The politics of New Rock City; thanking God for MUGGER; boycotting with Signorile; boycotting Signorile; More...
How does Armond White ("Season's Greedings," 2/5) fail to mention he's a member of at least one of those groups?the New York Film Critics Online, for example, which, best anyone can tell, is a new group created just to hand out year-end awards? It's all a little baffling, if you ask me.
Jon Popick, Rochester, NY
Love in AABBCC
The Anti-Hipster Hipster
Armond White's and Philip Henken's articles in New York Press ("Season's Greedings" & "New York City," 2/5) provide an illuminating contrapuntal discourse on the vicissitudes and deceptions of late-capitalist pop culture. White laments the encroachments of media hype upon critical common sense; Henken bemoans the closing of a New York City underground-rock scenester hub, Sound and Fury records. The demise of an independent record store in Manhattan, Henken writes, is counterintuitive in this cultural moment of giddy fascination with every fresh-faced band, each grotty sound, to emanate from the smoke-filled dives (alas, not smoke-filled for long) of New Rock City. The cries of "sell-out!" echo across the river from the coffee bars of Bedford Ave., but what, if anything, have these bands sold in exchange for their 100-word blurb in Time Out New York or New York magazine?
The epithet "sell-out" implies an integrity that preexisted each band's Faustian bargain, but the tragic truth, and the reason for the ultimate failure of NYC rock bastions such as Sound and Fury, is that the emperor of New Rock City wears no clothes. The hipster's ironic vintage duds comprise a simulacrum of a simulacrum, inauthenticity aping itself.
It's a media creation, folks. the New York corporate media, like the U.S. Armed Forces, have at their disposal such a surfeit of resources, so many jackbooted freelance operatives in hipster lockstep, that they can no longer afford to wait for an appropriate occasion to deploy their heavy artillery. They now create the "scene" they are accused of co-opting. So the urban hipster elite creates the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Black Dice, Interpol and the rest of their flamboyant friends. Like puppet dictators, these rock shills do the bidding of their shadowy media masters, their polychromatic hipster camouflage and drama-school postures belying the glazed, empty look in their baby blue eyes as they stare balefully up at you from page 83 of Paper or Shout or Vice.
A true pop artifact can withstand the exigencies of the marketplace, unlike the NYC neo-garage sold at the defunct Sound and Fury. Pop music contains so much world-changing potential because it exploits the very capitalist system it might seek to undermine. Disseminated on the radio, marked up in the record store, electronically bootlegged a hair's breadth ahead of the mp3 crackdown, pop songs become a social and economic fact to the precise extent that they are products. To participate in the pop marketplace is to engage the complexities of our culture head-on.
New Rock City bands, however, are hailed as live acts first and foremost. This serves two nefarious purposes: lauding a band for its onstage ferocity and flamboyance deftly skirts any discussion of the substandard music and proclaims each song a non-repeatable event which only the lucky few who were present at its performance (i.e., media personnel) are qualified to dissect. Before the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the clergy used this same tactic to keep the rabble docile.
The time has come to quarantine New Rock City. All those currently infected with this virulent strain of media-fomented madness may gather at the former site of Brownies, at which point charter buses, recently returned from shuttling NYU kids to anti-war protests in Washington, DC, will transport you to an internment camp until the garage trend is over. Noam Chomsky, Talib Kweli and Peaches will be your Entertainment Coordinators upon arrival.
Those of us who remain will take up the challenge to create an authentic New York rock scene that simultaneously reflects and subverts today's social conditions. Music attuned to, but not in tune with, the tenor of our times. Anything else is worthless, capitalist, pseudo-subversive bullshit. Rather than simply a New Wave revival, let's have a real New Wave to sweep all the hipsters and their media-corporate puppetmasters out to sea.
Benjamin Kessler, Brooklyn
Yes, Let's Thank God
MUGGER: Just read your article and the first thing that struck me after reading the Anthony Lewis quote: "a president of dubious legitimacy, put in office by ballot confusion in Florida and a lawless majority of the Supreme Court" was thank God it was a constitutionally correct lawful majority of the Supreme Court, otherwise we would have had "a president of dubious legitimacy, put in office by ballot confusion in Florida" in Al Gore. But that would've been okay with the Anthony Lewises of the world, I suppose.
