Posted on 12/12/2001 10:12:42 AM PST by windcliff
Wednesday December 12 6:20 AM ET
Neil Young Defends Anti-Terrorism Crackdown
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Neil Young may be Canadian, but the veteran rock star was honored Tuesday for promoting freedom and justice in his adopted country.
People for the American Way, a free-speech advocacy group formed 20 years ago to combat the so-called ``religious right,'' presented Young with its Spirit of Liberty lifetime achievement award during its annual fundraising dinner in Beverly Hills.
Young, in turn, raised a few eyebrows among the liberal crowd by defending anti-terrorist measures that have angered civil rights groups. But he urged the audience to ensure the controversial measures were only temporary.
``Never let America forget that these are our rights and we can get them back,'' said Young, who recently recorded the song ''Let's Roll'' as a tribute to the doomed passengers who overpowered their hijackers over Pennsylvania on Sept. 11.
Under U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites), the administration's war on terrorism has included the detention of hundreds of foreigners and eavesdropping in on conversations between some suspects and their lawyers. Polls show broad public support for such moves.
Also honored at the event were four filmmakers, who were presented with Defenders of Democracy Awards: ``South Park'' creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker; ``Boys Don't Cry'' director Kimberly Peirce; and ``Dogma'' director Kevin Smith.
Parker, dressed in a garish stars-and-stripes suit, had his own surprise. He declared that he and Stone were proud Republicans. ``It's true,'' he added, apparently earnestly, as the audience wondered if the wacky comic was just joking.
But he also paid tribute to Norman Lear, the ``All In The Family'' TV producer who founded People for the American Way. He said the prickly and rotund ``South Park'' hero Eric Cartman was modeled after Archie Bunker.
Among the celebrities in attendance were Young's old colleagues, David Crosby and Stephen Stills, Joe Henry, and music producer Glen Ballard. Stills' son, Chris, performed, as did Rufus Wainwright, Jackson Browne and Dave Matthews.
Nancy Pelosi, a progressive San Francisco Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, was kept in Washington by business and was unable to pick up her Spirit of Liberty Award.
Where did you pull that out of?
3) You've become a bit incoherant.There's a third.
The inherent conservatism of South Park
"If Al Gore had been declared the winner of the 2000 election, claim Parker and Stone, they would have done a sitcom about him. Hey, they didn't even vote last November! But if they had, they might have had Republican leanings." - http://www.salon.com/ent/col/mill/2001/04/04/thats_my_bush/
"South Park" is not only a ridiculously inane show about four eight year olds in Colorado, but also a show of biting social commentary that mocks the Left, and gives credence to libertarianism/conservatism in a very PJ O'Rourkian fashion.
Thank you for contributing your thorough research to the critical issue of the politics of the two most impolitic entertainers of our time. But did you see the granddaddy of all sociopolitical reviews of "South Park" published in Reason Magazine(written by an Air Force Academy professor, incidentally)?
I was not being entirely sarcastic. Your research was appreciated and strongly supported my point that "Hillary's Lovely Legs" appears to have pulled her comment that "Matt and Trey have said for years that they were Republicans and that they supported Bush for President" out of "Hillary's Lovely A$$".
I am shocked, shocked I say, that a poltical party would resort to spin in its press releases. I'm sure the Republicans would never do that.
Yikes One of those. My wife had a friend like that in college. She liked CSN without the Y. She liked stuff like Dan Fogelberg, Peter Paul & Mary, John Denver. I am missing some big names out that genre but you get the idea.
Many of us young white males who grew up in rural america (especially the Rock and Roll Capital of NE Ohio -- not far from Kent) are ardent hard-rock fans. Thus, many big zeppelin, aerosmith, pink floyd, skynard (i could name many) fans also like Neil Young. However he also introduced us to new types of music, as well as dare I say making listening to a little country possible. Something I would have never done without knowing that someone cool like Neil thought it was alright.
Two points in response: 1) Neil is an almost-cult figure. He doesn't sell huge numbers of records, but has a steady following for each release he puts out. I honestly don't think he's looking for sales. In an interview not too long ago he stated that he has much more money than he ever dreamed of (mostly concert revenue) and that he doesn't really think in terms of making more, but rather doing what he wants to in regards to music and charity work with cerebal palsy. His recording of "Let's Roll" is no different than when he did "Ohio." It was a simple response to something in the news.
2) In your possibly cynical viewpoint, do all tributes get driven by marketing? It gets back to that age old question of whether a person can ever do something purely altruistic, or is he/she always looking to get something out of it? Maybe somebody knows for sure, but I would assume that the proceeds from his song are going to a charity of some sort.
I've never lived in PA, but the Robert E. Lee part is close. Leesylvania is the plantation founded by Lee's grandfather, Henry Lee II, in the 1750's in Prince William County, VA. His wife, Lucy Grymes, was courted by a young militia colonel by the name of George Washington.
Among the sons born to Henry and Lucy were "Light-Horse" Harry (AmRev hero, GW's most trusted recon man, governor of VA, congressional representative, and leader of the army GW sent to quell the Whiskey Rebellion); Charles (Attorney General under GW and Adams, and a temporary Secretary of State); Richard Bland (northern VA's first congressman; he cast the tie-breaking vote in the decision to relocate the capitol to the banks of the Potomac); and Edmund Jennings (mayor of Alexandria, VA).
Many of my college papers were about aspects of the family and the land, which saw Civil War action in 1861-62(Confederate land batteries versus U.S. Navy). Today the land is Leesylvania State Park; I've done some of the research they have in their files during my paid and volunteer careers there.
Compare Neil to say Jefferson Airplane and their odes to the extreme left. You think Paul Kantner or Marty Balin are gonna praise GW now in their late 50s. I doubt it. Some folks change. Some don't
I've even been willing to tolerate Geraldo on Fox these past few weeks.....much to the chagrin of my fellow FReepers.
I was a lefty once...some 20-25 years ago. I understand the beast.
regards
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