Kerrfunk

…I am worried as never before about our future as citizens and inhabitants of the earth. I think the songs on this CD reflect my great unease about the shape of things to come. I’m not a political expert, nor do I judge myself to be much more than another fairly obscure left coast, liberal artistic-type folkie, yet I find myself profoundly disappointed and even angry at the Bush administration and his bomb happy pals, for what I see as the squandering of years of diplomatic good will, trust, privacy protection and financial prosperity under the guise of protecting Americans from “evil-doers.” I am troubled beyond words by what feels like a white knuckle ride toward global calamity, alienation and doom. I cannot believe that in these few short years we have come from relative peace, calm and civility with our neighboring nations to being thrust to the very brink of war with virtually every other country in the world. Why aren’t we doing everything within our power to preserve and protect this sacred earth and all of its plant and animal inhabitants? Contrary to feeling safe, I’m scared as hell by the continued assurances from our “elected” leader that we are the mightiest, the best armed, the most morally sound – the most qualified nation on the planet to possess and use unimaginable force in bending all others to our will. I am frightened and I am frustrated by heightened escalation and rhetoric toward the fulfillment of this administration’s not so secret agenda of global domination fueled by our president’s personal dislike and disdain for most of the poor and brown people and countries of the world. I am alarmed and dismayed by the widening gulf between the haves and have nots. Our president just flat out seems to not give half a shit about the needs of those less prosperous, less fortunate, less educated than he or the environment or anything really but satisfying his own personal enthusiasm for amassing wealth and pleasing gigantic corporate friends. Unleashing our military on any who “may” pose a threat someday is a dangerously simplistic “solution” to a very complex problem. And this administration’s constant “god-dropping” to justify their violent actions is offensive. I am as horrified as anyone at the sight of people here or anywhere being killed, hurt, or victimized by extremism and terrorism, however feel that war and the pursuit of revenge are the abject and absolute failure of diplomacy – which should always be our utmost priority. It does not strike me as contradictory in the least to think of myself as passionately patriotic – possessing a deep and abiding love for this country – as well as for those living in Afghanistan, Africa, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Russia, China, Korea and points beyond. I’ve been watching a lot of TV in motel rooms lately as I travel around and perform concerts and I’ve caught some great interviews and features on people that I think are cool, like film maker Michael Moore and politicians Patty Murray and Jim McDermott. The other day I heard Professor Robert Jay Lifton (John Jay College and the Graduate Center of City University of New York) tell me and all Americans that we have a duty and an obligation to speak up and to write our elected officials and tell anyone who will listen, in whatever realm, how we feel about what our leaders are doing. It struck me as absolute truth and I felt some measure of relief in having gotten this directive. I’ve written these songs and these notes in an attempt to follow that guy’s advice, and from a completely heartfelt belief that I cannot afford to do otherwise. On past records, I think I’ve written less direct songs with perhaps slightly obtuse lyrics about my political and philosophical leanings. On this CD, I wanted there to be no room for misinterpretation or ambiguity. I didn’t want to be coy or fickle or disguise my feelings in any way. I wanted to put forth, unequivocally and perhaps painfully obviously, my likes and dislikes – cuz, hey…it’s my record and why not! In case I haven’t made my point, I’d like to say, “for the record,” that I believe these confrontations that George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft and their buddies are spoiling for are perfect examples of the ill-conceived, short-sighted, simple-minded macho posturing that we can continue to expect for a very long time unless we turn out in droves for the next election (if we live that long), when I hope that each and every one of us will deliver a decisive and resounding blow to the likes of Katherine Harris, Jeb Bush and their well-heeled supporters. In the words of Jesse Jackson, it’s “the ballot and not the bullet” that will be our most powerful weapon in the war on terror.