POLITICS AND MUSIC CAN MAKE VERY STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

When I was growing up in the 60's there really was a time-- albeit a short time-- when you could judge a book by its cover. If I saw a guy with long hair in 1965 it would be a safe bet, not a surefire bet, but a safe bet, that he smoked pot, liked rock music and opposed the War in Vietnam. That little solidarity came crashing down for me a few years later when I was in Texas and there were all kind of right wing red necks with long hair.

Maybe Sunday you saw Theo Emery's New York Times story about the rise of "the left" (or at least of a moderate, mainstream position) on Nashville's Music Row. People are pissed that country music stations are so conservative-- the didn't respond to listeners demanding the stations stop playing the Dixie Chicks; they fomented that. According to longtime country songwriter Bobby Braddock, "Something political will not get played on country radio unless it's on the conservative side. If you show both sides, it's not good enough. It's got to be just on the right." His new song, "Thou Shalt Not Kill" isn't on country radio. It's one of 20 anti-war/anti-Bush country songs released as a compilation by the Music Row Democrats, a group of mainstream (i.e.- non-far right-wing loon) record-company executives, talent managers and artists based in Nashville.

If you think that's odd, how about this crazy story in today's Moonie Times! Russell Simmons, not just an important figure in the hip-hop world, but an important liberal activist, has endorsed-- and is campaigning for-- far right whack-job Michael Steele, who is running for an open Senate seat in Maryland.

But whether you're a Democrat who likes country music or a reactionary who's into rap, one thing that can unite all Americans is just a great patriotic tune that just speaks the plain simple Truth regardless of political party.