Posted on 05/24/2008 9:16:33 PM PDT by raccoonradio
Jello Biafra Favors Talk Radio Censorship
After struggling for years against censorship of his work, one might expect an aging punk rocker to have a particular respect for free expression by others. And as a supposed "anarchist", advocating governmental intervention to suppress free speech would seem out of the question.
For former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra, however, hypocrisy apparently knows no boundaries.
Biafra is once again in the news after syndicated talk host Michael Savage played "California Über Alles" soon after news of Ted Kennedy's cancer broke, resulting in an angry response from left-wing Internet sites.
Savage maintains Kennedy's cancer shouldn't preclude talk radio hosts and others from criticizing Ted's dubious legacy, which includes killing Mary Jo Kopechne with his car and a host of far-left positions on issues.
That led the bottom- dwellers at the Boston Phoenix, a weekly freebie, to question Biafra about Savage's move to play his circa-1970s song. Right off the bat, Jello sinks himself by admitting he hadn't heard the show, but commented on it anyway.
Far worse, he blamed Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity for the "problem" (even though they have absolutely no connection to this story) and showed support for the former Fairness Doctrine, which would have the effect of shutting down modern talk radio (some obscene language slightly edited):
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I haven't read the details yet, but I'm aware of what Michael Savage did. Obviously he took my song way the hell out of context and did it deliberately. But the bigger issue is Savage himself and how the hell he gets away with stuff like saying this, and saying that people with AIDS should be put in concentration camps. And then when people protest at the station, he calls on his own listeners to come down and beat them up.
It scares the s--t out of me that the most popular radio talk-show hosts are all foaming-at-the-mouth, ultra- bigoted blabbermongers whom only North Korea or the Nazis could love.
But like it or not, Savage is the third-most popular radio-talk show host in this country behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Nobody from the other side is represented or promoted well enough by the big right-wing-owned radio networks to compete. That's one of the ways they mindf--k the country into being so dumb they vote for people like George Bush, Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The real issue here is why aren't the big candidates calling for media reform? Once upon a time there was a law on the books called the Fairness Doctrine, and it said that if somebody like Savage or Limbaugh or that skull woman Ann Coulter said something completely f--ked up and dishonest on the air, somebody else was allowed to come on the air and reply to them without being told to shut up every 15 seconds by a power clown like Bill O'Reilly. That law was on the books for 50 years but was allowed to expire in the late '80s when a Democratic-controlled congress failed to override President Reagan's veto of the law.
The damage was further compounded when your friend and mine Bill Clinton rammed through the Telecommunications Act of 1996, further deregulating how many radio stations and media outlets one corporation can own and what they can do with them and they greenlighted their long-held agenda to throw public interest out the window. And the volume and impact of the Rush Limbaughs and Michael Savages multiplied exponentially with nobody on the other side being allowed to reply.
In large areas of rural and small town America, this is the only radio anyone is exposed to. That's the problem. We need to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. John Kerry had a golden opportunity to fire back at the Swift Boat liars and use that as a platform to rally the public to demand media reform. But true to form, he was too chickens--t to do it.
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There you have it- Biafra supports using the government to suppress opinions other than his own and actually decries past efforts to get the FCC out of the content- control business.
In addition, he ignores the tens of millions of dollars that have been invested in Air America Radio and other liberal talk radio networks, including the fact that Clear Channel added leftist programming to dozens of its stations. But that effort largely failed because listeners tuned out.
When your Radio Equalizer was a Seattle- based host, liberal talkers in the building would sometimes invite their grunge rock heroes to the show as guests, only to find they were dumber than a box of rocks.
With his incredibly hypocritical statements, Jello Biafra has proven he's also little more than a puddin'- headed has- been.
Would have been nice if they’d asked where the name ‘Dead Kennedys’ came from. I happened to hear that show and the song in question really stunk.
Acc. to Wikipedia: “The name, despite popular belief, was not meant to insult the assassinated Kennedy brothers, but to quote Biafra, “to bring attention to the end of the American Dream”.”
No way, that song is great! It totally skewers Jerry Brown and the hippy movement as the fascists they are. I don’t know where or when Biaffra apparently lost that vision...
I am Governor Jerry Brown
My aura smiles
And never frowns
Soon I will be president...
Carter Power will soon go away
I will be Fuhrer one day
I will command all of you
Your kids will meditate in school
Your kids will meditate in school!
[Chorus:]
California! Uber Alles!
California! Uber Alles!
Uber Alles! California!
Uber Alles! California!
Zen fascists will control you
100% natural
You will jog for the master race
And always wear the happy face
Close your eyes, can't happen here
Big Bro' on white horse is near
The hippies won't come back you say
Mellow out or you will pay
Mellow out or you will pay!
