I had the blessing or curse to be born into an activist family. My mom and dad were into the protests way before I was born. And once I was born, they raised me in that activist environment. |
I really think the establishment of a third party is important. The Republicans and Democratic parties establish the standards for televised debates. Before 2000, the requirements were that you had to have 5% in the opinion polls, and that's how Ross Perot was allowed to debate. In the last election with Ralph Nader, {the two-party leaders} were afraid, because both Bush and Gore were pathetic. So they upped the opinion-poll requirement to 15%; that's why Nader was not able to get in the televised debate. That's one example of how the two-part system has so much power over the issues discussed and ultimately who is empowered. |
That's exactly how we wanted it to be. And I think they knew what they were signing. At this point, I'm convinced that they didn't sign us to try to mold us into something we're not. They knew they were signing a political punk band that had things they wanted to say. |
We feel that the people in power are not living up to their responsibility of only sending U.S. troops into harm's way when it is absolutely necessary. We have friends in the military. I have a cousin in Iraq. Certainly a lot of the kids who come to our shows, some of them served in Iraq. |