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August 5, 2004
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Chords for Change
By BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

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.

according to my dad the war isn't over because the south hasn't yet begun to fight :lol:

[quote="foghorn";p="56895"]I thought the South did win. Ask Jeb Bush.

LP, add moveon.org to your list. I'm sure you meant to include it.[/quote]

Not too sure what you meant by the Jeb comment....

As for moveon..... I am very careful not to touch anything that has Michael Moore's fingerprints on it. How did you like the reading I did give you?

I will take this opportuntiy to point out that I did make a mistake in one of my posts. In fact, I only mentioned ONE HALF of the number of swift boat crewmen that served with Kerry as supporting him. Therefore, I must double what I said. It's not 1, it's 2. So, 2 support him, somewhere around 20 do not. My bad.

Hey, I'll beat a dead horse. Jeb -- Florida -- voting improprieties, etc, etc, etc.

That ad by the boat guys is low and even the Republicans are disturbed by them. The best of the best, John McCain, is seriously pi$$ed off. Well, he should be. The same kind of crap was used against him by his own party during the 2000 presidential campaign.

The guys who were actually on the boat were at Kerry's side at the convention. This will backfire for the GOP.

I have no problem with Bush's service record. I don't care what he might have done, the official military record says he served honorably -- just as the official record for Kerry shows that he won those medals legitimately.

What these guys are mostly complaining about is Kerry's protests after the war. I can see why some vets might hold that against him -- a rich kid officer going back to the states and associating himself with all those "hippies." But this simply shows me that Kerry was a man of his convictions even when he was young. Sure I regret that he hung out with Hanoi Jane; I'm sure Dubya must have done something in his youth he regrets.

Wonder why are those rock musicians are against Bush? Are they ALL misguided?

Well, I'm sure there will be a similar muscial response for Bush. Sort of neat, because it simply means more good concerts out there to go to.

Just the beginning of a matching list for the GOP- Kid Rock, Sara Evans, Lee Ann Womack, Michael J. Smith.

[quote="The White Shadow";p="56914"]Just the beginning of a matching list for the GOP- Kid Rock, Sara Evans, Lee Ann Womack, Michael J. Smith.[/quote]

Add Ted Nugent and Martina McBride to that list as well.....

Shadow, WarriorTennis, Dawg, Gunner and all you other conservatives out there - keep the libs honest in this thread the next week. I'll be outta town.

we've had problems in this country for along time.poverty,underemployment,wars,blah, blah,blah.these are'nt new things that just showed up all the sudden when george bush took office.but these liberals talk as if you change administrations all this will end we are always going to have the poor and the working poor,people working two and three jobs barely getting by,and boom all the sudden their kid goes to college and makes something of his life.that is what america is really like and has always been like.but people work two jobs now and send their wife to work so they can barely get by with the nescessities like dsl,two new cars.150 channels of t.v.,nice cloths,spending money out the wazoo,eating out etc.y'know the bare nescesities if you elect kerry you will only have to work 30 hours a week and make 3 times more than you are making now!!!! and health care will magically appear at your doorstep.oh. by the way george bush wants you to be sick and he hates your grandmother too!and george bush wants to take away the right of blacks to vote. i'm john kerry and i'm being positive not like george bush who is using fear!!give me a break! vote for bush so he can protect us from enemies foreign and domestic,(the federal governments only job)
and if you want financial security work your tail off and spend your money wisely,

few pts here...

1. if john kerry wants to take a lil money away from defense and put it towards education and the no-child-left-behind act which bush passed but never properly funded, that would be fine by me.

2. my idea that our government has no respect internationally comes not from cnn and real time w/ bill mahr. i have talked to several students who i went to school with from various countries including but not limited to japan, india, the uk, and canada. they all saw bush's admin. as a blemish on our reputation as a nation.

3. the national government has many more responsibilities than just defense. if you think otherwise, you clearly did not pay attention in your 9th grade history class.

4. bush has claimed that the sale of homes is at an all time high. he has cited this as a sign our economy is on the up and up. what bush has failed to point out is that personal bankruptcy is also at an all time high. so as these people buy houses, they eventually find they cannot continue to pay off their mortages.

Originally our the main job our government was expected to carry out was National Defense.

These other responsibilities have been added over the years. Social Security, Medicare, Education, etc.

Is the government the most effective body to address these issues? To some extent. However we still are individuals with free will. The government can/should/will provide some safety nets, but the more we expect from the govt. the more free will we relinquish.

I was listening to a home improvement show on the radio today, and its host, Glenn Hegy, is a world-famous contractor. He stated the contracting businesses in general, are doing the best they have done in the past 25 years! Not everyone, of course, is profitting, but more are than aren't. Maybe some of us out there are in the wrong line of work.
Getting back to this election.....forget about who did what to whom when.....As in a letter in the Reader's Forum today, a woman wrote, and I paraphrase, You all know right from wrong....vote for what you KNOW is RIGHT!

Bertrand Russell, English author, mathematician, and philosopher wrote: "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but WISER people so full of doubts"