I do not intend to pretend that the Insane Clown Posse and their fans have a sort of hive mind that acts as one. With the Insane Clown Posse, and any other rap group or rock band, you get what you put into it. Many people believe that the duo of loud mouth, in-your-face clowns, are little more than shock rock gurus who have taken a disaffected youth and painted it over with their own brand of antiestablishment rhetoric. I believe this is inaccurate. It is, of course, true that the lyrics feature boastfulness, belligerence, vulgarities of every nature, blasphemy, and a rejection of all things normal, however, it is also true that the band creates a puckish satire of the problems they see in the world around them. There are many songs by the Joes that are meant to be little more than entertaining, these songs make up the bulk of their music. I will argue that the tracks that focus (directly or indirectly) on their political and spiritual views are cooperative with the goals and ideals of presidential candidate Barack Obama.
One may find it hard to believe that both Barack Obama and The Insane Clown Posse have expressed a strong interest in the rights belonging to those who are currently, or have previously been, incarcerated. The history of Barack shows us through the legislature he has written and helped pass in the state of Illinois showcases clearly where he stands on the issue of protecting those currently in the system. While in the state senate Obama wrote and helped pass legislation requiring the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases and while working as a community organizer in Chicago, IL., Obama helped encourage employers to hire recent parolees, knowing that repeat offenders often lack opportunities in the world outside of prison and thus must resort to crime once again.
How does this relate to everybody's least favorite serial killer clowns? It's simple: The ICP are extremely outspoken against the death penalty, abuse of inmates and the lack of societal support of former criminals. On Psychopathics From Outer Space, a compilation album showcasing the various acts of Psychopathic Records at the time, the song Dead End features a telling lyric: "I know the devil's waitin' on me / But does God like him playin' his role in killin' me though / Lock me up until I die maybe / But you can never tell / We might sharing a cell in hell." Here, Violent J(born Joseph Bruce) makes his claim very clear. It is apparent that even though the narrator of the song is on death row, and from the sounds of it justifiably so, he does not believe it is right for the government to take the life of a prisoner. He invokes a spiritual context, as the band is primarily spiritually aware rather than politically, and shows us that all life - even the life of the most ruthless killers - should be respected and protected, not taken away by government officials. The hook of Dead End features another look at the argument of prisoners rights, "Dead end, no escape from it / Should've thought about that shit before you done it / Why? I never wanna die / Don't nobody cry for me, it's only murder!" The hook shows two sides to the argument. Here we see that the crime that was committed was wrong and that the prisoner in question should have considered the consequences of his actions, it's true, they are not soft on sin as I will show later, but they also present the other side, the side they wish to share with the audience, nobody cries for the life that is lost at the hands of the executioner even though it is still, in their eyes, murder.
Barack Obama has a long history of significant contributions in legislative battles against the death penalty, and against in the criminal justice system in Illinois, which led to a series of shocking exonerations of innocent people who had been on death row. Obama was also a cosponsor on a comprehensive reform of the death penalty in the state of IL., which many believe will begin a domino effect in neighboring states to abolish or reform their own death penalty systems. Although, it should be noted that Obama is not against the death penalty as a whole. He believes that some crimes are irreconcilable, such as the rape or murder of children, mass murder, that a society has the right to call for the death of prisoner, if they can trust the legal system explicitly, but that our current system does not meet this requirement.
Obama also supports alternative sentencing such as penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders. The purpose of this is to keep bodies out of prisons where they are forced to join gangs and begin to feel like the world has given up on them. This also creates a sense of hope that the convicted can rejoin society. Obama also supports the increase of state funds for programs which rehabilitate and educate inmates during and after their prison sentences and funding for military-style "boot camps" for first-time juvenile felons.
As you can see, though for different reasons, the two both support a reformation of the penal system that focuses strongly on the rights of those incarcerated.
Health Care Reform
The health care crisis is one that has gained a lot of media coverage in recent days. Michael Moore recently released his documentary, Sicko, which discusses the failing health care system. Debate is spread amongst liberals and conservatives ever since Hillary Clinton tried to gain support for a universal health care system in the US while her husband was president. Although the plan Hillary had proposed failed to spread it lead the way for a program which Obama helped instill in the state of IL., while in the IL. state senate, which enabled working class families to be able to provide health care for their children at little or no cost.
