Is the Boss Channeling John Edwards?

Last night, I saw a terrific interview of Bruce Springsteen on 60 Minutes. Scott Pelley, who happens to be from my hometown of Lubbock, TX, asked Springsteen about his "anti-war" CD and about his musical evolution. His responses remind me of what I've been hearing from JRE for the last 2 years. The Showbiz blog from CBS aptly entitled the interview: Silence is Unpatriotic.

From the transcript:

"You know, I think this record is going to be seen as anti-war. And you know there are people watching this interview who are going to say to themselves, 'Bruce Springsteen is no patriot,'" Pelley remarks.

"Well, that's just the language of the day, you know? The modus operandi for anybody who doesn't like somebody, you know, criticizing where we've been or where we're goin'," Springsteen says. "It's unpatriotic at any given moment to sit back and let things pass that are damaging to some place that you love so dearly. And that has given me so much. And that I believe in, I still feel and see us as a beacon of hope and possibility."

Parallel that to JRE's speech back in January, who spoke up against the surge initially, as there will be never a military solution to the war.

That is why I have spoken out against the McCain Doctrine of escalation. That's why Congress must step up and stop the president from putting more troops in harm's way.

If you're in Congress and you know this war is going in the wrong direction, it is no longer enough to study your options and keep your own counsel.

Silence is betrayal. Speak out, and stop this escalation now. You have the power to prohibit the president from spending any money to escalate the war

- use it.

snip

Silence is betrayal. Speak out. Tell your elected leaders to block this misguided plan that is destined to cost more lives and further damage America's ability to lead. And tell them also, that the reward of courage... is trust.

Look what happened when Congress didn't listen to JRE or many of us to stop the surge. Many more have died. The Boss's new song "Last to Die" brings this point home very forcefully.

What a video and terrific lyrics--here is the last stanza followed by the refrain:

Who'll be the last to die for a mistake

The last to die for a mistake

Darlin' will tyrants and kings

fall to the same fate

Strung Up at your city gates

Who will be the last to die for a mistake

Who will be the last to die for a mistake

The last to die for a mistake

Whose blood will spill

Whose heart will break

Who'll be the last to die..

Wow, powerful stuff.

At the Yearly Kos, Chris Dodd admitted the vote was a bad idea and Bush went too far in not doing every thing he could to investigate the problem and engage the other countries that going to war was the best for our national security interests. JRE said he was wrong for his mistake; at many venues, he urged a change of course that we all voted for in November 2006.

Congress is still twisting in the wind.

Later, Pelley asked Springsteen about his roots. Springsteen recalls his past:

"It was a tough, struggling household. People struggled emotionally. People struggled financially to get through the day," Springsteen remembers. "Small town. Small town world which I continue to return to. It's like when I went to write, though, I put my father's clothes on. You know the immersement in that world through my parents and my own experience as a child and the need to tell a story that maybe was partially his. Or maybe a lot his. I just felt drawn to do it."

Pelley seemed amazed that Springsteen felt he had a lot more to write and say and asked this in the interview about the content of Magic:

"Some of the pieces in the new record are gonna be considered controversial. Give me a sense of what you think has to be said. Why are you still writing?" Pelley asks,

"It's how I find out who you are, and who I am, and then who we are. I'm interested in that. I'm interested in what it means to be an American," Springsteen says. "I'm interested in what it means to live in America. I'm interested in the kind of country that we live in and leave our kids. I'm interested in trying to define what that country is. I got the chutzpa or whatever you want to say to believe that if I write a really good about it, it's going to make a difference. It's going to matter to somebody."

And why is Edwards running for President? This is what he said on MTP (via YT clip) yesterday:

That is why I have supported John Edwards since 2004. His thinking has evolved in order to meet the bigger changes of the world and what could they present to our country.

Springsteen hasn't changed either as he has everything he wants, yet he is willing to speak out through song. I listened to his CD, Magic, and I must say it reminds me of a 21st version of Born in the USA, which was a powerful CD and when Springsteen started speaking out politically.

Where Edwards differs from his favorite artist is that he will be more than driver of the conversation: he is for bold change and we need 21st century leadership. He's the candidate to do it.