Bernie Sanders and me here pictured together in New York City, October 2016
When I was younger, one person who seemed to get a lot more right than wrong about this country and the direction it was heading in was Jello Biafra, the former frontman for the punk band the Dead Kennedys. He has corroborated with plenty of other artists, as well, briefly forming the temporary band “The No WTO Combo” during the so-called “Battle for Seattle” which took place late in 1999, during the anti-WTO protests in the Emerald City. He also more recently had albums with himself and the Guantanamo School of Medicine.
Jello Biafra can be overly dramatic, and sometimes he can be over the top. But if you listen to what he is saying with an open mind, you find that, more often than not, he makes some very valid point, and is often right on target. For example, back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, when I considered myself a Democrat, he mentioned something that seemed almost unthinkable, and which I was shocked to hear, having never heard anyone say it before: that the Democrats and Republicans tended to agree with each other too much, and were essentially different wings of the same political party. At the time, it seemed impossible, and yet, when he mentioned just how similar they were, there was almost no denying it. Within 10 years, many others would start to point out this same thing, particularly with the administration of President Bill Clinton, who was sometimes dubbed as “Republic lite” and similarities between Al Gore and George W. Bush during the 2000 race.
He also mentioned something that haunted me, as he suggested that the powers that be were slowly but surely making the United States a dictatorship. This, he suggested, was being done with such slow increments, that it was barely discernible, so as not to raise any alarms. But step by step, he suggested, a dictatorship was being put in place, so that this mission, if you will, would make the country a de facto dictatorship within 40 years. Indeed, there were pretty clear and alarming indications that we were moving in that general direction shortly after the turn of the century, and the more recent political rise of Donald Trump, and the increasingly authoritarian policies that his administration keep pushing, have many Americans worried that a de facto dictatorship may already be in place.
I still sometimes turn to Jello Biafra for political views, although admittedly, not as often as I once did. However, it was not all that much of a surprise to find out that he is supporting Bernie Sanders in his run for the White House. Frankly, it would have been more surprising had he not endorsed Sanders, for whatever the reason.
This is not new, as it actually came a while ago. The below article was from 2015, but I am almost positive that the support for Bernie Sanders still stands. Jello is not the only punk to endorse Bernie Sanders. There are plenty of others, including Mike Watt and Anthony Keidis, the frontman for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Jello yesterday posted a picture of Nancy Kerrigan and Tanya Harding, and suggested that Kerrigan was Bernie Sanders, while Harding was the DNC.
Sounds about right.
In any case, here is the link to the admittedly dated article, which still seems to be relevant, as Sanders likely still has the support of these punk rockers.
Jello Biafra, Wayne Kramer, Mike Watt, others endorse Bernie Sanders published by Punknews.org, December 1, 2015:
A host of punk rockers (and other musicians) have signed a document endorsing presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. According to a post on Sanders' website, hundreds of artists state "We — the undersigned artists, musicians, and cultural leaders of America — are excited to endorse a new vision for our country." Following that is a list of musicians who support Sanders, including Jello Biafra, Wayne Kramer, Thurston Moore, Killer Mike, Anthony Keidis, Mike Watt, Lou Barlow and others. See the list here.
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