Tag: free speech

UPDATED CHECK BELOW! - APR 17, 2012 - Ted Nugent, who has been in the news recently after using extreme rhetoric centered around guns, politics, and his obvious hatred for the Obama administration, is at it again. Back in 2007 he went on an on-stage rant where he came out with a gun and waved it in the air saying, "Obama, suck on this you punk!" Well, this time it's a recent NRA Convention where he went on a rant and stumped for Mitt Romney saying "If you don't know that our government is wiping its ass...with the Constitution, you're living under a rock someplace." He then went on denouncing the Obama administration as "vile, evil, America-hating. We defied the emperors! We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November! Any questions?" The majority male white crowd erupted in cheers.

The group People For the American Way (PFAW) has asked the presumed Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who was at the event also, to come out and denounce Ted Nugent's outrageous statements. Read the press releases here. Watch Ted's rant below.

UPDATE: Ted Nugent may have caught the attention of the Secret Service. During his  NRA rant criticizing the Obama administration he said, "If the coyote is in your house pissing on your couch, it's not the coyote's fault, it is your fault for not shooting him." He also said, "If Barack Obama becomes the president in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year". The Secret Service tells NYMag.com that "We are aware of it and we'll conduct the appropriate follow up." Watch and cringe below. 

UPDATE: On the Dana Loesch radio talk show, Nugent stood by his remarks and said, "I spoke at the NRA and will stand by my speech. It's 100 percent positive. It's about we the people taking back our American dream from the corrupt monsters in the federal government under this administration, the communist czars he has appointed."

UPDATE APR 17, 2012 10:11 PM: DNC Chairperson Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has seen the clips of Ted Nugent's rant, and she Tweeted, "Romney surrogate Ted Nugent's comments  about Pres. Obama are vile & beyond the pale-and the Romney campaign should denounce them immediately".  The DNC has issued a statement saying, "Mitt Romney's surrogates are crossing the line, calling the President's administration "vile," "evil," and "America-hating"—but so far Romney has refused to condemn it. It's on him to stop the violent rhetoric before it gets out of control. Join Democrats and tell Mitt Romney to Denounce Ted Nugent's comments about President Obama." They have started an online petition here.

UPDATE APR 18, 2012 1:30 PM: According to The Blaze, Ted Nugent told Glenn Beck that he has an appointment with the Secret Service tomorrow to discuss his recent violent rhetoric against President Obama. Nugent told Beck, “We actually have heard from the Secret Service and they have a duty. I support them. I salute them. And I look forward to our meeting tomorrow, I‘m sure we’ll have a great conversation…bottom line is, I‘ve never threatened anybody’s life in my life. I’ve never threatened. I don’t waste breath threatening. We’re going to have a little barbecue get together, and I’m not trying to diminish the seriousness of this, because if the Secret Service are doing it they are serious. They are dedicated and I will be as polite and supportive as I possibly can be, which will be thoroughly.”

MAR 28, 2012 - JTMP has been blogging on the freethinker event and concert Rock Beyond Belief this Saturday, March 31, 2012 at the Fort Bragg, NC military base, and JTMP got a chance to interview one of the musicians Jeffrey Lewis that will be performing. This event is being held in response to a 2010 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association “Rock the Fort” event that was heavily evangelical in nature. The activist organizers of the event, such as Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, wear the uniform but spoke up as citizens and wanted equal access, and wanted to promote non-discrimination towards freethinking people such as agnostics, atheists, secularists, humanists and people who just want to be left alone when it comes to religion.  (photo: Sonya Kolowrat and courtesy of TheJeffreyLewisSite.com)

Jeffrey Lewis is a musician who describes himself as anti-folk, but also does animation, video, comic books, illustrations and more. Here is the interview, and check out Jeff's cool website here.

JTMP: I love your anti-folk style, very interesting. I have to confess I was not very aware of this genre. Can you describe what the anti-folk means to you?

Jeffrey Lewis: “Anybody who was playing music at the Sidewalk Cafe in New York City in the 1990s or 2000s was automatically labeled "antifolk" no matter what kind of music you played, so the term doesn't really mean anything other than that.  But it also makes sense for me, more than for some other people, because it describes a certain attitude towards writing and recording and performing that the term "singer-songwriter" would not describe.  I had never heard of antifolk before I started playing at Sidewalk in 1998, but I already would not have thought of myself as a "singer-songwriter," I was more into music as a raw expression in words and sound, NOT so much the delicate craft of piecing words and melodies together.  So I'm glad there's a term that already existed that seems to be some sort of description of that, a description of songwriting that falls outside of the normal image.  So that's what "antifolk" means to me, if it means anything.  I don't mind it, because no matter what you play there will be people who come up with a genre tag for it, you can't escape that, so at least antifolk is a more unique and mysterious tag than "indie rock" or "alt country" or "post punk" or whatever.  If people want to call me antifolk I won't fight it.”

CLICK READ MORE FOR REST OF INTERVIEW

MAR 28, 2012 - JTMP has been reporting on the freethinker gathering and concert "Rock Beyond Belief" that will take place on this Saturday, March 31 at Fort Bragg, NC. Having a non-evangelical and/or non-religious event was a hard pill to swallow for the base commanders, and was met with fierce resistance and backlash. One of the bands participating at the event Aiden received hate email from religious people saying that the band Aiken was "burning down churches for the Obama campaign video" and other ridiculous nonsense. This arose because one of their videos shows a scene of a church burning (watch below), and Fox News reporter Todd Starnes wrote an article twisting the words of the song so badly and taking them totally out of context. Aiden's intention of the scene of the burning churches represents Christians, Muslims and Jews burning their rival's churches through the centuries, and the violence and nonsense perpetrated in the name of religion. The band in no way shape or form condones or promotes violence against churches or religious people. They just don't want discrimination against freethinkers. Read a good article about it here.

MAR 12, 2012 - Punk music activist band Anti-Flag, who have been interviewed and featured on the Justice Through Music's website and "Rock Your Rights" DVDs over the years, has teamed up with Amnesty International and released a powerful new music video called "This is the New Sound" speaking out against the NDAA, or National Defense Authorization Act. The act gives the President power to detain and hold American citizens indefinitely without a charge or a trial.

The song is from their upcoming album "The General Strike" to be released on March 20th. Anti-Flag has been one of the most political musical activist bands ever, with lyrics such as "You gotta Die for Your Government, That's shit!". Drummer Pat Thetic is an outspoken critic of the use of depleted uranium by US, UK, Israeli and other militaries in their bullets. They have teamed up and supported PETA, Greenpeace, and Democracy Now! and numerous causes over the years.

If you want to learn more check out  Wiki and to sign a petition against the NDAA there is one at Petition2Congress, and Change.org. Watch the new video "This is the New Sound" from Anti-Flag below:

Conservative hate-talk show host Rush Limbaugh who has been under fire recently for his 3-day anti-women hate-filled diatribe attack on activist Sandra Fluke, has been ordered by another musical artist to stop playing their music. Last week it was Peter Gabriel and the Canadian trio Rush, and now when Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine heard that Limbaugh had played their 1999 song "Sleep Now in the Fire" he tweeted and told Limbaugh to stop using their music:

Rage Against The Machine is one of the biggest activist bands ever, with lyrics that are not afraid to be in-your-face political, with songs such as, "Killing in the Name" and "Sleep Now in the Fire". Tom Morello of course has his alter-ego "The Nightwatchman" who has been heavily involved with the Occupy Movement. Watch the Michael Moore directed video of "Sleep Now in the Fire" below.  (Photo credit: Penner/Flickr)