These days it seems everyone in the entertainment industry isjumping on the bandwagon against President Bush, mainly the musiccrowd. With tours, compilation albums and Web sites devoted toouting the current president.
The strongest leg of this political fervor seems to be comingfrom the punk rock genre of music, from NOFX's Fat Mike heading upthe "Rock Against Bush" album series. Also out there is the Website http://www.punkvoter.com, that urges young people to go outand vote, but the site has a liberal twist. With all thisbombardment of the political left in the genre of music that Ilove, I found myself asking the question, "Are there punks outthere that have the same republican views I do?" the answer to myquestion came in the form of a music magazine that I subscribe to.They did an article profile the man behindhttp://www.conservativepunk.com.
The site is dedicated to make the voice of the republican punksout there heard. The genre of punk music has always been a hardhitting, political genre. Yet most of the songs that are generatedfrom the genre come across as left wing propaganda. To counteractthat growing trend, the site was launched this year. The three mainpoints of its mission are: "1. To inform today's youth thatidentify themselves with the punk scene with the facts, rather thanrumor and conspiracy theory. 2. To encourage today's youth toregister to vote and become engaged in politics. 3. To encourageyouth voters to draw their own conclusions rather than indoctrinatethem into a certain way of thinking."
Just as the liberal side of punk has big names connected withit, so do the conservatives. One of the biggest is Michale Graves,currently with Gotham Road and former lead singer of the Misfits.He was upset with the way politics were being conveyed to the punkcrowd and wanted the right end of the political spectrum to beheard. The site also has 18 bands connected with it - a smallnumber compared to the numerous that infest the political left -yet a strong number. There are also a number of members of the sitethat are very active on the message boards. The topics discussedrange from music, to politics, to issues, to the site ingeneral.
The site has created much controversy and has gained much presssince it was launched in January. There have been magazinearticles, news stories and international television press alltalking about the site - many praising it.
This side of punk is rarely seen and under-appreciated. The sitehas come under fire from the liberal punks. Yet, the site is one ofthe strongest I have seen. It conveys the issues without putting aspin on them; every political opinion on the site is conveyedthrough political cartoons or through columns. The site has come along way since its launch and has shown the American people theother side of punk.
So the next time you are presented with a question about whereyou stand on the issues, you may want to look farther than whatyour favorite artist is saying and take a look at both ends of thespectrum. Check into the issues and make an educated choice on Nov.2. Just know that there are people out there that will be with youno matter where you stand, whether it be conservative or liberal,you can still be punk.
Write to Steve at
smbristow@bsu.edu
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