Posted on 06/25/2007 3:40:54 PM PDT by Doctor Raoul
Posted by Tim Graham on June 25, 2007 - 07:46.
Even when the Washington Post is covering a Marxist, they have trouble putting an ideological label in the headline. On the front page of Monday’s Style section is a profile of Marxist rock guitarist Tom Morello, but the headline was bland: "Tom Morello, on Tour and on Message: Folk-Rock’s Nightwatchman Plays True to His Roots." Inside, the headline was simply "Tom Morello, Refocusing His Political Rage." Neither headline reflected that he prayed for President Bush’s death:
Onstage, when the Nightwatchman sang, "I pray that God himself will come and drown the president if the levees break again," the Jammin' Java crowd's attitude was chilling. People were praying.
So why isn’t that death-wish directly reflected in the headline, instead of simply being vaguely "On Message" with "Rage"?
"The Nightwatchman" is what Morello calls his solo act, when he's not with Rage or his newer band, Audioslave. To the Post’s credit, Zumbrun does place Morello’s ideology on the radical fringe, but largely because Morello’s radicalism is so obvious. But they studiously avoid Marxism or communism in the mix of labels:
Morello rejects labels, largely because he's so far left on the political spectrum that labels cease to apply. A term like "revolutionary socialism" or "radical anti-establishment" gives a general idea for those unfamiliar with Rage Against the Machine...
Aside from [Rep. Dennis] Kucinich, and he's still several shades to the right of me, I don't think anybody has courageously stepped up and said what needs to be said. We have a war criminal sitting in the White House. That's not hyperbole."
That’s where the "please-God-drown-Bush" moment arrived. Back when Rage Against the Machine was still a touring band, Brent Bozell reported on their radical vibe:
"We are unapologetically revolutionary in our music and in our intent," as guitarist Tom Morello tells George magazine. How revolutionary? Morello has spoken favorably of Peru's murderous Shining Path guerrillas; at Woodstock '99, bassist Tim Commerford set ablaze an American flag, later stating in Rolling Stone, "My burning the flag is as much glorifying as desecrating it"....
Amazingly, it seems that Rage would be even more militant if they thought it would be effective. The George story notes that "the Marxist vocabulary of elites and cabals, which the band members use freely in conversation, rarely appears in their songs"; in the same article, Morello complains that "words like 'socialism' and 'Marxism' have been so demonized that it's difficult to have intelligent discussion about what they mean."
And praying to God for Bush's drowning may be a pose, since Brent noted that Rage mocked priests in their lyrics. "Ashes in the Fall" goes, in part, "It's the priests that f--- you/As they whisper holy things." Zumbrun captured a little of Morello's Marxist elites-and-cabals patter in the Post:
Morello's not just angry about Iraq. Before each song he explained his inspiration for it, ranging from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to economic injustice to the Sago Mine Sago Mine Disaster, which made Morello realize that "energy is literally mixed with the blood of the working class."
He tells the crowd a story from two weeks ago, when police in Rostock, Germany, confronted thousands of demonstrators at the G8 economic summit with tear gas and water cannons. But it was worth it, he explains: "Somebody needs to represent the millions of Americans who are opposed to the eight wealthy leaders of the eight wealthiest countries getting together behind a three-story-tall barbed-wire fence to decide our fate."
As we noted from Post stories at the time, President Bush and European leaders are elected. No one elected radical leftist protesters who urged violent disturbances against the G-8 summit. So which group reflects democracy? And which group reflects an ideology of barbed wire? Guess who? The one supported by the musician whose song "Guerrilla Radio" dreams of a Marxist revolution in Washington DC. The Post reported that Morello still sings that Rage tune in his acoustic Nightwatchman set.
How quaint, marxists with guitars, someone call Woody Guthrie, they are infringing on his copy righted act.,...
Wow, I agree with a Marxist ? Unfrickinbelievable.
What’s this? Another millionaire communist? How come rich elitists are always big Marxist/Communists?
Perhaps you should more closely examine in what other areas you agree with Marxists. Your comment indicates that you only think you know what you are.
These leaders ARE the elected representatives of the people and negotiating economic policies with other nations IS the business they were elected to do.
Or perhaps the anti-globalists would prefer that our elected leaders NOT talk to each other and the world would go back to conducting business the way it was conducted centuries ago; punitive trade embargoes, crippling tariffs and tit for tat anti trade legislation.
Just another Po'boy fighting the system.
Spit.
Funny thing, Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper is about as middle-class as it gets. Obviously the writer of this article, Tom, and anyone who agrees about “the wealthy G-8 leaders” could use a bit of remedial reading, with a bit of research skill training added.
I will grant that the previous half-dozen PM’s have been on the other side of millionaire status, mind you.
What these idiot marxists fail to realize is that our leaders are generally EXTREMELY liberal compared to the vast middle class. The closer you get to the middle of the middle as far as wealth and education are concerned, the more radically to the far right their ideas become.
If they think Bush is our hero, they need a good thump upside the head to set them straight.
If I thought any of these leaders were interested in the well being of their constituents, I might be more inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.
You obviously think the EU and the NAU and Central Banks colluding on monetary issues are in the best interests of any country. I think otherwise.
That’s funny right there.
Millionaire Marxists, Communists with Credit cards, Bolsheviks with Beemers...
As Iowahawk immortally put it, “Rage Against My Allowance.”
A key issue for the G-8 leaders is promoting the progress of less affluent countries by having the Central Bank extend credit to them, provided those countries reform their fiscal system by cutting deficit spending and eliminating corruption. It’s difficult for me to see where the downside is here or who is harmed by this.
How about American taxpayers paying taxes so turd world dictators get spared the consequences of their Marxist economic problems. That’s who gets hurt.
Feel free to point out any “less affluent” country that has ever paid back their “loans”. Good luck - all that money is now sitting in their dictator’s Swiss bank accounts.
Mexico was loaned 30 billion dollars in 1995. They paid it back in full, and early.
There are many other loans that are as successful as this, especially in more recent years as there are strings attached to the lending terms. Of course, not all loans ARE successful. In the view of some, these few bad examples make the whole program a waste of money. I disagree.
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