I went out to Des Moines, Iowa over the last weekend representing Punkvoter. What an eye opener.
Met up with Billy Gould from Kool Arrow Records, Chris #2 from Anti-Flag and Tim McIlrath from Rise Against and we all went to work. Our purpose was to carry the message of activism to the youth of America. After all, there are millions of young people in this country who feel they have no representation in the political system. We want to use our notoriety to force our concerns into the national political dialogue. And we've got committed musicians (some of whom have previously been cynical) representing in the challenge to inspire punk rock fans to make change. So far, it's working.
Having NOFX, Green Day, Bad Religion, Bouncing Souls, Good Charlotte, The Offspring, Blink-182, Foo Fighters, Ministry, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sick of it All, Dropkick Murphys, Pennywise, Mudhoney, Alkaline Trio, over a dozen record labels and hundreds of other music groups plus Fat Mike, Jello Biafra, and Brett Gurewitz behind us was a powerful declaration for change.
First stop was on Saturday night. I strapped on my guitar and hit the stage at Blues on Grand for a house full of union organizers and we had a ball. I don't play solo acoustic that often and I dig working in the troubadour style. I sang a short set of Broken Promise, Knife to the Gunfight,The American Ruse, Negative Girls, Back When Dogs Could Talk, The Czar of Poisonville and The Star-Spangled Banner. Basically the same songs I would play on any other night with my band.
On Sunday we had a press conference. If you had told me when I was 20 that one day I'd be standing next to the heads of labor unions and state governors to get rock fans to vote, I might have suggested you try smoking something a little stronger. But there we were. And it was cool. Dave Neil from the UAW and Seth Johnson and Marcia Nichols from AFSCME along with Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and his son Doug (with a dozen television cameras, Lazer 103FM and newspaper stringers in tow) joined us to light a fire of activism. Chris, Tim and Billy were eloquent in talking about Punkvoter and why we were there.
Here's the real deal: 18-to-25 year olds make up one quarter of the voting electorate, but only 13% vote! If young people got involved they could change the world! Trouble is, no one talks to them, so they feel outside the process. That's where we come in. Judging by what we accomplished in Iowa, we made a good start. Finally, a bunch of non-conformists finding something they can agree on.
On Sunday night we all attended the presidential debates and that was a trip. It was the first time I have ever been so up-close-and-personal to the process, and I admit I found it fascinating. The debates themselves were pretty tame, except for Al Sharpton's attempt to mug Howard Dean on race. I don't think many folks take the Rev. seriously, even though he did make the point that race is still an issue in America. (I'll tell you a secret, too. When the commercial breaks happen, the candidates are quick to step over and talk to one another like they're old friends, always covering their microphones with their palms.)
The real action was after the debates in what they called the “Spin Room.� This is the media center backstage from the event. All the candidates and their handlers come back here to explain and expand on what just happened. The press corps then gets a chance to question them, and this is where your intrepid reporter got his chance to get involved.
I met Dean's campaign manager, Joe Trippi, earlier in the day at the hotel and had a chance to talk with him about an exchange he had with Paula Zahn earlier in the week on TV. She was perpetrating a “fair and balanced� attack and Joe wasn't having any of it. I like when folks stand up to bashing from media personalities. Joe is unflappable and it was fascinating to watch him handle the swarm of reporters that descended on him like piranha after the debate itself.
I got the chance to talk to Dennis Kucinich about bringing young people into the process, but he mostly talked at me, not to me. He did score the biggest laugh of the debate on the question of Bush's plan to go to the moon and Mars: “Maybe that's where the WMD are!�
It was a good experience for me to engage professional political operators on their own ground and be able to have a vigorous exchange of ideas with them. Truth is, they're not any smarter than you or me. And we all have not only a right to our opinions, but a responsibility to express them. Democracy requires questioning authority. It's what the framers had in mind when they created the Bill of Rights. Ashcroft/Bush's attempt to paint those who disagree as traitors is as corrupt as it is disingenuous.
We ended up back at our hotel where the Forum Dinner was in full swing. We listened to many of Iowa's Black and Hispanic leaders speak. John Kerry got up and made an embarrassing speech trying to sell the house on how down with them he is. At this point, we mostly gobbled the bar-b-que chicken wings and wound down after a long day.
