The current December - January issue of
Rolling Stone magazine has a tribute to "Mavericks, Renegades, and Troublemakers."
It's a special issue that you try especially hard to not spill coffee and get foody finger smudges on. My comments are in brackets [].
[With their typical brashness, they start off with the 7 words you can't say on television! Yes, you know the ones:]
Read them in print after the jump:
The 7 words you can't say on television:
"George Bush doesn't care about black people."
[I had forgotten that Kanye West's words were censored.]
...Stunned viewers could not believe that someone had said what many had been thinking -- but no one was saying. A nervous director cut away from West as soon as he could, and by the time the telethon aired three hours later on the West Coast, NBC had exorcised those seven dirty words.
...What NBC didn't understand was that the American public was already way ahead of them. Thanks to a number of individuals who, in 2005, dared to step out of line and say something real, the public had begun a seismic shift away from the chokehold of uniform and uninformed thought.
...Stands taken by this year's troublemakers had become, by year's end, the mainstream position of the American people. Every poll shows the same thing: The majority now oppose the war and no longer trust the president when he speaks. The time is ripe to get this country back in the hands of the majority. Will we seize the moment? Or will we need a whole new crop of rebels next year to keep us honest?
[I was so proud of Rolling Stone while reading that introduction to the Mavericks, Renegades, and Troublemakers.
I had assumed it was written by the editors, and noticed much later - - It's by Michael Moore. It was rare form for the editors of Rolling Stone, but it is classic Moore, and I should have recognized it. There is a lot more.]
They follow with interviews with several of our heroes, and I'm including just brief excerpts. There is much more at the links, so I hope you will follow them and enjoy.
Mavericks, Renegades, and Troublemakers:
And who is Maverick of the Year? Our own (or at least my own) Cindy Sheehan! It's a great interview and although most Kossacks won't find much new, I'm glad her views are recorded for all of Rolling Stone readers.]
Maverick of the Year - Cindy Sheehan
Why did Casey sign up?
He was in college and wanted the educational benefits. At that point, we didn't know that the contract is only binding on the recruit -- the Army doesn't have to deliver on its promises. They promised him a $20,000 signing bonus; he got $4,500. They promised him a laptop so he could take classes; he never got it. They promised him he could be a chaplain's assistant; when he got to boot camp, they said, "That position is filled, but you can be a Humvee mechanic or a cook." It breaks my heart that someone so trusting could be so misused by people.
Renegade of the Year - George Clooney
Q- Very few people wake up in the morning and say, "I'm going to do some evil today."
A -Yeah, I think they believe in what they're doing and that they're going to get seventy virgins after they die -- but, really, who wants seventy virgins? I want eight pros.
[If I were brave enough to have qualified for a mention in this issue, this is the category I would want to win! Troublemaker of the Year! You go Kanye!]
Troublemaker of the Year - Kanye West
What was your best surprise this year?
What surprised me most was the impact of my voice on NBC. It's just magical that I can say something that's a popular opinion and it really has an impact.
[emphasis mine.]
Big Banger: Mick Jagger
[I used to think Rolling Stone was a music magazine. I had no idea of its political content and I am sick about missing so many Hunter S. Thompson columns. I think the Beatles are the best rock n roll band ever, but still have a big spot in my heart for the Stones. So glad to see Mick and Sweet Neo Con featured. :) It made my week when that song came out. Did it yours?]
...Mick Jagger upped the ante with "Sweet Neo Con," his Bigger Bang indictment of right-wing hypocrisy, set to a "Miss You"-style strut and packed with unrestrained invective ("You call yourself a Christian/I think that you're a hypocrite/You say you are a patriot/I think that you're a crock of shit"). Jagger denied that "Sweet Neo Con" was specifically about President Bush, but the song was still a daring leap into politics...
Rebel Cowboy - Heath Ledger (Star of Brokeback Mountain)
[Haven't seen it yet, but can't wait. Not surprisingly, it is playing in the independent theaters, Denvers "arsty fartsy" venues that I love. Heath talks about being "marketed" like Coke, and how he hated it. It's a good interview.]
"There's a lot of angry, stupid people out there, who are so busy worrying about this gay marriage crap," he says. "Those people may have a problem with this. But I say, 'Good.'"
