Rolling Stone’s rolling head
So, I got my most recent issue of Rolling Stone in the mail the other day. I was delighted to see fellow Hawaii-born kamaaina Jack Johnson on the cover. That might be a first for Hawaii! (I don’t recall ever seeing Don Ho on there!!!!)
I am a subscriber to what is effectively the magazine of record when it comes to music. I still have some old RS’s that I saved from the ’90s with Nirvana gracing the cover. And while I do admit to feeling somewhat disconnected from some of the music that is out there these days, there is a lot in the magazine that I still do find interesting, especially features on awesome artists like Jack (you gotta love a guy who pees on his lawn to save a gallon of water), and stories on the sad, sad state of the music industry (which one part of me takes delight in — watching these monolithic corporate stiffs succumbing to the power of the people — and the other part apprehensive over what this industry revolution means to a band like mine). I even enjoy the magazine’s far, far, far left political rantings. While a bit too extreme for my tastes, their calling Bush the worst president ever made for a compelling and eye-opening read (any historian who isn’t afraid to say the F-word – several times — in a published essay certainly scores for gumption!). And Matt Taibbi’s stories, which liberally employ the use of commentary at the expense of credibility, do fairly provide a countervoice to the far-right rantings of radio talk show hosts.
Anyhow, so I was flipping through the magazine after reading the cover story on Jack. I was curious to read the piece touting the military surge in Iraq as a “myth.” I wanted to know what argument they make, since the surge has been widely regarded as a success, even amongst some begrudging democrats. So there I was, just minding my own business, when there it was – staring back at me from the sterile pages of the magazine, a picture of two U.S. soldiers gleefully posing with the decapitated head of a slain Sunni fighter.
I suppose the magazine was going for shock value. Well, in the words of George Bush, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. I was so stunned – disgusted, really – that I put down the magazine and stopped reading. I understand that a vehicle of journalism (and I do realize that to call RS that is a bit of a stretch) needs to have the freedom to express even what is shocking and disturbing. But great care must be practiced with publishing such a graphic image. I am not clear on what point the magazine was trying to make with that photo. That U.S. troops are insensitive and do stupid things like throw puppies off cliffs and torture prisoners? How does that support the thrust of the story, that the surge isn’t working? It doesn’t. All it does is provide shock value for the sake of shock value.
And do I even need to bring up the point that what if the disembodied head belonged to your brother or your son or your father? Is that picture something you want circulating in a national magazine?
Publishing that photo was, above all, distracting from what very well might have been a great essay that I was unable to finish because of the bad taste thrust into my mouth.
btw, looks like they posted that essay online, but, it appears that photo is inexplicably missing.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/18722376/the_myth_of_the_surge
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Let’s see, what else … oh, we’ve been fascinated by this presidential election. I’ve never seen anything like this. The unbridled fervor has been inspiring and contagious. I burst with pride watching so many people impassioned about what’s important — the issues. The war in Iraq. Global warming. Health care. The economy. It is oh so refreshing to see people talking about superdelegates and Hillary’s institutional support in Pennsylvania. People almost seem to care more about this election than — dare I say it — the latest travesty by Britney Spears and the ilk.
As Jefferson said, an informed electorate is what a democracy is based on. Watching this movement gives me hope that a new generation of people will be less likely to be hoodwinked by leadership with an agenda counter to the best interests of the people it serves. It also makes me appreciate George Washington that much more. It was he who stepped away from the presidency after two terms, setting a precedent that has only been broken by one president. The honoring of term limits could be Washington’s single-greatest contribution to this nation. There might be many countries out there bashing the United States. But when you look at countries like Russia, where Vladimir Putin has installed a puppet president who will allow Putin to rule by proxy, it makes our ability to make the transfer of power a matter of routine so very impressive. And, as so many others are voicing on the ballot, I can think of few other times in recent history where a transfer of power was so direly needed. It gives me great pride to see this country fed up with the establishment, and actually trying to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
ROCK!
=Ben=
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