I did talk briefly with Rob “biko� Baker and a couple of fellows from The Source magazine. I attempted to open a dialogue with the hip-hop community regarding unity in bringing young people into the process. We have way more in common with them than differences. We're all truly in this together. It doesn't make any difference what style of music you like if you don't have a job or can't pay for college or don't have health care or get drafted to fight in a war that was never necessary in the first place. We all need change and we need it now.
On Sunday Billy Gould and I visited the Dean HQ and got an inside look at a political campaign machine in action. I got the opportunity to talk with Iowa Senator Tom Harkin who was there with the troops working the phones and stuffing envelopes. He was surprisingly candid, saying that Bush is creating a climate of fear that is designed to keep us under control and out of doing something to change the way things are. He also acknowledged that no one was talking to young folks and that needed to change. I couldn't agree more.
How will all this play out? No one knows. I'm not talking for punkvoter here. This is my thinking. What I do know is this: This is the only chance we'll have. My concern is that if we're not careful and don't do something to change the direction our country is going in, things will get unbelievably worse.
There may not be a real election in the fall. Ashcroft, Rumsfield, Cheney, Pearl, Wolfowitz and their leader George W. Bush himself may just outlaw it. Check out his track record. He stole (with a little help from his brother) the last one. DO NOT BE FOOLED. THESE ARE DANGEROUS MEN. THEY ARE WELL-ORGANIZED AND THEY ARE SERIOUS.
Here's a guy who was raised into great wealth and power. Protected and pampered all his life. He is well known to have a terrible temper. Every time he has made a mistake he has been rescued. He was groomed to be president and he sat at the feet of his father and saw him do everything that he was supposed to do, and then they kicked poor Papa out of office. George, Jr. is determined not to let that happen to him. He is determined to look good in his father's eyes at any cost, at the cost of the Constitution and countless young American lives. At the cost of the health and welfare of the American people. At the cost of unknown numbers of Iraqi and Afghani lives. At the cost of the future of democracy as a guiding principle in the world's nations.
It's almost Freudian. Certainly Biblical. He is doing damage that will take generations to repair. And young people in America are going to be stuck with the bill.
You have the power to change this. Take direct action. Use your vote.
Wayne
Met up with Billy Gould from Kool Arrow Records, Chris #2 from Anti-Flag and Tim McIlrath from Rise Against and we all went to work. Our purpose was to carry the message of activism to the youth of America. After all, there are millions of young people in this country who feel they have no representation in the political system. We want to use our notoriety to force our concerns into the national political dialogue. And we've got committed musicians (some of whom have previously been cynical) representing in the challenge to inspire punk rock fans to make change. So far, it's working.
Having NOFX, Green Day, Bad Religion, Bouncing Souls, Good Charlotte, The Offspring, Blink-182, Foo Fighters, Ministry, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sick of it All, Dropkick Murphys, Pennywise, Mudhoney, Alkaline Trio, over a dozen record labels and hundreds of other music groups plus Fat Mike, Jello Biafra, and Brett Gurewitz behind us was a powerful declaration for change.
First stop was on Saturday night. I strapped on my guitar and hit the stage at Blues on Grand for a house full of union organizers and we had a ball. I don't play solo acoustic that often and I dig working in the troubadour style. I sang a short set of Broken Promise, Knife to the Gunfight,The American Ruse, Negative Girls, Back When Dogs Could Talk, The Czar of Poisonville and The Star-Spangled Banner. Basically the same songs I would play on any other night with my band.
On Sunday we had a press conference. If you had told me when I was 20 that one day I'd be standing next to the heads of labor unions and state governors to get rock fans to vote, I might have suggested you try smoking something a little stronger. But there we were. And it was cool. Dave Neil from the UAW and Seth Johnson and Marcia Nichols from AFSCME along with Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and his son Doug (with a dozen television cameras, Lazer 103FM and newspaper stringers in tow) joined us to light a fire of activism. Chris, Tim and Billy were eloquent in talking about Punkvoter and why we were there.
Here's the real deal: 18-to-25 year olds make up one quarter of the voting electorate, but only 13% vote! If young people got involved they could change the world! Trouble is, no one talks to them, so they feel outside the process. That's where we come in. Judging by what we accomplished in Iowa, we made a good start. Finally, a bunch of non-conformists finding something they can agree on.
