“One would think the time is ripe for an explosion of protest music. We’re witnessing what pundits are calling a historic presidential race at a time when even the party holding the Oval Office admits that a big dose of change is needed. We’ve been at war on two fronts for years with no end in sight, while there’s less than a month to go in the election. The economy appears to be in free fall. The race is close, and the rhetoric is heating up fast as each side lobs verbal grenades at each other almost daily. So where are all the protest songs, calling for one brand of change over the other? Protest music is rare from conservative artists, but even the liberals songwriters seem to be sitting this one out. ‘People are overwhelmed by the corruption of our government,’ says Paul Kantner, a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, who just released a new Starship record, Jefferson’s Tree of Liberty. ‘They don’t think their vote counts … people don’t have enough faith.’” [editor’s note: Who could possibly still believe their ‘vote counts?’ Some anarchist protest songs might be nice, though - MLS] (10/12/08)