It would be rather ridiculous of any band to release a song about the health care crisis and any band out there would have a pretty bad reputation for not presenting the proper facts as it is a very large topic. Luckily the Insane Clown Posse don't give two fucks about bad reps or looking silly. Although they do not address the health care system directly they do make a pretty bold statement.
Paraphrased for you, the song Crossing Thy Bridge is Violent J saying, Look. How can people be so stuck on themselves that they would let children die of curable diseases? Shouldn't we be doing something? This question is most obvious in the songs opening verse and chorus, "I’ve lived one hell of a life / if your to take it tonight / I’ve lived the life of a king / but so much to darken my light / Looking 360 degrees / two hundred thousand diseased / How can I lay back and chill? (with) so many down on their knees /But then again who am I? / I’m just some typical guy / I ain’t no fuckin’ hero / I just been wondering why… / I seen some children crossing the bridge / What kind of life did they get to live?" and as the song comes to an end Violent J screams in anger and frustration, "Fuckin' take me instead!"
As you can probably tell, the Insane Clown Posse and Barack Obama agree on one very specific part of the Universal Health Care plans currently in the political spectrum. The most important thing is that CHILDREN are given medical attention when they need it!
Ending The War In Iraq
Robert Bruce, Violent J's brother, also known as Jump Steady, appears on one of the earliest political songs from the band. This song was recorded during Operation Desert Storm but speaks mountains of the situation we are currently in. Jumpsteady's verse is more about over coming "Ghetto Insanity", a common theme on the album Carnival Of Carnage, but he throws in a simple lyric which is increasingly applicable: "Damn they're stupid / Their minds must be failin' / Think I'd rather pay a little extra on a gallon / And save a human life or two."
The Clowns themselves have not articulated much on the war, however, in their comic book series, The Pendulum, we are treated to an open discussion between former Gulf War Veterans who very simply state that while in the middle east they raped and killed innocent women and children.
Barack Obama is different in this respect. He respects the soldiers and what they do and supports the use of military involvement. He does not, how ever, believe we should be fighting in an illegal war, using illegal tactics, fighting an invisible enemy. In 2002, at an Anti-War Rally in Chicago, Obama said, "I don't oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war."
Barack was the first person in the public eye to speak out against the illegal war in Iraq and has done so constantly and consistently. Many will try to say that Barack Obama supports the war because he did not vote against it, but at the time of the vote Obama was not in the senate. Some will say that he supports the war because he continues to vote to fund the war, and Obama has explained that he does not wish any soldier to go with out proper equipment or training and Bush is so relentless that not having money will not stop him from his conquest of Iraq.
Senator Obama introduced legislation in January 2007 to offer a responsible alternative to President Bush's failed escalation policy. The legislation commences redeployment of U.S. forces no later than May 1, 2007 with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008 -- a date consistent with the bipartisan Iraq Study Group's expectations. The plan allows for a limited number of U.S. troops to remain in Iraq as basic force protection, to engage in counter-terrorism and to continue the training of Iraqi security forces. If the Iraqis are successful in meeting the 13 benchmarks for progress laid out by the Bush Administration, this plan also allows for the temporary suspension of the redeployment, provided Congress agrees that the benchmarks have been met.
Fighting Poverty
This is where things get interesting. Poverty is a sickness that our country has been plagued with since its birth and nobody has really come up with plans that have successfully ended it. Reagan, a republican and so called Economist, developed what he called the Trickle Down Theory, in which he explained that if corporations are given a chance to prosper with out the governments involvement, the employees would benefit. The only problem with this logic is that CEOs are people, and as people, they are corrupt and sometimes selfish. Very recently the CEO of Home Depot retired and gave himself a severance package of 210 million dollars. The problem with this is that the stock holders are not given a chance to approve these kinds of outlandish rip offs and aside from this, many home depot employees can not afford health care, can not afford to live with out a two income family, can not pay college tuitions, can not... well, you get the idea.
