The more I thought about the entire ordeal, the more I felt that those who were dead deserved something in recognition, a positive pronouncement affirming our American values of tolerance, empathy and forgiveness. I didn’t want a vainglorious war that would only lead to more death and terror. I wanted a memento that would show a sense of humanity and kindness, virtues at the core of the "Americanism" that I fought for more than 30 years ago. I felt if we could avoid war, death, impersonal destruction and irrational unreflecting thinking, then the people in New York City, Arlington, and Pennsylvania would be properly honored. But to see their deaths as a justification for more death means that instead of remembering them with honor and sadness, these dead become tainted with hatred, which dishonors them more than any terrorist act.

Once George W et al. took the easy road—and it is indeed all too easy to make war and to support it than it is to assess and reflect on the situations that led to that conclusion—it became all too clear why Bush’s rhetoric—with its wild-west bang-bang shoot-’em-up, love-it-or-leave-it, "are you bluish; you don’t look bluish" harangues—struck such a responsive chord with so many. His rhetoric of revenge is so easy for Americans to follow. Because of our dominant Judeo-Christian moral scheme, where there is only one way to heaven—"my way" —and our dominant capitalistic socio-economic scheme, where money is first and foremost and always "right", the "righteous" immediately assume the rhetorical advantage. To take just one local instance, WEMU deejay Thayone ranted on the air that "Usama has to be a stain on the floor… they want to take your wife and…beat her in the streets …. There’s no talking to these people…. They hate you!", while WEMU’s station manager and news director expressed surprise that this is "controversial". This rhetoric becomes downright dangerous when the President, the dominant social gatekeepers, and the media all insist that revenge is the only proper view for Americans to have, a view that must be adhered to no matter what or else there will be consequences, severe permanent personal consequences.

Prior to the mid-1990s radio companies were prevented by the FCC from owning more than four radio stations. The long-standing thinking was that given that the airwaves are public, the only way the diversity of opinions found in local communities could be safeguarded was by restricting the number of stations any one owner could have. This all changed when Clinton under severe pressure from the Republican-controlled congress signed the Telecommunication Act, which essentially got rid of all ownership restrictions. Today one out of every ten radio stations in the country is controlled by Clear Channel Communications. Clear Channel owns and programs four stations in Ann Arbor—WCAS-1290am (Oldies), WQKL-FM 107.1 (Adult Contemporary), WTKM-1050am (Sports), WWWW-FM 102.9 (Country)—and seven in Detroit—including the number one Urban programming station, WJLB-FM, and Adult Contemporary leader WNIC-FM.

Many of the over 150 songs on this list are downright silly (for the entire list check out www.eonline.com/News/More/clearsonglist.html). The Bangles "Walk Like an Egyptian," and Bobby Darin’s "Mack the Knife" apparently are too un-American for airplay. Similarly, Frank Sinatra’s "New York, New York" and Louis Armstrong’s "It’s a Wonderful" are filled with too much irony to be handled by adult listeners. It seems that virtually any song that Clear Channel finds vaguely "insensitive" made the list: AC/DC’s "Dirty Deeds," disco diva Fontella Bass’ "Rescue Me," Neil Diamond’s "America," Bob Dylan’s "Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door," Elton John’s "Benny and the Jets," (jets, get it?), Steve Miller’s "Jet Airliner," Alanis Morissette’s "Ironic," and of course Cat Steven’s "Peace Train" (he’s a Muslim you know), The Youngbloods’ "Get Together," and John Lennon’s "Imagine."