Back in the day I told myself that if I ever heard the Butthole Surfers or Sonic Youth recorded as supermarket muzak, it would surely mean the apocalypse had arrived. So far only The Police hold this distinction. Nonetheless, something far more nefarious lurks in the shadows of modern day cultural discourse. The quoting of punk by right wing pundits. May you live in ridiculous times.
So a reality check is in order, hence the extended Jello Biafra rant below. He was reacting to news that right wing talk show nut case Michael Savage made ample use of Dead Kennedys material for a recent show gloating over the news of Ted Kennedy’s current health crisis (I recommend clicking the link above to hear the surreal screed). But truth be known, I was once a shock jock myself at WOBC(*). On the day the space shuttle blew up I played “Pigs In Outer Space” by the Muppets. Ouch.
On The Download - Exclusive: Jello Biafra responds to Michael Savage’s Dead-Ted-Kennedys rant:
It scares the shit 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 mindfuck 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 fucked 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.
(*) WOBC is still a great, far out radio station. You can listen to live streaming from its Web site.
Spoken like a true elitist. It’s all about the Bejamins mon ami. The left just ain’t entertaining.
Using money to justify anyone’s actions is the root of problem. Intention and integrity are what matters. Money is just energy.
PS It’s easy to call anyone an elitist. But what does that really mean?