How does Barack Obama feel about poverty? One need only read his website, which states, "Barack Obama has been a lifelong advocate for the poor -- as a young college graduate, he rejected the high salaries of corporate America and moved to the South Side of Chicago to work as a community organizer. As an organizer, Obama worked with churches, Chicago residents and local government to set up job training programs for the unemployed and after school programs for kids." Obama also wishes to create programs that give employment to chronically unemployed citizens and creates both transitional jobs programs as well as bridge programs that partner the federal government with employers and community-based organizations to identify job opportunities, develop customized training programs, and place low-income employees in better jobs.
Many people know of the child tax credit. It is an important credit which helps enable families by giving them a credit of 1,000 per child, but because of high income limits that are indexed to inflation, parents who work full time at a minimum wage job are not eligible for the credit. As a result, nearly 17 million low-income children get less than the full credit. Barack Obama worked with Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) to introduce legislation lowering the income limit so that 600,000 more families can benefit from the credit.
The fact of the matter is that one of Obama's biggest concerns, is and has always been, Americans in poverty. Poverty afflicts to many of us and Obama wishes to find a cure for that. I could continue to discuss his policy and practice, but it would be more simple for you to simply read his website, under the issues drop down menu, click Fighting Poverty.
Wealth doesn't trickle down unless those running the corporations are respectful of their employees. No, wealth is built from the ground up. You have a stronger market when people are earn a decent wage and can afford to purchase luxury items. You have a stronger market when people can afford to give to charities and can afford to take time off work to visit the local mom and pop shops. When a nation of people can afford to pay for local, small business products and services, they do.
The Insane Clown Posse address the need to cure "Ghetto Insanity" in detail in the liner notes of their debut album Carnival Of Carnage. Violent J wrote liner notes explaining that the Carnival Of Carnage is any city in which crime and rampant drug use are unchecked. Violent J says specifically, "When a boy grows up with crack smoke being blown in his face, tripping over dead bodies on his way to school and getting his ass beat by his over worked, drunken father, chances are he won't turn out to be a doctor or a lawyer. Instead he will become one with his environment, which is only natural. If one is raised by a pack of wild crack heads, he then will become a wild crack head." The band has made it their mission to speak about the concerns of social inequality of those that suffer from poverty compared to those on the upper end of the economic charts. The entire carnival shtick with its violence, sexism, drugs, anger and hate, is in short, the violence, sexism, drugs, anger and hate, of those living in the ghettos across America.
Violent J says, in that initial essay, "Tear down all these abandoned buildings and build new schools instead of these old shacks they expect us to learn in. Build clinics and shelters, build shopping malls in the inner city to create jobs, give us something to live for. This would cure "Ghetto Insanity" and free our minds!" He goes on to warn that if these types of things are not given to the inner city then the violence will eventually spill out into the lives of those that do not suffer from living in the ghetto. The ending of this introductory essay to the Carnival Of Carnage ends with a chilling warning:
"I walk trough their streets and I'm stared at as a freak show, less than human, an ogre walking the streets paved with gold. Twisted somewhere in this fried brain of mine I have a plan. If those of the ghetto are nothing more than carnival exhibits to the upper class, than let's give them the show they deserve to see. No more hearing of this show because you can witness it in your own front yard! A traveling mass of carnage, the same carnage we witness daily in the ghetto, can be yours to witness, feel and suffer. No longer killing one another, but killing the ones who have ignored our cries for help. FREE PASS FOR THE GOVERNOR'S FAMILY! Like a hurricane leaving a trail of destruction, the ghetto on wheels! My views may be ugly, but so are the bloodstains on the streets I roam. If there is no change soon tickets will be issued to...The Carnival of Carnage. "
Although not by the hands of Violent J or Shaggy 2 Dope, this threat has become an ever increasing reality. Children being shot up in schools, child molesters being given high placing positions in churches, schools, political office and the military, homelessness, drug use, sexual perversion, and more are constantly in the news. Not happening in Compton, Detroit, Chicago, Houston or any other major ghetto, but in towns that have always been considered nice, small towns. Ghetto Insanity is seeping through and causing us all to feel a little sicker. Fear plays a huge part, but it is the fact that so many Americans are living below the poverty line that really helps to escalate these growing trends.
The Republicans and right wingers claim to care about the morals of America, but it is people like Barack Obama and the Insane Clown Posse, who've made it their life's work in changing the world around them.
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