More on the Gitmo Travesty

Turns out that Guantanamo Bay wasn't just for the "worst of the worst" terrorists ... in reality, it's a place where ordinary footsoldiers and old men, brought to the prison because of score-settling and bounties collected by their Afghani countrymen, ended up mixed with the handful of real Al-Qaeda operatives.

http://www.star-telegram.com/464/story/701139.html

This is why due process is such a big deal, folks, and why Guantanamo Bay needs to be closed immediately. Imagine being held for years without being charged or tried for any crime, and having no means to defend yourself and none of the protections of the Geneva Convention.

This is the voice of Gen Y?

Not everyone in pop music is a virtuoso, a poet, or a visionary. I accept that. Some of my favorite music (say, from 1977 through 1993) is relatively mindless post-punk, new wave fun. But few of those pop artists cloaked themselves in an aura of musical sainthood -- they seemed just happy to have the fortune and glory of stardom. Those artists that did have something meaningful to say (U2, for instance), said it powerfully and without apology.

But now we have John Mayer, the man who considers himself the inheritor of the guitar throne of Hendrix, Clapton, Santana, and Vaughan. He's everywhere in the tabloids, too, frolicking from one starlet to the next. Womanizing young rock stars are nothing new. But Mayer's attempt at social and political relevance sets a new standard for vapidity and slackerdom.

Here's what his website (http://www.johnmayer.com/bio) had to say about his most recent hit, "Waiting on the World to Change":

With "Waiting on the World to Change", Mayer shot for something even more
ambitious - something like an attempt to explain his generation's attitudes
about politics. "It's meant to shed a little light on inactivity and inaction,"
he says, "because I don't believe that inaction is disinterest, I think inaction
is preservation – nobody wants to get involved in a debate in which the rules
and the facts will change so that they'll lose. So we end up with this other
option, which is, I guess we'll just have to wait for things to get better.

This is the musical/political spokesman for Generation Y? He's too afraid to get into a debate because the situation isn't static? It's a lame excuse, and frankly insulting to the numerous twentysomethings that do actually give a damn and are willing to risk a little conflict.

Mayer starts with a Van Morisson sound and marries it to milquetoast lyrics, creating a saccharine tribute to inaction. The net result? A catchy tune justifying ignorance and apathy. I wonder what Joan Baez, John Fogerty, and other musicians whose souls bled on vinyl in the 60's would say about Mayer's philosophy. Would Mayer still be "Waiting on the World to Change" if he was drafted?

The simple truth is that Mayer promotes a do-nothing attitude because it's not his ass on the line.

Greg Kot, reviewing a guitar festival at which Mayer performed this drivel, put it this way (at http://crossroadsguitarfestival2007.com/presscoverage.html):

John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change” may be the most spineless
social-justice song ever written. It advocates a passive approach, whereas the
song it most closely resembles --- Curtis Mayfield’s classic “People Get Ready”
--- urges everyone to get involved, or risk being left behind.

I have news for you, Johnny -- you can keep on waiting, but the world isn't going to change, and if it does, it's not going to be in a way that makes it any easier for any of us. Taking action to make things better takes guts. You have to be willing to fail in order to make a difference. Your song, in short, is a candy-coated enabling of a generation of slackers who, if they listen to you, will remain blissfully unaware of the world crumbling around them.

"Someday our generation's/gonna rule the population."

Heaven help us.

One more reason to shake your head ...

For more on our government's failure to provide basic due process rights to those held at Guantanamo Bay ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080609/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/guantanamo_interrogations
These men were held indefinitely, essentially under a suspended writ of habeas corpus -- then the government denies them any access to prosecutorial information to defend themselves. But is this really surprising considering our current policies concerning torture and rendition?

This is an affront to our values, our legal system, and the American way. Anyone who believes in liberty should be appalled at this, yet another step on Bush II's road to a fascist state.

One assumes that the "detainees" (what a sanitized term ... call them kidnappees or prisoners) are only now getting a trial so that their judgments can be pronounced prior to W's exit from office. Let's hope their attorneys can delay the cases long enough for a new chief executive to change policy and end this travesty in a just manner. What would be just? A civilian criminal trial or a war crimes trial as provided under the Geneva Conventions.

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither -- and lose both." -- Benjamin Franklin