Posted on 07/22/2003 4:22:19 PM PDT by Paul Atreides
Voter apathy being what it is in America, voter registration drives are often lauded for their altruistic goal of engaging more people in the democratic process. Among such efforts are those of Rock the Vote, which aims to get more young people involved in voting and politics.
Promoted heavily on the rock music video cable channel MTV, Rock the Vote's very first introductory line is simple and straight forward: "Rock the Vote is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, founded in 1990."
Given this up front pronouncement of being non-partisan, people who know absolutely anything at all about the American political landscape can be forgiven for raising an eyebrow over Rock the Vote's July 21 announcement that The Dixie Chicks have joined the group in a new voter registration drive.
The Dixie Chicks, you may recall, are the country music act that saw fit on March 10 to express their shame of President Bush to a concert audience in London. The group's Natalie Maines pronounced, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."
Hence, we are to believe that Rock the Vote is somehow able to honestly maintain its 'non-partisan' identity by recruiting musicians who openly proclaim their shame of an American president.
The Dixie Chicks voter registration initiative is hardly the first instance of Rock the Vote displaying its duplicitous claim of non-partisanship.
In February, this liberal front group announced that Chuck D, who performs with the band Public Enemy, was named the recipient of the 2003 Rock the Vote Founders Award.
The MTV announcement of Mr. D's award included such tidbits as "Chuck furthered his politically charged tirade with Public Enemy's set, setting aflame such songs as 'Welcome to the Terrordome,' 'Fight the Power'... and the condemning 'Son of a Bush,' off the group's latest album, Revolverlution, that was punctuated by a buffoon in a George W. mask."
The MTV release continued with this fine reference to the current White House occupant: "You see this f---ing guy?" Chuck asked. "He stole the presidency."
I must have missed class in PR school the day they taught news release writing that includes obscenities leveled at sitting presidents as a means of promoting non-partisanship.
On political issues, Rock the Vote is similarly dishonest, directing Internet visitors to such famously non-partisan groups as the National Organization for Women, MoveOn.org, the ACLU, Greenpeace, People for the American Way, the National Education Association, the AFL-CIO, and similarly leftist organizations.
Rock the Vote's Campaigns and Elections section is no less tilted toward the left. It exhorts visitors to "take back our country," and proclaims "the vision of a society that we want to live in - one that values tolerance and diversity, and does not divide us along these sensitive lines - is not necessarily shared by the generation of politicians running our country."
Who is running our country these days? We have a Republican in the White House, a Republican majority in the Senate and a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. It would appear Rock the Vote wants young people to "take back" the country from one political party and not another.
If Rock the Vote wants to bill itself as a liberal organization dedicated to promoting what leftists love to call 'progressive' political solutions, that's fine and dandy. Open and honest debate is what our political process is all about and it ought to be encouraged, regardless of ideology.
But Rock the Vote is instead lying by calling itself non-partisan and it should stop the deceit and manipulation of young people. It is clearly engaged in a partisan political warfare.
And as we all know, the first casualty in war is truth.
Scott Hogenson is executive editor of CNSNews.com.
I did see that they claimed to be a non-profit group although I did not find details in the About or FAQ sections.
If they are a 501c3 non-profit, I would say that it is illegal for them to link to a PAC such as Moveon.org (Moveon.org is a partisan PAC and not a non-profit).
They are no more permitted to have a weblink to them than a church can have Republican party literature in the lobby for guests.
A bigger violation would be the "No on 54" banner. They can't take a stand on ballot initiatives as a non-profit.
The IRS violations of 501c3s don't seem to get challenged often enough.
Rock the Vote is a joke. Pied Pipers trying to tell the kids to vote for Candidate X because it's all a big popularity contest.
"Madonna" made a Rock The Vote ad in 1992 and then she didn't even bother to vote. Do as I say, not as I do. Feh.
There was a book written decades ago titled "Nation Of Sheep" that the Kennedy National Security staff thought was a worthy read.
Some break free from the flock and think about things and some do not. The left does not understand FR and talk radio. They think we come here to get our day's talking points or get our views reaffirmed. We know what we are talking about, we just need to get someplace where we can get away from the usual DNC talking points chatter.
We can discuss the election 2000. We can discuss the courts (Florida as well as US Supreme Court) and we know that there was a 7-2 decision that came AFTER the 5-4 decision that the libs like to cite. When some DUsrupter comes here to trash the president by saying that he didn't really win (the popular vote had an unchallenged difference of 0.52% between the top 2 candidates although we can never be certain that was the "true" count of the day, it was the certified count and that is what matters, however we do not elect presidents with the popular vote). They say that he didn't have a mandate (although he got far more votes and a far greater percentage of votes than Bill Clinton ever did).
Why get into bar arguments with brainwashed drunks who spout the same old lies? How many times in the past month has the same attack article on the Bin Laden family and flights after 9-11 been posted? We know that the media plays their games. We are tired of their games. They aren't happy that we see through the Wizard of Oz and have seen the man at the tv console directing the nightly news broadcasts. It's Baghdad Bob, regardless of his disguise we know it's him.
Some people prefer to pull the wool over their own eyes. To admit that Bill Clinton was a liar is to admit that the Republicans were right and had him pegged since the first day he stepped into the public spotlight.
Their egos won't let them admit defeat. It would be akin to losing their religion. Some have turned and some have even become FReepers.
Popular stars are being brought in to make sure the public knows what the "right" positions are. Do you want to be like those conservatives who can't enjoy Alec Baldwin movies or do you want to be able to see Charlie's Angels II without real world distractions? Lull yourself into a state of idle pleasure. Baaaaaaaaaaaah.
Remeber when Linda Ellerbe (sp?) took to the airwaves to explain "current events" (including Bill Clinton's impeachment) to small children?
MTV does some political and social broadcasting. I call it Indoctrination.
You are wrong that they are no longer a danger. In fact, RTV is more dangerous now than before, for the very reason you cite: because their target audience is younger.
The Left knows that its positions fail the test of logic and reason. Instead, they promulgate their agenda by promoting irrational emotion using disinformation. This tactic works best on "blank-slate" minds, hence they target children, as well as the under-educated (which is why schools are deliberately dumbing-down). The earlier they can start their indoctrination, the more deeply rooted that indoctrination becomes. Brainwashing is easy if you have virtually unlimited access to a target mind over a long period of time. That is why the Leftists control both the schools and the media.
Today's "insignificant" 15-year-old, is tomorrow's voter. And by the age of 18, most children will have spent more time with (and watching/listening to) Leftists, than they will have spent with their parents.
Rock music channel?They've single handedly ruined rock and roll.They could be called the [C]rap music channel,though.
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