Free Republic

NEW YORK -- Bruce Springsteen, who once bemoaned the television wasteland in his song "57 Channels," offered some fresh criticism of the small screen and its political coverage: enough with partisan politics and "Fear Factor," let's focus on the facts. "Things are distorted by ratings and by money to where you're getting one hour of the political conventions," Springsteen says in an interview for the Oct. 14 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. "No matter how staged they are, I think they're a little more important than people eating bugs." The New Jersey rocker also offered harsh words for the Bush...

I don't want to completely stick my neck out on this, because when you hope something is true, it clouds your judgemenet (as Dan Rather has found out!)But it appears to me that tickets are available at all the gigs for the "swing states" pro-Kerry/anti-Bush tour. Curiously, New York and New York have not been added to this "swing states" tour. Odd. Now, this is not 1980, but it seems even the Springsteen shows still have tickets available. A bad sign for the left?

If you're confused and need direction this political season, hold tight, because you can be sure that a rock star will be along shortly to show you the way. Musicians, some loosely defined, are mobilizing big-time this year to oust Bush. A CD, titled "Rock Against Bush, Vol. I," was released earlier this year, purportedly to raise money for organizations which encourage young people to vote. Bands such as Sum 41, Offspring, New Found Glory and Jello Biafra with D.O.A. are included on the compact disc – I believe the latter is also included on the dessert menu.

"Our goal is to change the direction of the government and change the current administration come November." -- Bruce Springsteen, writing a guest editorial in Rolling Stone magazine. Attention, all Bush-loving conservatives! We need to talk about your taste in music. Do you have anything by any of the following artists: Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, the Dixie Chicks, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Usher, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Five for Fighting, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Jurassic 5, Keb' Mo' and/or Death Cab for Cutie. If so, I regret to inform...

After Bruce Springsteen (news) announced plans to participate in the anti-Bush concert tour, Vote for Change, a New York candidate for U.S. Senate has countered with a "Boycott the Boss" television spot. Conservative Party candidate Marilyn O'Grady appears in a 30-second televison commercial, urging her supporters to show their solidarity to Bush by not buying Springsteen's music. "He thinks making millions with a song-and-dance routine allows him to tell you how to vote," O'Grady says in the spot. "Here's my vote: Boycott the Boss. If you don't buy his politics, don't buy his music." (The spot makes no mention of...

... The most talked about Democratic fund-raiser before the convention was at Radio City Music Hall, featuring Whoopi Goldberg, the comedian and former Slim-Fast pitch person. ... Linda Ronstadt stopped an innocent gig in Vegas to make a demented pitch for "Fahrenheit 9/11." Hollywood's become a town of Demophiliacs. ... Hyper-politicized Hollywood is the new bed Bill Clinton made for the Democrats, and now the party is going to have to lie in it.... Mr. Kerry has raised $47.5 million in California. Al Gore raised only $5 million. Isn't it becoming harder by the day to take the Democrats seriously...

A who's who of top popular musicians will take to the stage in Pittsburgh and cities in eight other presidential battleground states beginning the first week of October. Their goal? "We're trying to put forward a group of progressive ideals and change the administration in the White House," said Bruce Springsteen, one of the acts. Ah, yes, "progressive ideals." For those of you not up on the latest liberal nomenclature, that's the new phraseology of choice for contemporary enlightened thinkers advocating that tried and failed political philosophy previously known as socialism. Organizers of the "Vote for a Change" tour are...

7 p.m. CDT Thursday - cw-3At the capitol building in Jefferson City, Mo., the state where Mark Twain lived, Sen. John F. Kerry jokes that Huck Finn never wanted to grow up - just like some guys his daughters have dated. He laughs and hugs daughter Alex. 10:30 p.m. - The whistlestop tour halts in Sedalia, Mo., where some Bush fans heckle. Kerry tells his supporters to let them chant because they have only three more months to do so. Sen. John Edwards says his children are aboard and to please show some good Missouri manners. Teresa Heinz Kerry tells...

(CNSNews.com) - A government watchdog group says the finances of the "Vote for Change" rock-music tour deserve the same scrutiny as the finances for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad campaign. The controversial Swift Boat ad features Vietnam Veterans who accuse Sen. John F. Kerry of lying about his war record. The Democratic Party says none of the veterans appearing in the ad served on a Swift Boat with Kerry. Democrats call the ad completely false -- a smear campaign. The Vote for Change tour - featuring Bruce Springsteen and other anti-Bush pop music celebrities - is billed...