Robyn Courtright, Point of Rocks, MD
'Cause the Truth Hurts
Mike Signorile: I wrote emails and letters to KMOX in St. Louis, MO, about Rush Limbaugh, to no avail. Then the St. Louis Post-Dispatch started publishing his brother David's column. I sent emails about his column. Boycotting Limbaugh may get rid of this $250,000 man who believes a liberal is a socialist. He has made "liberal" a dirty word by repeating it continuously for three hours a day in St. Louis for years. By the way, Limbaugh's uncle or cousin is Stephen Limbaugh?a judge in St. Louis, MO.
Yesterday, on KMOX, Larry Conners reported on a survey taken of 1,000 people that revealed 64 percent of the people trusted Colin Powell and 24 percent Bush. You wouldn't believe the Republicans who called in and complained that he should be ashamed of himself for reporting this survey. When the people revealed the city they lived in, they were Republican strongholds. It went on into the next hour of Charles Brennan's program.
I have come to the conclusion that Republicans do not want to know the truth. What about all the promises Bush has made that have been nothing but photo ops? After the photo ops, nothing happens. Democrats have been burned by his bait and switch on many issues. The more we can do to expose George W. Bush the better.
Joyce Fisher, Columbia, IL
Pencil Pusherman
MUGGER: Delighted to learn you're still able to go "outside with the kids" when news coverage gets boring. And thanks for running the New York Times headline on the shuttle disaster and the looming war in Iraq?which will be very dangerous for children and all living things?and the snippets of the inspired prose that followed. You're not good enough to sharpen pencils at the New York Times, but you sure need to lift their copy for your scabrous rag. What a hypocrite you are.
Mary Reinholz, Manhattan
Local Unions
Mike Signorile: Great idea for the Rush Limbaugh advertiser boycotts. The website, combined with a little informational picketing or even leafletting by consumers, can bring fast results, especially in an urban area. For example, there's a Radio Shack a block from my apartment in Manhattan and another a few blocks from my office in Greenwich Village. Had I known they were sponsoring this vicious reactionary, I'd happily have distributed leaflets a few hours a week to let my neighbors know. I guarantee that neither my Upper West Side neighbors nor my Greenwich Village officemates would ignore this information. In important urban markets, this type of activity can be most effective.
Consumer organizing is the greatest weapon available to progressives today, but few pick up on it because it's not romantic (romanticism being the great weakness of the American Left.) What a great opportunity was lost during the California electricity crisis. With the correct response, the Green Party could have won the entire state legislature after that summer but, unfortunately, the Greens can't put one foot in front of the other.
Consumer issues?utility rates, transit fares, insurance costs, health care costs, redlining, predatory banking practices?affect us all, and bridge the race, ethnic, etc. differences that often divide us. An old sexist white guy pissed off because he can't afford the auto insurance he needs to get to work is going to be in sympathy with another person in that same situation, even if that person is black, or gay or a woman. And recognizing that sympathy (and common enemy) is the first step to breaking down other barriers based on revealing similarity of fundamental interests (as opposed to trying to preach someone out of ignorant prejudices).
For 15 years, the great mass consumer organization in Philadelphia?CEPA (The Consumers Education & Protective Association)?organized consumers, won great victories and united people of every sort. CEPA pioneered the technique of informational consumer picketing to great effect. For a variety of reasons, CEPA, alas, is a shadow of its former self, but the methods it pioneered should be revived today. In conjunction with email and web communication opportunities, a little consumer picketing can go a long way. Enjoy your column. Keep up the good work. I'll check out the anti-Rush website. Without you, Alexander Cockburn and Paul Krugman, I don't know what I could read in the American media.