[Chorus]
Now it is 1984
Knock-knock at your front door
It's the suede/denim secret police
They have come for your uncool niece
Come quietly to the camp
You'd look nice as a drawstring lamp
Don't you worry, it's only a shower
For your clothes here's a pretty flower.
DIE on organic poison gas
Serpent's egg's already hatched
You will croak, you little clown
When you mess with President Brown
When you mess with President Brown
[Chorus]
C'mon, what's not to love about that?!
It's better known as a battle for the airwaves, the left has lost. When I had satellite radio I tried to listen, but couldn't. The liberal message is not grounded in truth. Human nature rejects collectivism and egalitarianism in favor of individualism and a system that best rewards individuals for their efforts.
Such societies proceed furthest in raising living standards for all (unintended consequence produces a 'good' outcome).
I find it odd & interesting how so many supposed Anarchists are quick to recommend government intervention into matters -which can only lead one to conclude that they are not true anarchists as they would be opposed to any form of government intervention & would not want to restrict anyone’s freedom of expression even those who they do not agree with.
"You will croak, you little clown When you mess with President Brown
Yep, hard to fault with this sentiment when you've had experience with ultra-libs. Green on the outside, red a h*ll on the inside. Certainly Moonbeam and Moonface (Mao) would have much in common.
“Organic poison gas” gets me every time. Tee hee!
I doubt this as I think he is just trying to cover his behind. The name of the band was clearly meant to be insulting or at least a glorification of political assassination. The term Dead Kennedys has always been interpreted (at least by myself) as being the symbolic representation of a desire of the dispossessed or disenfranchised to overthrow the ruling elite ie: the death of famous political leaders would represent the beginning of the anarchist revolution.
That’s only because “Anarchist” sounds a lot cooler than “rock-throwing teenager with no dates”...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lnXzilq_NO8
He later re-did it as “I am emperor Ronald Reagan, born again with fascist cravings...”
Was covered as a rap song by Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
(the target then was then-Cal gov Pete Wilson)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ut-3hegJnpc
Ack, I remember that now. I saw it as a performance somewhere, whether on TV or YouTube I can’t remember. But I was like “WTF, now it doesn’t make any sense!” What a maroon.
>>the left has lost
in super-blue New England, stations once running Air
America in Burlington VT, Boston, Prov RI, Portland ME,
and New Haven have all given it up. (The Prov RI station
now runs Rush, Hannity, etc.) Other than three small stations in western MA and one in Brattleboro VT, AAR was a complete
dud here. But they do have NPR.
One comment on the save prog. radio boston yahoo group,
sent to the powerful WBZ (CBS radio news/talk) says in
part: “Now that Bush
has wrecked the economy and helped put the world in
chaos, don’t you think, Mr. Casey, it is time to put a
progressive talker on WBZ AM?
The audience in this blue state wants it, and with the
ratings going the way they are going (WBCN, one of
your properties, a good case in point) the logical
thing for WBZ is to put a talk show host on that
discusses things progressives want to discuss.”
WBZ regularly is one of the highest rated stations
in town. Putting “prog. talk” on would make their
ratings plummet.
An outright lie from the same group:
“Ever since Romney gave us liberals the finger as he left the governorship by buying the 2 AAR stations in Boston, we have had a great hole.”
Bain is buying Clear Channel or at least they tried to
but Romney left Bain YEARS ago.
(Ironically enough, Romney’s church, through its broadcasting arm Bonneville, owns some stations in Washington DC known as 3WT who DO have “prog talk” hosts like Stephanie Miller
and Randi Rhodes—imagine!—along with Beck, O’Reilly,
Hendrie, Kornheiser... )
That liberal radio can't succeed in a lib market suggests that even they don't want to hear opinions from collectivists whose premise is false and foreign to individuals who are likely riding alone in their car.
Now, were they to create something similar to the "Rush Room", they might raise their numbers. Myself, I don't think I could finish an omlete with Barney Frank lisping in the background.
NPR gets some very good interviews with current newsmakers and has fewer commercials than other radio shows. A good thing. The liberal bent ranges from very subtle to in-your-face. I only tune to it when other channels go to commercial (which lasts about five minutes).
What irks me the most is the accent so prevelant among guests (and interviewers). Is everyone an English correspondant these days, or just trying to sound like one? All things considered ;^(
Who names their kid “Jello”? I wonder if he has a sister named “My-T-Fine”.
Ha!
Well, it’s kind of like a comedian I once heard who said
of a certain daredevil, “His parents must have said, Let’s name him...Evel!” Robert, actually...same in this case.
He was born Eric Boucher which I guess is not quite the
name for a punk band performer. (Rat Scabies...Richard
Hell...Sid Vicious; heck even “Adam Ant” sounds more
interesting than the man’s given name of Stuart Goddard.
>>Is everyone an English correspondant these days, or just trying to sound like one?
Yeah, when Laura Ingraham wants to make fun of NPR she plays
the All Things Considered theme and talks in a prissy
English accent.
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