Bruce Springsteen, REM, and more tour for political change. SEATTLE, WA.  Friday 8.6.2004  /netmusiccountdown.com/ -- Is political change in the air for the USA? Artists like Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, REM, John Mellencamp, Babyface, John Fogerty, The Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper, Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks hope so. These musicians, along with James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Jurassic 5, Keb' Mo', Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie and My Morning Jacket, have formed a coalition of musicians who make up the Vote For Change Tour. Presented by MoveOn PAC, the tour launches October 1, one month before the...

With a fervor that hasn't been witnessed since musicians in the late '60s united to protest President Richard M. Nixon and America's involvement in the Vietnam War, some of the biggest names in popular music are coming together for an unprecedented series of fund-raising concerts with the goal of unseating President Bush on Nov. 2. Superstars from several diverse genres in rock and country -- among them Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, R.E.M., Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks -- are among the more than 20 bands taking part in the Vote for Change tour, announced Wednesday with a publicity blitz...

New York Times August 5, 2004 OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Chords for Change By BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN nation's artists and musicians have a particular place in its social and political life. Over the years I've tried to think long and hard about what it means to be American: about the distinctive identity and position we have in the world, and how that position is best carried. I've tried to write songs that speak to our pride and criticize our failures. These questions are at the heart of this election: who we are, what we stand for, why we fight. Personally, for the last...

NEW YORK (AP) - In an unprecedented series of concerts in nine swing states, more than 20 musical acts - including Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks - will perform fund-raising concerts one month before the Nov. 2 election in an effort to unseat President Bush. The shows, which will begin Oct. 1 in Pennsylvania, will take an unusual approach: as many as six concerts on a single day in cities across the states expected to decide the November presidential race. Other stops on the tour are North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin and the key...

The normally press-shy Bruce Springsteen is going public tonight with a one-on-one interview with ABC's Ted Koppel. Springsteen is appearing on "Nightline" to talk about the intersection of pop culture and politics, as well as a long-rumored concert tour starring him and a lineup of other politically outspoken acts such as REM and Pearl Jam. The Los Angeles Times reported last month that the tour would hit swing states around the country this fall, with the goal of unifying fans to vote against President Bush in November. Springsteen rarely does interviews, print or television, so nabbing him for tonight's "Nightline"...

NEW YORK -- In an unprecedented series of concerts in nine swing states, more than 20 musical acts -- including Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks -- will perform fund-raising concerts one month before the Nov. 2 election in an effort to unseat President Bush.

Springsteen torture at Camp X-Ray 01Mar04 A TERROR suspect freed from Guantanamo Bay has told of cruel and unusual punishment. Hamed Abderrahman Ahmad, a Spaniard who denies any links with terrorism, said he had to wrap his head in a damp towel to try to muffle loud tapes of Born in the USA. Mr Ahmad said he was confined to a small cell where the lights were always on and he was forced to listen endlessly to Bruce Springsteen. "First I spent a month in a cell two metres square that had a roof of sheet iron, with unbearable...

<p>Last weekend at Fed Ex Field, just outside the nation's capital, the self-styled all-American rock 'n' roller Bruce Springsteen played one of his marathon sessions to an enthusiastic crowd. They were approving, that is until "the Boss" interrupted his performance to complain about domestic politics and the war on terror.</p>

Aging rocker Bruce Springsteen added a little political spice to his Washington, D.C., concert at FedEx Field Saturday night when, according to concertgoer accounts, he called for President Bush's impeachment. "It's time to impeach the president and get a man in there to get us out of this mess," the Boss allegedly roared, according to FreeRepublic.com's Kristinn Taylor, co-leader of the group's D.C. chapter. Another concertgoer told an online Springsteen discussion group that Bruce "got a little political, which I thought was great, but he definitely seemed to lose a bit of the crowd around me when he suggested...

Rock star Bruce Springsteen called for the impeachment of President George W. Bush at a nearly sold-out concert at FedEx Field just outside of Washington, DC tonight. During the introductions of his back-up band, The E Street Band, Springsteen said of saxophonist Clarence Clemons, "It's time to impeach the president and get a man in there to get us out of this mess." The audience cheered in response. At a recent concert at Fenway Park in Boston, Springsteen touted liberal comedian Al Franken's new book and encouraged people to read it. In the Spring, Springsteen issued a statement defending the...

Talk about a home run. Last night, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off a historic two-night stand at Fenway Park and Red Sox nation gave as good as they got during an ecstatic three-hour performance that found the Boss sprinting around like a wild man and pulling out some terrific setlist surprises just for Boston. The fact that we trounced the Yankees earlier in the day only helped to heighten the jubilant mood. After a raucous sing-along of ``Take Me Out to the Ballgame'' with Springsteen conducting, the local love began with the next number as the...