Punks for Bush
From BillHobbs.com
March 21, 2004
More on "Punks for Bush"
In response to yesterday's post about a New York Times article spotlighting support for President Bush in an unlikely venue - punk rockers and fans - Mike Hollihan sends a link to a recent Washington Times story about Johnny Ramone, former leader of the seminal punk rock band The Ramones, and current big backer of President Bush and the Republican Party.
He was a rebel in a rebel's world, though. Johnny Ramone was a fiercely Republican-voting, NRA-supporting musician in a milieu that is remarkable for its embrace of all things left.
Johnny went worldwide public with his partisanship in 2002, when the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the microphone to give props to the people who made it all possible, he offered his own version of a Michael Moore moment.
"God bless President Bush, and God bless America," he said, clad in his trademark T-shirt, ripped blue jeans and leather jacket.
"I said that to counter those other speeches at the other awards," Mr. Ramone says in a phone interview. "Republicans let this happen over and over, and there is never anyone to stick up for them. They spend too much time defending themselves."
The other day, when Stray Cats bassist Slim Jim Phantom was complaining about his tax bill, Johnny reminded him that the charges would be higher if President Bush hadn't gotten his tax cuts passed. "I told him he needs to vote Republican to keep his taxes lower ... and donate to President Bush's campaign," he says.
"I try to make a dent in people when I can," he says. "I figure people drift toward liberalism at a young age, and I always hope that they change when they see how the world really is."
I never bought anything by The Ramones. But I might, just for that.
http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/003502.html/
[link=]http://www.blogsforbush.com[/link]
From MSNBC.com
For conservative punks, it's about (equal) time
Music-powered voter Web sites? They're not just for liberals
By Michael E. Ross
Reporter
MSNBC
Updated: 7:23 a.m. ET June 03, 2004In an election year with lots of attention being paid to getting young Americans to vote, a number of Web sites and blogs are disproving the notion that punk-rock-powered voter education and activism are a liberal monopoly.
One in particular, Conservative Punk, is carrying the torch for independent-minded young conservatives, even as polls show young voters gravitating away from that end of the political spectrum.
Unlike Punkvoter and Music for America, two left-leaning voter awareness and registration groups that accept contributions as so-called 527 groups exempt from taxes as political organizations under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. Conservative Punk has so far declined to accept political contributions, or funds from any established party.
The Web site, launched in February with little more than pocket change and the goodwill of like-minded partisans, is a vigorous blend of commentary, Web links, cartoons and news stories that reflect an unruly, maverick spirit among conservatives.
Looking for balance
In a piece titled Doc Martens on the Ground, a Marine stationed in Iraq weighs in with comments on the war. Another item explores the roots of Middle Eastern and Islamic anti-Semitism. The site also includes commentaries from punk musicians such as Michale Graves, former lead singer of the Misfits and now the voice of Gotham Road.
It was almost don't ask-don't tell. If you were conservative or libertarian and not a bleeding-heart liberal, you almost felt like a bit of an outcast.
NICK RIZZUTO
ConservativePunk.com
For ConservativePunk.com founder Nick Rizzuto, a 22-year-old publicist for New York radio station KROCK, it's all about seeking equal time.
Rizzuto, a conservative since the 2000 election, said he started the site in response to what he saw as an absence of attention paid to young conservative voters.
It was almost don't-ask, don't-tell. If you were conservative or libertarian and not a bleeding-heart liberal, you almost felt like a bit of an outcast, he said.
I realized that not everybody in the punk scene was as left-wing as they make it out to be. You think of punk, you think of the Clash and other politically left-wing bands. I wanted to get out there and make people aware and that there are people out there who don't necessarily fly with the Punkvoter line.
Insurgents on the right
Conservative Punk joins blogs and sites such as GOPunk.com, PunkVoterLies.com and Lefty Destroyer on the ramparts of a conservative insurgency that borrows some of the populist strategies of the left, while sometimes breaking with conservative ideology.
Rizzuto, for example, champions some ideas consistent with liberals like reformation of drug laws, ending mandatory minumum sentencing for minor drug offenders. And his Web site comes out in support of voters turning out in November a position that could do the loyal opposition more good than conservatives.If doing what I'm doing helps the liberal side I'm not actively doing that, but that happens, so be it.
Such departures from the norm reflect Rizzuto's discomfort with painting all American conservatives with the same brush.
There are punks who are conservatives and libertarians, he said. We're not all one-minded in our political philosophy. What unites us is a certain attitude toward it all. There's a certain amount of dissatisfaction with a system that's kind of stagnated either way with Republicans or Democrats. There are those of us of a more conservative mindset politically, but conservatism is not a lifestyle.
http://www.conservativepunk.com/
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