It still sucks-Dave Mattews Band is the same way, great music but dyed in the wool pinko. Grateful Dead who is my all time favorite band, never commented publically on politics. There followers, however, did all the time. Its a generational thing, I guess. Old time hippy types, desperate for the days of old look for political obstinance..
I think here it is just a case of trying to remain "relevant" by simply replacing the political figures pictured in the slideshows that accompany the songs.
He wants to sing The Wall after Israel tears down their wall. Where in HELL is the condemnation of the religious zealots who kidnap, murder, and target men women and children for terrorism? What about the vile antisemetic propaganda that the "beloved" Palestinians air? Matzoh being made from the blood of Christian children, Jews as the subhuman offspring of pigs and monkeys.
Roger Waters is a fool. Syd Barrett was a sane and rational man by comparison.
It's almost impossible for a reasonable conservative to make it in the music business, not that any reasonable conservative would want to be in that crooked enterprise anyhow. The record companies sign young gullible "skulls full of mush" and turn them into famous, but indentured servants. Almost none of the bands make any money, but the one perk they enjoy is a bully pulpit to preach any liberal doctrine they wish.
If you think about it, why would anyone give any credence to people who are too stupid to negotiate a business deal that at least allows them to be compensated equitably. It's like hiring a salesman who can't sell or a lawyer who never wins a case. I think it was Alice Cooper who said, "Why would anyone listen to me? I'm just a stupid musician!"
If you're a conservative and a musician courting a major label, you have to keep your mouth shut. Ted Nugent's love of the 2nd Amendment didn't become public knowledge until after he had achieved his fame and notoriety.
This is one of the main reasons I opted out of the typical recording industry track and became an indie. I teach, I make albums, I write the music, I do the graphics, I do a minimal amount of marketing, I retain full artistic control as well as my copyrights and I make money doing it. I've been screwed by a couple of distributors and on a licensing deal, but overall, I always come out ahead. Because my music is contemporary instrumentals, it ends up often in the New Age category. I don't buy into that whole sprout-eating, crystal chanting, harmonic-convergence thing, so it cost me acceptance by a couple of labels, because I didn't value tree-hugging or whatever.
The best part is that I can be myself, make music, and not suffer the "cognitive dissonance" that might occur otherwise if I had to toe the line for a record label. There's just a certain level of hypocrisy that the liberal musician do-gooders have to maintain. For example, Sting made a big deal over saving the Amazon rainforests, but he owns guitars made out of Brazilian rosewood. Dave Matthews band has been part of the global warming crowd, but they had that incident where they dumped the waste tank on their RV into the river and onto the boats and people below. You have the Willie Nelsons and John Mellencamps who pretend to save the family farm while donating Farm-Aid proceeds to PACs that fund lobbying for huge agri-business legislation benefitting Clinton's buddies at Tyson foods.
Rarely, there are artists that get real. David Lee Roth became a paramedic. Steve Morse of the Dixie Dregs became an airline pilot. Although I love the songs of every artist I mentioned in this post, it's solely for the talent they have. Roger Waters and that whole "hippy" generation just needs to get a job, get a haircut, and do something real for another human being. It's always symbolism over substance for those guys.