Lee Frissell, Manhattan
The Gist Blacklist
I find Michelangelo Signorile's screed against that bloated retard Rush Limbaugh rather bizarre ("The Gist," 2/5). Of all things Limbaugh has said, why get in a huff when he is actually being fairly accurate? While Limbaugh certainly used Signorile-style hyperbole by implying that all the protesters were "un-American," one must admit that the leaders of the recent protests could safely and objectively be called anti-American Marxists. Not In Our Name and ANSWER are fronts for the Revolutionary Communist Party and the Workers World Party. To see that one merely needs to note who is behind ANSWER and NION; people such as WWP cadre and Kim Jong-il fan Brian Becker, or that old Pol Pot apologist, RCPer and devote Maoist Clark Kissinger. And let's not forget Larry Holmes, Leslie Feinberg, Sara Flounders, etc.
And no, I don't think all Marxists are anti-American, just the ones who feel the U.S. should be demolished because it is behind all the world's evils. Of course they should have every right to believe and proselytize for that...this being America and all. One wonders whether Signorile would be concerned if a radio guy called people racist hatemongers because they attended some protest organized and lead by fronts for the KKK?even if that protest had nothing to do with race or hate and most of the protestors were ignorant of who was organizing the event.
Come to think of it, was Signorile being ironic when he implied that Limbaugh was performing an act of McCarthyism by pointing out some uncomfortable truths about the protest organizers? Ironic, because as far as I know, Limbaugh isn't attempting to prevent anyone's right to speak. Rather, he is strongly and provocatively voicing his opinion on their politics. Signorile, on the other hand, is happily applauding attempts to blacklist performers who express political views with which he disagrees.
Hank Borelli, Manhattan
Reverse Boycott
I find it interesting that the very people who say what they think about anyone, including President Bush, use the freedom of speech argument, but now want to deny Rush Limbaugh the same right ("The Gist," 2/5)! Where is the outrage (from them) at their friends from Hollywood? If any of the companies mentioned in this and other articles purposely remove their sponsorship of Limbaugh's program as a way to placate these "extreme" troublemakers, I and my family and many of our friends will not be purchasing products from them. Limbaugh speaks for many Americans, as does President Bush. Certain people cannot get over it and will do anything they can to bring true Americans down.
For those of us who have listened to Rush for years, we know that he is not a racist, and his words and actions prove it. But once again, that word is being thrown around to cause division and, as usual, it is a lie. The people perpetrating it know that it is and continue to denigrate Limbaugh (and other truth-tellers), because they have nothing real to attack him with. It seems to me, the people behind this boycott idea are the hatemongers!
Beverly Alfonso, Antigo, WI
Oh, He's Serious
I can't believe I just saw William Repsher's unironic use of the phrase "long, strange trip" in New York Press to describe Phil Spector's life (Daily Billboard, 2/04).
David Hill, Bronx
Peace?
MUGGER: You're right, Dave Barry being compensated by someone is a mystery. I have started very few Barry columns and finished never the first. P.J. O'Rourke is still strong, but your omission of Larry Miller in the Weekly Standard is most un-MUGGERish. Peace.
Ernest Martin, Gulfport, MS
We've Never Heard That One Before
For years I have been reading the curmudgeonly Armond White's movie reviews. He never fails to disappoint me: Every film I love, he hates. Every film which deeply moves me, he pans. Well, I have finally found the proper place for your disheartening and unfortunate film reviews. Your column is happily being utilized by my pet rats, Mr. Peeers and Puck, to line their cage.
Jenny Jozwiak, Brooklyn
Duly Noted
Mike Signorile: I enjoy reading your column every week. You are doing the public a great service with your insights and by the way you are challenging the authoritarian impulses and influences that have been turned loosed since Sept. 11. Your recent remarks on Rush Limbaugh are particularly on the mark. He has crossed the line and needs to be held accountable.
Jeffrey P. Johnson, Boston
Back in the Closet
Mike Signorile: The First Amendment?it's something you should defend. You hate-filled socialists will have far greater need of it in the years to come than will the average American. The bias of the press currently tilts far to the left in this country. However, the population is now more than 50% opposed to your politics. You are a fool to promote this kind of censorship as it will come back on you with a vengeance. Already a significant portion of the country has a healthy distrust of the media, and many have tuned it out entirely. Others are openly hostile and are willing to make the same attack you are promoting against your publication. I realize it's a waste of time to try and reason with closet totalitarians like yourself, but when a man who makes his living through expression comes out against free speech it calls for a fair warning, at the least. You may very well be hung on your own petard.
