Dan Reed was a legitimate Rock Star in the late '80s - he toured with The Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi, and with his band The Dan Reed Network, had a Top-40 hit with "Ritual."
In 1993, he went to India and interviewed the Dalai Lama for Spin magazine, and he's been on a spiritual path ever since. After W. Bush took over, Dan moved to Jerusalem. Inspired by Obama, he returned to the states and revived his music career. He did everything he could to help, and he played at the Democratic National Convention and at Obama's inaugural celebration.
Two years later, here's how Dan feels about Obama.
Spending a few hours with the Dalai Lama will give you some perspective, and also make you run for the hills when Bush gets elected for a second time. When Obama came on the scene, it was a new hope, and a promise that America was changing not just politically, but socially.
Any good zenmaster knows that an overstressed lifestyle filled with aggression and competition and genetically-modified food is a template for unhappiness. In Obama, this could all change.
When we interviewed Dan Reed for Songfacts, we asked him what he thought of Obama now. He told us:
I believe that the hope and inspiration he instilled in the voting public during his campaign, election and inaugural has been squandered on petty divisive politics. I also feel there is a deep seeded racism inside many people in the US, which even they may not be fully aware of. A half African American named Barack Obama wanting to create new social programs like healthcare for all, proved to be too much for these folks to handle. I am disappointed that he has not shown a stronger backbone in his actions in the capitol, but also am fully aware of the political landscape in DC and how difficult it is to navigate getting anything done there of consequence. All in all, Mr. Obama has done a decent job given the parameters he is working under and being handed two wars and a broken economy brought on by 8 years of the failed 'trickle down' policies the Bush administration implemented. Halliburton, Enron, weapons manufacturers, Wall Street and the private banks are all running away with billions off the back of financial breakdowns and violent conflicts in other nations, while the average Americans are condemned to die on the battlefield and pay their taxes to fund these conflicts which are nothing more than ways to protect our oil interests. All the while the technology that could free us from our independence on oil lays in waiting. Asking any one person, including the president, to make a dent in this status quo is simply too much to wish for. In fact any president that did try to break the system down to help the people instead of the institutions has been assassinated, or discredited as a lame duck, like Jimmy Carter, and it's what they are attempting to do to President Obama. We not only cut off our nose to spite our face as a nation, but time may just prove we have cut off the whole head of common sense.