A Boomer Gone Bust

This is sort of a follow up to the Dixie Chicks post below.

Dan DeLuca, the music critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer, had a good column yesterday about the rise of antiwar songs and the artists that are stepping up and doing good work, including Neil Young (“Let’s Impeach The President”). As I read through the column, though, I had to admit that I couldn’t understand what he has against the Indigo Girls, since he sneaks in a couple of digs at them. I kind of just go along with some of their songs, but I don’t think they’re “dull” or “overly earnest” (“Shame On You” and “Closer To Fine” come to mind immediately).

Here is the reason why I’m saying something about this; DeLuca quotes the legendary rock journalist and author Dave Marsh about the rise of songs protesting the Iraq War, and this is what Marsh said:

"With Vietnam, you had a movement," says Marsh. "Now you don't have a movement. You have a president with low approval ratings, and a bunch of songs."

Oh, dear. I think someone needs to stop living in a grainy, yellowed-celluloid world of 60s nostalgia full of pious-sounding news anchors, chaos on college campuses, never-ending street riots replete with burning cities, and rock stars and courageous liberal icons alike dropping dead like flies all over the place.

If Dave Marsh honestly believes that no “movement” exists against the Iraq War, then how does he explain the influence of Cindy Sheehan? How does he explain the fact that bloggers, for example, have arisen from out of nowhere all over the place with online presences both small and huge to protest the epochal arrogance and stupidity of the Bush Administration in its war for greed and empire expansion in the oldest place on earth? Coincidence?

How does he explain the courage of Jean Rohe, a BA/BFA graduate of the Jazz Program and Eugene Lang, who criticized John McCain in a speech the other day (and how does Marsh explain the cowardly attack of McCain aide Mark Salter in response)?

And here, here, and here are more examples of Marsh’s “non-movement.”

Mr. Marsh – may I call you Dave, as an admirer of your work? – rest assured that there IS a movement out there in protest of this war, and it is manifesting itself at the ballot box, among other places, across the country, and it will continue to do so for quite some time.