S. Manning, Seattle
Postcard Power
Mike Signorile: I found your article on Rush Limbaugh interesting. I am in northwest Arkansas, a GOP stronghold. Back in the Bill Clinton days, our local station put on two hours of Limbaugh every day. When it came time to renew the contract, they asked listeners to send in a postcard for or against. I sent mine in saying I didn't want to listen to anyone preaching lies and hatred for two hours and wouldn't shop at any advertiser who supported the show. Apparently I wasn't the only one because he disappeared quickly.
Sarah Clark, Compton, AR
Bee Gees B.J.
MUGGER: "I Started a Joke" is probably my favorite of the numerous engaging and catchy tunes by the Bee Gees. I never did understand the song, but always enjoyed thinking about the meaning.
The Bee Gees divided their time between being artists and entertainers. Some artists, I think, see pure entertainment as an exploitation of their art. Some see entertainment as a vehicle, not only for their art but as a part of what they do. I think that's may be why the Bee Gees were not taken as seriously as they should have been.
How does all that talent end up in one family? The younger brother Andy, wasn't bad either. A shame what he did to himself.
I'm assuming you wanted to sell your paper since you did, so congratulations. I hope you keep writing the MUGGER column. I'd sorely miss it if you quit.
Tom Ganley, Boise, ID
Panties in a Twist
Mike Signorile: Bias in the media? Please! Can this guy be even more vile than he alleges Rush Limbaugh to be when he informs the readers unfortunate enough to read this garbage?
Verwayne Greenhoe, Sheridan, MI
Points on the Back End
MUGGER: I have to disagree with your contention that Dave Barry is secretly praying for elimination of double taxation on dividends. He is probably praying aloud. I recall reading in an interview that he talked about the virtues of the free market and said that Milton Friedman was one of his favorite authors. You have to give him points for that.
Jason Knox, Gainesville, FL
And Dashing, Too!
MUGGER: I agree that Matt Labash is marvelously funny, but, really, don't you also agree that Mark Steyn wins hands down and is breathtakingly intelligent and to-the-point? When, oh when, will he win a Pulitzer Prize?
Kathleen Byrne, Hartford, Connecticut
Hope and a Prayer
MUGGER: Excellent points on the Times' fall from grace (2/5). Howell is a howl. I just hope you are right about domestic readership shrinking for them and that the Washington Post takes up your suggestion to go national. I access their website and would gladly buy the paper. Thanks.
Thomas F. Murphy, Bronx
No Excuses
Mike Signorile: There are a lot of folks who are tired of "hate radio" ("The Gist," 2/5) and I'm one of them. I have written to sponsors reminding them their money pays for this content no matter what they try to suggest, such as "we don't control the programming." The excuse just doesn't hold up. Thank you for your article.
Dare-a Spiegle, Sacramento, CA
1. They're Jerkoffs
If people didn't want to listen to Rush Limbaugh or Dr. Laura, they wouldn't be on the air. That's the way a free market economy operates. Therefore, can Mike Signorile ("The Gist," 2/5) give one good reason to try to force them?or anyone?off the air with boycotts? One good reason to limit people's choices? Could it be, oh, I don't know, that he can't think of any coherent argument against them? As for this specific argument of Limbaugh's, it's one he's made since his earliest days, and it's one that has been amply documented, in National Review among other places. Defamation is the last refuge of the non-thinker.
Nathan Lamm, Flushing, NY
No, You Shut Up
MUGGER: Pretend that Texas is a baseball club, and I am the general manager. I'm prepared to trade you Molly Ivins (an irritating middle reliever) and Jim Hightower (he can't throw anything hard enough to dent a screen door, but he keeps the opponent off balance with that folksy Marxism). What are you prepared to offer in return? No fair sending me Dave Barry. He belongs to Florida. I have a message for Blackie Ritter ("The Mail," 2/5): Shut up. Yeah, you asshole, just shut up.
Tracy Meadows, Brenham, TX