An Army of One - Dave Airhart
Airhart has made it his personal mission to protect his classmates from recruiters who distort the truth to seduce them into service. "I wish that I could have had someone who had been in the military tell me, 'Hey, your recruiter is full of shit. He gets bonuses for recruiting people, so he'll do whatever it takes to get people to join.'
The Soldier - Capt. Ian Fishback
[Capt. Ian Fishback helped blow the whistle on torture at Abu Ghraib, forced the Pentagon to investigate, and his letter to McCain "sped the passage of McCain's recent amendment banning torture." I'm ashamed to say I didn't know his name, but I do now.
I'm still wondering who put the photos out there. I don't think it was Capt. Fishback, but I thought whoever it was should be commended. They probably don't want publicity and you can't blame him/her. Does anyone know?]
Based on Fishback's account -- as well as testimony from two unnamed sergeants he recruited to speak out -- the human-rights watchdog issued a horrifying report on the routine abuse of Iraqi detainees.
...
Fishback could have chosen to remain anonymous -- "Officer C," as he was named in the report. Instead, he crafted an open letter to Sen. John McCain, himself a former prisoner of war, accusing the top brass of contributing to murder by refusing to set clear guidelines.
...Infuriated, Rumsfeld reportedly ordered subordinates to go after the lowly captain. "Either break him or destroy him," Rumsfeld was quoted as saying. "And do it quickly." For now, however, Fishback is training to become a member of the elite Special Forces. The challenges of speaking out, he believes, will only make him a better soldier.
My Favorite - Thank you RS for mentioning Jack Murtha!
[Saving the best for last, Congressman John (Jack) Murtha! An excellent, page-long interview convinces me again that we need to get out now.]
The Anti-War Warrior - Rep. Jack Murtha
Why did things go so wrong in Iraq?
We were unprepared for the transition to peace. Everything we did was mishandled. Plans that the military and the State Department had in place -- they ignored 'em. The military tells me that when they were planning the invasion, the administration wouldn't let one of the primary three-star generals in the room. It was only civilians. An awful lot of the military has real problems with this administration. I wrote a letter to the president in 2003 saying, "We must engage the Iraqi population, provide them with a sense of ownership in the rebuilding process." So what do we do? We hire Halliburton.
...
What would you do if you were president?
I'd fire a hell of a lot of people. I told Dick Cheney that Paul Wolfowitz should never have been deputy secretary of defense. I told him, "You got the worst guy in the world in that job. He's not an administrator -- he's a goddamn professor." Wolfowitz called me after he got promoted to the World Bank and said, "Well, you finally got rid of me." But he was in the wrong job.
[I asked Wes Clark when he was live blogging why he and Jack Murtha were not on the same page. Wes said that he's talked to Congressman Murtha a few times and that Murtha is basing his opinion on how things are with the current "stay the course" planning. Wes is advocating a change of strategy in order to stabilize the area and give the Iraqis a better starting point.
I still go back and forth, sometimes agreeing we need to stay and sometimes not. I am so grateful for Congressman Murtha speaking out because it has helped me see both sides more clearly, although it's still a difficult choice for me.
Let's please not turn my diary into a Wes bashing fest because he does not want to get out now. I think it came to mind to mention Wes because it accents how important it is for patriots like Murtha to speak out. It gives all of us both sides from respected individuals.
I wrote Rep. Murtha and told him so, offered my support and sent a small donation to his campaign office. He sent back a lovely card. I'm thrilled he got this deserved write up in the Mavericks' section.]
[(Sorry I didn't get links for the following. And, I can't find an index for this series! Very bad Web publishing! You can put a name in the search box and go right to it, though. I used it a couple of times and it works well.)]
Other mentions:
Comeback Kid: Fiona Apple
Rock's Rude Boy: Billie Joe Armstrong
Internet Savant: Bram Cohen (BitTorrent creator)
The Delay Slayer: Craig McDonald
Truth Teller - Keith Olbermann (A brief spot, but so glad (and so right) that he got a mention!)
Prime-Time Terror - Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy)
Prog-Metal Radicals - System of a Down
My sub to Rolling Stone was a gift last year. It's about to run out, and with this issue I am renewing today.