a bill to bring the draft back, NOT in order to actually bring it back, but instead to bring the issue to the attention of the public. During the course of our tour, in chorus with Congressman McDermott, and many others, we were able to force the issue of the draft into the mainstream press. In response to this, only a few days before we got to DC, House Republicans brought the draft bill up for a vote so that they could vote against it in order to show the public that Republicans are completely against the draft. This of course was just a pre-election show by Republican lawmakers trying to get re-elected. The issue of the draft has not gone away and won’t go away if Iraq carries on the way it is- stay tuned!"
"In the end, touring Congress with Mr. McDermott was way cool! Congressman McDermott is fucking awesome!"
Justin Sane-Anti-Flag
Now, very few things get me so mad that I start typing at a super high rate of speed and get me to be so fucking angry I could fucking bash my head against my computer screen in a vain effort to escape the idiots that populate my Goddamned world. If you don’t understand why this is the biggest bullshit to come out of the “anti-Bush” world then you are a dumb piece of shit that needs to be flogged for stupidity and castrated because you must not be allowed to reproduce.
Rangel brought the bill in to “bring the issue to the attention of the public” is utter bullshit, though it did accomplish this. The first time I’ve heard this story in the news I thought, Well, maybe all these leftists are right about things not going too well in Iraq, since it seems a draft maybe be coming back. And, again, I’ve found that thinking that maybe the far left is right proves to be wrong. Especially when I learned the Rangel and his co-sponsor are Democrats.
These are the two reasons the draft was brought back. (A) The party line, and the minor reason the bill was proposed, was that Democrats love to say “we’re too stretched thin” and that the draft, as it is now, has too many loopholes for “rich” kids to get out of. By Rich, they mean college students and upper-middle class up groups. (B) The other reason was to scare the hell out of the American youth. The whole plan, it seems to me, about this election was to use the “power” of youth voters to propel Kerry into the White House. Of coarse, that plan totally backfired since more people OVERALL turned out to vote, cancelling out the large amounts of students and young adults coming out to vote.
The whole point here is that Anti-Flag, like most Bush haters, wants to have their issues usable both ways. If I didn’t know any better, it almost sounds in Justin Sane’s rant that Anti-Flag is an appendage of the DNC. Why is this group, who would like nothing more than the dissolution of all government and law so buddy-buddy with a group they should be against? I know, because they realize that without political backing catapulting their issue to the foreground (which it didn’t really).
This is the SAME scare mongering that both parties do, only this time it comes from Anti-Flag. The most ridiculous part of this article is that at the end, Sane says that the draft is still an issue. Not only does the motherfucker think his argument is sound, but he expects you to buy it totally. The even sadder part is that the die-hard Anti-Flag fans DO buy it. Not because they are “enlightened” like Anti-Flag wants to think, but because they are the same kind of band following Robots that you see in any other musical genre.
The only difference is that they are wearing black leather jackets and mohawks.
