In an August 10th Op-Ed in the Boston Herald, Bill O’Reilly takes a select group of musicians to task for what he views as their disparaging stance – which they disseminate through their songs – against the United States.
He uses his recent attendance at an Earth, Wind, and Fire concert as a basis, writing how “shocking” it was to hear lead singer Philip Bailey thanking God and America for the legendary band’s four-decade career. He’s more accustomed to hearing artists “promote things like drugs and violence,” he concedes.
In a flawed and gratuitous presumption, O’Reilly equates Bailey’s expression of gratitude – for his band’s hard-earned success and longevity – to a sweeping endorsement of the nation as a whole. He then utilizes this already-twisted postulation to bolster an even more distorted argument, namely that certain musicians who write and perform songs in protest of the current Bush administration are essentially disparaging everything and everyone that comprises this country.
In particular, he singles out Bruce Springsteen, Chris Martin (of Coldplay), and Neil Young, who in his words have “demeaned the United States this summer” (ostensibly on their respective concert tours) by performing such seemingly condemnatory material. Summarizing their concerts, he says, “They yell out dumb stuff to their zombie followers and revel in the applause.”
Odds are that O’Reilly has neither attended a recent concert by any of the three artists he chastises nor listened to their most recent albums to discern some semblance of honest context. Lest someone take his word for it, though, nowhere on Magic (Springsteen), Viva la Vida (Coldplay), or Living With War (Young) do any songs – even those most critical of the president, his administration’s policies, and actions – amount to or condone across-the-board contempt toward America and its citizens.
Article comments
1 - Jordan Richardson
Good article. Interesting that two of the three performers O'Reilly critiqes (Martin and Young) aren't American and have no allegiance to mindlessly sucking up to the red, white, and blue.
2 - Dr Dreadful
Where the hell on Viva la Vida is O'Riledly getting all this hate-America stuff? Has he got a limited-edition CD that the rest of us don't have?
Also, I was at Coldplay's San Jose concert last month and neither Martin nor any other members of the band said or did anything anti-Bush, anti-American or, as far as I recall, anything political at all. They simply put on a cracking good show.
3 - El Bicho
Nice piece, but what do you expect from, as Keith Olbermann decrices him, "the Frank Burns of news"?
4 - Tom Johnson
If he's the Frank Burns, who is his Hot Lips?
"'their message is clear: America, itself, is one screwed-up place.'"
I might say that O'Reilly's career is the biggest indication of this.