Just because John McCain has given up hope in this great state of ours and will no longer campaign in Michigan, that still doesn't mean you don't have to vote in order to keep "the evildoers" out of the White House for the next four years. And if you watched that comedy special that was broadcast on all the major networks last night, that should be one of the top things on your list of priorities. You betcha! Seriously, if you haven't done so already, you need to register by this coming Monday, October 6th. We'll even make it easy for you. Just click here and make sure you mail the registration form in by this coming Monday. If you've moved or changed your mailing address since the last time you voted, you need to reregister as well.
What's this got to do with music? I don't know? Does this count?
No? Well, if you're a fan of the media at all, this should rightfully horrify you (at least Dubya is honest when he states he never reads a newspaper):
OK, still not enough about music? Well, how about the revelation that it was our own Kid Rock who led to John McCain's daughter Meghan bonding with dad's vice-presidential choice? Meghan was “happily surprised” when "All Summer Long" came on the radio and Palin knew all the words to the song. Apparently, both are fans of Kid Rock. (I read somewhere last week that the Kid's actually supporting Obama, though I haven't been able to verify that anywhere to date; we do know that our pal "Terrible" Ted's a McCain man...see our earlier Blahg post...and we wouldn't have it any other way, by golly!)
Read about the entire Palin-Kid Rock connection here.
Finally, on the Kid Rock front, check out his latest video, which just debuted. The guy sure loves to celebrate this city and all things Detroit...especially for a dude from Romeo...not that this is a fact that matters at all. You betcha!
However, now that the video's out there, it does give us the opportunity to post a letter we received when it was reported everywhere last summer that the Kid was shooting the video downtown. The letter was never printed because MT's policy is that letters need to refer to something that appeared in the paper...but I thought it was an interesting perspective anyway:
Metro Times;
Letter to the editor;
Kid Rock: "I'm rich. I don't care"
While shooting his current music video in front of the legendary Hitsville USA site, Kid Rock gave Detroit print media interviews that provided insight on his true feelings and so-called love for Detroit. Mr. Rock's words don't follow his practices, displayed by his poor sense of moral judgment in the knowing and willing decision to pay homage to Lynyrd Skynyrd 's "Sweet Home Alabama" in his hit song "All Summer Long".
Detroit News and Detroit Free Press Music Critics Adam Granham and Brian McCollum should have asked this guy why honoring the legacy of the American south's anti-segregationist Jim Crow laws is such a favorite of his?
Maybe hanging tight with Hank "Bocephus" Jr. or David Allen Coe have profoundly and negatively influenced his thought process?
Or it could it be that being raised comfortably numb, in an upper middle class home, located in a homogeneous rural area and not receiving a proper course in civil rights at Romeo high school is a reason for his stand for intolerance and inequity in America?
Whatever his motives are, it isn't that much of a stretch to say he is just another uneducated, wealthy rock star who takes stupidity and insensitivity to a new low.
Mr. Rock's professed stand for the discriminatory practices of old America is not in line with the popular consensus that welcomes diversity.
For my take, I have been endowed by the many educators who taught me about the real America and wish to compliment all of my early '70's Detroit Public School teachers, particularly Cleveland Middle School teacher Ms. Cook and Denby H.S. history teachers, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Martin, as well as Oakland University Prof. DeWitt Dykes, who rightly taught their students of the injustices of segregated America and the negative social-economic implications of racial polarization. Their lessons added more wealth to my moral portfolio than Kid Rock will ever earn as a performer.
This rich and wealthy recording artist better start to care about what mixed messages he espouses. Instead of hanging high on the Malibu beach with the rich and famous. Before the next time he comes home to shoot a video, Mr. Rock needs get some lessons in civil rights history and give a critical listen to Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" to learn more about America's inimical contemporary history.
Kenneth Hreha
Dryden, MI
