Petty being ‘petty’ with Bush campaign

The pettiness, childish behavior and outright stupidity of most
prominent entertainers (who are liberals, by the way) never ceases to
amaze me.

The latest faux pas comes compliments of rocker Tom Petty, who
had his music publisher draft a letter to the campaign of Republican
George W. Bush ordering the Texas governor to stop using one of Petty’s
songs at campaign events.

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, “a cease-and-desist letter from Tom Petty proved to be a campaign heartbreaker for George W. Bush, as the presidential hopeful was forced to back off his use of ‘I Won’t Back Down.'”

The magazine said Petty’s publisher, Randall Wixen of Wixen Music Publishing, Inc. and Gone Gator Music sent the letter in February but “its existence (and Bush’s reaction) only surfaced recently.”

Why would a not-so-popular-anymore rock star be so stupid as to ask a major presidential contender to stop using one of his songs at perhaps hundreds of campaign events over the course of several months? What kind of moron would pass up such a huge, and free, marketing tool?

One whose ideological hatreds, prejudices, and biases overrule sound financial and other common sense judgments — which pretty much sums up most liberal entertainment types.

“It has recently come to our attention that your presidential campaign has been using the above-referenced song in connection with your presidential bid,” Wixen wrote. “Please be advised that this use has not been approved. … Any use made by you or your campaign creates, either intentionally or unintentionally, the impression that you and your campaign have been endorsed by Tom Petty, which is not true” (my emphasis).

So there you have it; Petty is being “petty” because he just doesn’t like George W. Bush, conservatives, or Republicans in general — as if no one other than abject leftist-liberal types have ever paid good money for one of his albums.

Petty’s not alone, however. Other “stars” (or, really, former stars) have also objected to the Bush campaign’s use of their songs.

“This haphazard practice has been troubling a number of musicians besides Petty, including Sting and John Mellencamp, who found their songs ‘Brand New Day’ and ‘R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.,’ respectively, being used without permission,” the magazine said.

“‘I don’t think that anybody that knows me would think I have the same position as (Bush),’ Mellencamp told Rolling Stone in August.”

No, John, I doubt they would. From the sound of it, most of your friends are just as narrow minded, childish, immature, and whiney as you are. Ditto for Sting and Petty.

In response, the Bush camp said it would respect the right of these “entertainers” to be petty and stupid by pledging not to use their music at any future campaign events. No more free publicity and marketing; no more haggling with a bunch of pampered, self-inflated egos. Instead, the Bush campaign decided to work out agreements with music licensing organizations like BMI and ASCAP to pay for the use of songs from now on.

What was conspicuously missing from the purposefully biased, one-sided and intentionally left-leaning Rolling Stone article was information about whether or not the campaign of Democratic nominee Al Gore was using any music from one of these precious “artists.” My guess is that the Gore campaign is allowed to use any damned music it pleases because most former and current pop and rock artists share the Democratic Party’s warped sense of values and depravity.

In the great scheme of things, I suppose it shouldn’t matter that an artist gets ticked off by the use of his or her songs by a political candidate who belongs to a party the artist dislikes or disagrees with.

But to take that dislike or disagreement to the petty level of hating a candidate so badly you won’t even allow free marketing and promotion of yourself is not only incredibly stupid but hypocritical for people who profess to belong to the “party of compassion, caring, and understanding.”

Truth is, liberals and leftists only care about and understand those who agree with them or who are just like them — and to hell with everyone else.

I’ve got a better bit of advice for the Bush campaign — to hell with these people instead. Use someone’s songs who appreciates the fact that you’re giving them notoriety, fame, and free exposure. There are lots of songs out there by lots of other artists who aren’t petty adolescents too filled with obsessive hate that they are willing to hurt themselves to make a point most people laugh at.

It’s no wonder liberals hate guns; they’re always shooting themselves in the foot or shooting their mouths off.