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Maybe Republican politicians just don’t get Bruce Springsteen. It was obvious that Ronald Reagan didn’t in 1984 when he tried to use Springsteen’s hit “Born in the USA” as a campaign theme song. Apparently nobody on Reagan’s campaign listened to the lyrics to find out that the song is not a patriotic message of hope.
And recently, Republicans in Congress shot down a resolution congratulating Springsteen on the 30th anniversary of his album “Born to Run.”
Harlen Coben wrote in The New York Times: “Does anybody on either side of the political aisle really believe that the Springsteen resolution was turned down for any reason other than political payback for backing John Kerry?
“We are so shameless now, so openly hostile to one another, that we don’t even pretend otherwise. Here is how the Senate power structure works: the resolution sponsored by Senator Gordon Smith, Republican of Oregon, honoring that golfer from New Zealand passed unanimously — but commending one of the seminal albums and musicians of the past 30 years gets nixed right away? Come on.”
Other the other hand, doesn’t Congress have better things to do than honor golfers and rock musicians?
Posted by Melissa Cooley