The NYT, OTOH, gives op-ed space to that shrewd political analyst, Bruce Springsteen:
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Chords for Change
By BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Published: August 5, 2004
A nation's artists and musicians have a particular place in its social and political life. Over the years I've tried to think long and hard about what it means to be American: about the distinctive identity and position we have in the world, and how that position is best carried. I've tried to write songs that speak to our pride and criticize our failures.
These questions are at the heart of this election: who we are, what we stand for, why we fight. Personally, for the last 25 years I have always stayed one step away from partisan politics. Instead, I have been partisan about a set of ideals: economic justice, civil rights, a humane foreign policy, freedom and a decent life for all of our citizens. This year, however, for many of us the stakes have risen too high to sit this election out.
Through my work, I've always tried to ask hard questions. Why is it that the wealthiest nation in the world finds it so hard to keep its promise and faith with its weakest citizens? Why do we continue to find it so difficult to see beyond the veil of race? How do we conduct ourselves during difficult times without killing the things we hold dear? Why does the fulfillment of our promise as a people always seem to be just within grasp yet forever out of reach?
I don't think John Kerry and John Edwards have all the answers. I do believe they are sincerely interested in asking the right questions and working their way toward honest solutions. They understand that we need an administration that places a priority on fairness, curiosity, openness, humility, concern for all America's citizens, courage and faith.
People have different notions of these values, and they live them out in different ways. I've tried to sing about some of them in my songs. But I have my own ideas about what they mean, too. That is why I plan to join with many fellow artists, including the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., the Dixie Chicks, Jurassic 5, James Taylor and Jackson Browne, in touring the country this October. We will be performing under the umbrella of a new group called Vote for Change. Our goal is to change the direction of the government and change the current administration come November.
Like many others, in the aftermath of 9/11, I felt the country's unity. I don't remember anything quite like it. I supported the decision to enter Afghanistan and I hoped that the seriousness of the times would bring forth strength, humility and wisdom in our leaders. Instead, we dived headlong into an unnecessary war in Iraq, offering up the lives of our young men and women under circumstances that are now discredited. We ran record deficits, while simultaneously cutting and squeezing services like afterschool programs. We granted tax cuts to the richest 1 percent (corporate bigwigs, well-to-do guitar players), increasing the division of wealth that threatens to destroy our social contract with one another and render mute the promise of "one nation indivisible."
It is through the truthful exercising of the best of human qualities - respect for others, honesty about ourselves, faith in our ideals - that we come to life in God's eyes. It is how our soul, as a nation and as individuals, is revealed. Our American government has strayed too far from American values. It is time to move forward. The country we carry in our hearts is waiting.
Bruce Springsteen is a writer and performer.
6 out of 8 NYT letter to the editor supported this, of course, but the Asbury Park Press (central NJ) printed an article indicated a lot of people (including me, BTW) are not really interested in the Boss's political opinions:
Blunder road? Bruce attacked for partisan path
Published in the Asbury Park Press 8/06/04
By MICHAEL RILEY
STAFF WRITER
It's not like he didn't see this coming.
"We who are about to be lambasted salute you," Bruce Springsteen told Ted Koppel on Wednesday night's edition of ABC television's "Nightline" when discussing his decision to be a part of a series of anti-Bush Vote for Change concerts in swing states this October.
The lambasting has begun.
Following Springsteen's announcement and the Asbury Park Press' front-page coverage of it, reaction from readers and fans has ranged from anger to disappointment.
Maria Castronova's reaction is typical.
"I love Bruce Springsteen's work," the 40-year-old Spotswood resident said. "I love the man. His music has been the soundtrack for my life. But this announcement disappointed me. I don't take political advice from a college dropout. He should just stick to what he does best."
Her disappointment, she said, doesn't take away from her memories of him in concert or her joy in his songs.
But she definitely will not be attending any Vote for Change concerts.
"I won't buy a ticket," Castronova said. "And if I came into a possession of one somehow, I would raffle it off and donate the money to the Bush campaign."
In his "Nightline" interview, Springsteen admitted that, while he has often supported causes that could be termed liberal, his association with Vote for Change represents something of a departure for him.
"I stayed a step away from partisan politics because I felt it was always important to have an independent voice. I wanted my fans to feel like they could trust that," Springsteen said.
But for this election, Springsteen wrote yesterday in a New York Times op-ed piece, "the stakes have risen too high to sit this election out. . . I believe that (Democratic candidates John Kerry and John Edwards) are sincerely interested in asking the right questions and working their way toward honest solutions."
Mike Sweeney, who lives in Arlington, Va., but grew up in Hazlet, wishes that Springsteen would sit this election out, at least when it comes to allying himself with a particular candidate.
This from a man who does not consider himself a conservative, and understands Springsteen's liberal mindset.
"This could compromise his artistic integrity and isolate him from more than the casual fan," Sweeney said. "I'm not going to any of the Change the Vote concerts. I see no reason to encourage Bruce to go down this partisan path."
Springsteen understands that he might well anger some of his longtime fans. He told Koppel that he is ready for that, ready to see some of his audience give him what he referred to as the "New Jersey State Salute."
He's willing to risk that, he said.
"Our American government has strayed too far from American values," Springsteen wrote in The New York Times. "It is time to move forward. The country we carry in our hearts is waiting."
Adair Ascough isn't buying it. The 75-year-old Toms River resident admits that she has never been a Springsteen fan.
"Not my kind of music," she said. "I'm a Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey person."
But she wouldn't care if Springsteen were a big band singer who supported Bush.
"Who cares what he thinks about politics?" she said. "He's no expert."
The Vote for Change tour begins Oct. 1 with six shows in various Pennsylvania locations. The closest will be in Philadelphia that night, with Springsteen, R.E.M., John Fogerty and the indie-folk band Bright Eyes. That lineup continues Oct. 2 in Cleveland; Oct. 3 in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Oct. 5 in St. Paul, Minn. and concludes Oct. 8 in Orlando, Fla. |
