Ani DiFranco on Henry Rollins
Watching Henry Rollins show on IFC tonight. In his Letter segment, he writes/reads a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger, and it wasn't funny. Not like that letter to Ann Coulter, which I thought was brilliant. This was more just like "I hate you." It wasn't witty or funny.
Anyway, so Ani DiFranco, whom I admire as a songwriter and performer, is the musical guest. She introduces her song by noting that it was written at the turn of the century, so the word "impeachment" in the first verse refers to the "circus" surrounding Clinton.
Then she goes on to say that "it strikes me as kinda funny that stealing elections, rigging elections, lying to the American public, violating international treaties, and making wars for profit ... that's not grounds for impeachment."
The problem, of course, is that no elections were stolen or rigged, no international treaty has been violated, and profit had nothing to do with the reasons we went to war.
And, of course, Clinton lied to the American public: that is what his impeachment was for, remember? He was impeached only for perjury, and for seven categories of obstruction of justice, all of which involved lying to the court or concealing evidence; the two articles of impeachment that failed were also about perjury). Even if Bush has lied as much as Clinton, there's not the wealth of actual evidence of it as there was with Clinton.
Yes, yes, what Bush supposedly lied about (which I have not seen evidence of) is of much greater importance. But that's presumably why she threw in the stuff about stealing elections, violating international treaties, and making wars for profit, which, of course, never actually happened.
Well, she's still a good songwriter and performer, anyway, even if she's not a reliable source of factual information about current events.
Anyway, so Ani DiFranco, whom I admire as a songwriter and performer, is the musical guest. She introduces her song by noting that it was written at the turn of the century, so the word "impeachment" in the first verse refers to the "circus" surrounding Clinton.
Then she goes on to say that "it strikes me as kinda funny that stealing elections, rigging elections, lying to the American public, violating international treaties, and making wars for profit ... that's not grounds for impeachment."
The problem, of course, is that no elections were stolen or rigged, no international treaty has been violated, and profit had nothing to do with the reasons we went to war.
And, of course, Clinton lied to the American public: that is what his impeachment was for, remember? He was impeached only for perjury, and for seven categories of obstruction of justice, all of which involved lying to the court or concealing evidence; the two articles of impeachment that failed were also about perjury). Even if Bush has lied as much as Clinton, there's not the wealth of actual evidence of it as there was with Clinton.
Yes, yes, what Bush supposedly lied about (which I have not seen evidence of) is of much greater importance. But that's presumably why she threw in the stuff about stealing elections, violating international treaties, and making wars for profit, which, of course, never actually happened.
Well, she's still a good songwriter and performer, anyway, even if she's not a reliable source of factual information about current events.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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