'in the lake'? I dont get it

Here's a new Explosion interview too: http://www.truepunk.com/interviews/theexplosion/

I think it's pretty amazing how much time and space AMP dedicates to politics. It seems pretty risky for a pretty much mainstream, albiet in the underground, magazine to push such political views so much. Almost all of their columns, and a lot of their non-band articles. I think that's really cool.

The best comment on the election: "For the first few years of my adult (over 18) life I consciously resisted participating in the electoral process. Although eligible to vote, I was one of those Americans (now over 50%) who stayed home on Election Day and proudly told anyone who'd listen "fuck politics." In my deluded state I actually believed that my non-participation was some kind of brash, proletarian "statement" which would galvanize others into doing likewise with global anarchy being the ultimate goal. I was a sucker of the 1st degree. I had allowed myself to be effectively marginalized out of the public arena; I had willingly become a non-factor in life. My awakening occurred during the 1992 election year. Terrified at the prospect of four more years of George Bush Sr. and romanced by Bill Clinton's absorbing populist rhetoric I was compelled for the first time to register (which I did-as a democrat) and to actually vote. The spin in the national media that year was pretty much the same as it is right now. Each day we were hammered by statistics and graphs and polls showing a race between two men (three once Ross Perot joined the fray,) George Bush and Bill Clinton. The two candidates from the two wealthiest parties were all over the television with their massive ad campaigns and a series of debates; just the two of them- Democrat and Republican. By election- day my mind was made up; I was going to vote for Bill Clinton! So off I went to the polls... Imagine my surprise when I stepped into my little voting cubicle and, upon removing the ballot, there were like seven people running for president! There was a Green, a Libertarian, an Independent and even something called the Peace and Freedom party. I had no clue who any of these people were; hadn't seen or heard a thing about them on the news or in the American press and they certainly weren't participating in any of the televised debates I saw. Did these parties even have conventions? The Dems and Republicans both garnered prime time network coverage for their shindigs replete with graphics and music and a who's who of broadcast celebrity. I had never even heard of these other parties yet there they were. These people had all done the time and put in the money and work to get their names on the ballot and yet most Americans (myself included) would never know who they were or what their ideas might be. Just names on a ballot; lip service to a Democratic ideal which has been hijacked by a corrupt duopoly to insure that people don't participate in the public arena or if, god forbid, they do participate, they have only two choices (both being safe bets for the business community and entrenched power in Washington). I was furious. I felt lied to and manipulated. I made up my mind to do everything I could to foster an electoral climate where every candidate on the ballot has equal time in the press, debates and in the public consciousness. With only two people to choose from (and with those two candidates and their parties increasingly in agreement on nearly everything) is it any wonder that half of us don't even bother? I believe that if we were presented with more options more of us would participate. These other political parties and the candidates they run will undoubtedly speak to millions of Americans who just can't relate to the endless parade of white privilege we're presented with every four years. This is why I re-registered as a Green and voted for the Green candidate in 2000 and will do the same this year. If Mr. Bush gets another term than so be it - we deserve it for allowing our electoral system to be stolen away and for letting ourselves be marginalized and duped into exercising one of our most precious rights in a rigged game where we're bullied into voting for the lesser of two evils rather than our own, true conscience. -Russ Rankin ONLYCRIME / GOOD RIDDANCE"

I checked out the Amp issue with the Dropkick Murphy's on the cover, and it had the same "bands tackle politics" deal. I was pretty turned off by how almost every person that chimed in had really nothing intelligent to say, sans a few bandmembers. There were a few really good ones, like Russ Rankin, for instance. The rest ordered me to vote against George Bush, but offered no compelling arguements to do so. I felt a little defensive and perturbed about being told how to vote. Its my vote and I'll do whatever the fuck I want with it. p.s. as a sidenote, I'm a left winger.