Pink’s new song “Dear Mr. President” has been banned from an
elementary school talent show in Coral Springs, Florida. A school
district spokesperson offered the following explanation:
“This is a fifth-grade student that wants to perform a song filled with
lyrics about drug use, war, abortion, gay rights and profanity.”
The drug use being referred to is a criticism of Bush’s use of cocaine,
and the swear word in question is “hell”. As for gay rights,
women’s right to choose, and criticism of the war, the fact that these
are considered off limits and offensive for elementary school students
to hear from their peers is chilling.
Coral Springs is the same school district that banned a t-shirt
that pictured Bush with the description “International Terrorist” and
tried to suspend a student for wearing it. The school board
rescinded its decision after the ACLU threatened a lawsuit.
And Coral Springs is also home to Rev. D. James Kennedy and his
far-right Christian fundamentalist church, which has been on the
forefront of pushing for the establishment of a theocracy, and has
significant influence on the Bush administration.
The fact that a Florida elementary school would stop a 10-year-old
from singing an anti-Bush song at her talent show says much about the
chilling atmosphere today. In Bush’s wiretapped world, every
sphere of society is increasingly purged of dissent. That which you will not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn (
or be forced ( to accept.
The World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime!
(Source: “Principal bars Coral Springs student from singing anti-Bush song at talent show”, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 5/5/06)