Springsteen - Vote for Change

“Musical All-Stars Unite for Anti-Bush Tour

By Brooks Boliek
WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - It's not a battle of the bands, but more of a bands for the battlegrounds as two anti-Bush organizations on Wednesday announced a series of rock 'n' roll performances in nine of the states where the presidential election will likely be decided.

The Vote for Change Tour will include such stars as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks, with stops in the so-called "battleground states" of Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Michigan, Iowa, Florida, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Proceeds from the shows will go to into the coffers of America Coming Together (ACT), which is presenting the tour with MoveOn.Org's political action committee MoveOn PAC.
[snip]”

“Right On ! !”

“Hey that’s what Americas all about man! If the party you support has no core and you can’t further their platform simply attack the other guy. It’s the liberal way dude! :)”

“Republican's answer to this is gonna be country top 40.”

“"Let freedom ring,
Let the white dove sing..."

LOL! When's the new Toby Kieth cd comin' out anyhow?”

“"My daddy caught me votin' Democrat
Now it really hurts where I once sat
He done paddled me Red White and Blue"”

“I saw on the news that sKerry’s polls are slipping even more. He’s now 2.5% behind Linda Ronstat.”

“Anybody else see 'Toby Mountain' on The Late Show the other night?”

“Michigan - October 3rd. Venues not yet announced, although they did specify the City where each band/artist would be playing.

Yea! DMB Rocks! They'll be in Detroit.”

“Dixie Chicks wow !!

What awesome support the Dem platform has.

All they need now is to convince Paris and Nicole to tour with Mr. Botox.”

“"Anybody else see 'Toby Mountain' on The Late Show the other night?"

Off topic but…did you see The Chapele Show this week tilt? He did a skit showing what would happen if Bush was black. They called him Black Bush. It was hilarious! At one point he was holding a press conference justifying going into Iraq and he said, “The motherphucker tried to kill my daddy. I can’t have it!”. And when they cornered him an the issue of oil he said, “Oil? OIL? Who said anything about cookin’?”, then he knocked all the water pitchers over and his whole black cabinet just ran for it. LOL!

A must see!”

“"Dixie Chicks wow !!"

That chick is one Krispy Kream away from working in a Layn Bryant.”

“I just caught a tiny bit of it.... 'Duelling Little Jons'?

I never saw the real one before, so I couldn't tell which was which, LOL


'Toby Mountain' was like Toby Keith... only different, LOL --- like he was singing a country song about how he wanted to be in a man sandwich with Tom Ridge and Don Rumsfeld.”

“WHAT?...OK!...YEAH!...sometimes I just feel as though I have no one I can open up to....WHAT?...YEAH!”

“This is Springsteen's letter to the NY Times

Chords for Change

August 5, 2004
By BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN





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.”

“BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!”

“It's an unusual step for Bruce to come out in a partisan way as he did here. The most political he ever got in his 30+ years on stage is the Amnesty International tours that he did with Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, et al. Also, the song 41 Shots cause d a little stir with the NYPD. I think he put in rather eloquently [as is his usual style]in his published article yesterday. One thing about Bruce, like him or not. The man did not forget where he came from...”

“i heart Peter Gabriel”

“A well-written letter. I hope many citizens read it.”

“George Bush is a good reflection of American values.”