Today in Amurika

[Mairead]

Max Ochs is a 62-y.o. folk singer and former civil rights activist (and also, according to a German site, a nephew of Phil) who runs a small coffeehouse series in Annapolis. For the eighth year, he's also hosted the free summer concert series--which he helped found--at the Quiet Waters Park in his home town. Hosted, that is, until, during his usual short intermission 'set' at a July concert, he sang the 'notorious' 'no trespassing' verse to 'This Land Is Your Land' and offered a light-hearted observation about G.W.Bush's odd speech phrasing and seeming lack of affection for reading. A letter of complaint was all it took for county parks director Dennis Callahan to immediately fire Max with no warning or prior reprimand.

...

I wonder if Mr. Callahan --whose answering machine plays Lee Greenwood's 'God Bless the USA' before asking for your message-- would have been so quick to take this kind of action against pro-war, anti-immigrant rhetoric that could also easily have offended a listener or two.

...

(from the current issue of Sing Out!, the venerable folk-song magazine)

[muchacho]

1. the kulture war

The war is on folks, and the vile and hateful are in the lead.

[tom_paine]

3. Volk, Vuherer*, Vaterland, Reine Kultur

Like a "kinder and gentler" Germany 1935.

Thankfully, I suppose, for all of us, who are probably on the FEMA Concentration Camp List not yet implemented.

[Atlant]

2. I don't wonder about that at all.

> I wonder if Mr. Callahan --whose answering machine plays Lee
> Greenwood's 'God Bless the USA' before asking for your
> message-- would have been so quick to take this kind of
> action against pro-war, anti-immigrant rhetoric that could
> also easily have offended a listener or two.

I don't wonder about that at all.

So does anyone think we're actually going to have a peaceful
"transition of power" in 2004?

Atlant

[tom_paine]

4. I agree, Atlant

I don't wonder about that either. Ahhh, Goebbels v2.0 is a very effective tool for producing legions of thoughtless automatons, like v1.0.

And they are coming...