The edited and unedited “Daughter” videos:
ATT alleges that a webcast vendor censored a lyric that was unflattering to President George W. Bush. Pearl Jam had this to say:
This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media. What happened to us this weekend was a wake up call, and it’s about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band. AT&T’s actions strike at the heart of the public’s concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media.
Pearl Jam has it nailed. Ever day something like this is allowed to occur in America, a piece of freedom dies. We must remain vigilant and alert to even the smallest erosions of liberty and free speech or one day those concepts will just be a forgotten memory.
Earlier this week the democratic house capitulated to King George by allowing the FISA law to be changed in such a way that he can now wire-tap calls and monitor emails from any US citizen to outside of the US, this surveillance needs no suspicion, no pre-approval, and no repercussions if it “accidentally” records discourse within our country. Since Consiglieri Gonzales is in charge of monitoring this program it’s unlikely that the oversight will be anymore than a rubber stamp.