On Sunday night we all attended the presidential debates and that was a trip. It was the first time I have ever been so up-close-and-personal to the process, and I admit I found it fascinating. The debates themselves were pretty tame, except for Al Sharpton's attempt to mug Howard Dean on race. I don't think many folks take the Rev. seriously, even though he did make the point that race is still an issue in America. (I'll tell you a secret, too. When the commercial breaks happen, the candidates are quick to step over and talk to one another like they're old friends, always covering their microphones with their palms.)
The real action was after the debates in what they called the “Spin Room.� This is the media center backstage from the event. All the candidates and their handlers come back here to explain and expand on what just happened. The press corps then gets a chance to question them, and this is where your intrepid reporter got his chance to get involved.
I met Dean's campaign manager, Joe Trippi, earlier in the day at the hotel and had a chance to talk with him about an exchange he had with Paula Zahn earlier in the week on TV. She was perpetrating a “fair and balanced� attack and Joe wasn't having any of it. I like when folks stand up to bashing from media personalities. Joe is unflappable and it was fascinating to watch him handle the swarm of reporters that descended on him like piranha after the debate itself.
I got the chance to talk to Dennis Kucinich about bringing young people into the process, but he mostly talked at me, not to me. He did score the biggest laugh of the debate on the question of Bush's plan to go to the moon and Mars: “Maybe that's where the WMD are!�
It was a good experience for me to engage professional political operators on their own ground and be able to have a vigorous exchange of ideas with them. Truth is, they're not any smarter than you or me. And we all have not only a right to our opinions, but a responsibility to express them. Democracy requires questioning authority. It's what the framers had in mind when they created the Bill of Rights. Ashcroft/Bush's attempt to paint those who disagree as traitors is as corrupt as it is disingenuous.
We ended up back at our hotel where the Forum Dinner was in full swing. We listened to many of Iowa's Black and Hispanic leaders speak. John Kerry got up and made an embarrassing speech trying to sell the house on how down with them he is. At this point, we mostly gobbled the bar-b-que chicken wings and wound down after a long day.
I did talk briefly with Rob “biko� Baker and a couple of fellows from The Source magazine. I attempted to open a dialogue with the hip-hop community regarding unity in bringing young people into the process. We have way more in common with them than differences. We're all truly in this together. It doesn't make any difference what style of music you like if you don't have a job or can't pay for college or don't have health care or get drafted to fight in a war that was never necessary in the first place. We all need change and we need it now.
On Sunday Billy Gould and I visited the Dean HQ and got an inside look at a political campaign machine in action. I got the opportunity to talk with Iowa Senator Tom Harkin who was there with the troops working the phones and stuffing envelopes. He was surprisingly candid, saying that Bush is creating a climate of fear that is designed to keep us under control and out of doing something to change the way things are. He also acknowledged that no one was talking to young folks and that needed to change. I couldn't agree more.
How will all this play out? No one knows. I'm not talking for punkvoter here. This is my thinking. What I do know is this: This is the only chance we'll have. My concern is that if we're not careful and don't do something to change the direction our country is going in, things will get unbelievably worse.
There may not be a real election in the fall. Ashcroft, Rumsfield, Cheney, Pearl, Wolfowitz and their leader George W. Bush himself may just outlaw it. Check out his track record. He stole (with a little help from his brother) the last one. DO NOT BE FOOLED. THESE ARE DANGEROUS MEN. THEY ARE WELL-ORGANIZED AND THEY ARE SERIOUS.
Here's a guy who was raised into great wealth and power. Protected and pampered all his life. He is well known to have a terrible temper. Every time he has made a mistake he has been rescued. He was groomed to be president and he sat at the feet of his father and saw him do everything that he was supposed to do, and then they kicked poor Papa out of office. George, Jr. is determined not to let that happen to him. He is determined to look good in his father's eyes at any cost, at the cost of the Constitution and countless young American lives. At the cost of the health and welfare of the American people. At the cost of unknown numbers of Iraqi and Afghani lives. At the cost of the future of democracy as a guiding principle in the world's nations.
It's almost Freudian. Certainly Biblical. He is doing damage that will take generations to repair. And young people in America are going to be stuck with the bill.
You have the power to change this. Take direct action. Use your vote.
Wayne
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