NUMBER ONE ISSUE

Lolita: Kier, can you hold my sign while I get my pen out? And then tell me the main issue the presidential candidates should address? I liked that photo of you on the cover of The Noise. Okay, I’ll take the sign back. Want me to hold your boots? Wow, I like these boots. Oh yeah, the number one issue? Not the issue with you on the cover…  KIER BYRNES (Three Day Threshold): We need to look into finding and developing alternative, renewable energy sources. We need to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and get the hell out of places we don’t belong (Iraq!). *** CHUCK U. ROSINA (WMFO/WMBR): It’s hard to just pick one issue for candidates to focus on.  The war is obvious, but our energy consumption and environment are equally important.  All three are interrelated.  It would be nice to hear candidates talk about the issues in these terms.  How our consumption habits effect the environment and are the real reason for our occupation in Iraq.  (Might it have something to do with oil?)  Actually one candidate, Dennis Kucinich, is addressing these issues in these terms. We are lied to when told it is a war on terror.  Howard Zinn says, “War IS terror.”  None of the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks came from Iraq.  Support our troops.  Bring them safely home to their families. *** WILLIE ALEXANDER (Fisheye Brothers): Getting us out of Iraq now.  We shouldn’t be there in the first place. We’ve been messing things up in the Middle East since the end of WWI. *** DANIEL CANTOR (Jim’s Big Ego/African Underground): Our capitalistic system has become so overwhelmed by the military complex, lobbyists, and cutthroat career-obsessed politicians that it has stopped representing the people. The current leadership is running amuck stopping scientific research, messing up the environment, and letting big business destroy the country and other countries for the sake of money, power, and a very intolerant version of God. Let’s get back to basics. Lets have our voting system be overhauled and verifiable. Democracy only works when all votes are counted and polling is freely accessible. *** RIK TINORY (Rik Tinory Productions): Bring the troops home from all alien countries and bring the oil home with them. *** DAVE CRESPO (Dave Crespo): The war in Iraq has to be the biggest issue in the next election. It is what has defined America socially and economically within the past eight years. The decision about how much longer we stay there will determine the kind of country that America is going to be for years to come. The decision of how soon we back out of Iraq is an issue of how this country is viewed to the rest of the world, an economic issue and a social issue since people fighting over seas effect so many families and friends in this country. *** NANCY NEON (The Noise): There are so many crucial issues—the environment, the Iraq war, health care, etc.  But I feel the most immediate is the necessity of restoring our constitutional rights that have eroded over the past six years. Habeas corpus and due process must be restored. The government must stop unwarranted spying on our citizens. Guantanamo Bay must be closed and those held there must be given access to justice. The government must stop extraordinary rendition—the secret kidnapping of our citizens and taking them to countries that allow torture. *** JASON BENNETT (Jason Bennett & the Resistance): The number one issue that the presidential candidates should focus on is how they plan to bring this country back together again with some kind of collective identity. We’ve had eight years of division and spite, but in the end we should all be on the same side. We’re going to have a big problem when we finally manage to end this war with the impact it has on our economy and culture. Of course it would also help if we had some candidates that had any courage or beliefs. *** SAM GILMAN (Otis Grove): I think the candidates should focus on how to change the global opinion of the U.S., ’cause right now it’s held somewhere between moldy cheese and garbage water. It’s important to show the world that we are trying to have a constructive influence and are not just some money-hungry war machine (which we currently are). *** MIKE DIPLOMAT (The Flashing Reds): Iraq, Iraq, Iraq.  It is time to get out of there already!  There are so many reasons why this war is bad news. I would go into it, but The Noise has basically stated them all—End War Now.  It is very frustrating that out of all the presidential candidates, only two give clear answers when asked if they would leave Iraq: Kucinich for the Democrats and Paul for the Republicans.  Unfortunately neither one has much of a chance of winning.  So alas, once again it comes down to the lesser of two evils, and that usually means quite a bit of evil.  Guess it is time for rock ’n’ roll to save the world, again. *** DAVE BALERNA (The Midway): My question for the candidates and my number one beef with all of the motherfuckers running is that all of their platforms have been voiced before, but nobody ever can solve them. The platforms ring hollow and redundant. Cut taxes for the middle class, no child left behind, cut funding for the pugnacious majority, blah, blah, blah. Why do we fall for the propaganda in the blind belief that salvation is on the horizon? The world’s ills are currently overwhelming and unsolvable. So buy a ticket and stay for the show that is hopefully in a bunker with an agreeable, amenable partner. Rita: I’ve gotta get this other thorn out of my system—I am tired of every millionaire candidate asking me to give them money to help run their campaign. These presidential candidates have been rolling their rallies for over a year now and there’s still almost another year to go. Imagine if we limited the amount of money a candidate could spend on their campaign or put a six-month limit on when advertising could run for any election? Lolita: It’s not a bad idea but it’s trivial when put up next to torture and murder. Let’s find out what’s relatively important in our rock scene—what’s up Rita?