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No Age's Randy Randall has fired an angry e-missive after being told he couldn't wear a T-shirt bearing Barack Obama's name during a recent television appearance.
Randall's band was set to be filmed for an edition of US programme The Late Late Show last week, but the guitarist was told minutes before going on air he would have to change his top.
An extract from Randall's email follows...
"The representatives of CBS said that by wearing an Obama T-shirt I would be violating the FCC rule of equal time for all candidates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-time_rule), however there is a doctrine of fairness that former President Ronald Reagan and current president George W Bush supported the repeal of in order to allow themselves more time in the media (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine). Regardless, the Equal time rule clearly favors candidates with more financial support. Ralph Nader and Ron Paul are not seen nearly as much as Obama and McCain"
"I encourage all of you to speak out about your political views and your feelings about the many issues that are up for discussion at this crucial time in American history. CBS and major media outlets DO NOT speak for me. I do not look to corporate media to inform my views on the issues. Together through our communities we can make a difference and make it a point to express our views in order to shape our world into a better place"
Randall eventually changed into a tee bearing the legend 'Free Health Care' to film the spot, which is due to be aired as planned.
In other similarly nuts news, a judge in the US has offered to go a little easier on a defendant fined $150 for listening to hip-hop at anti-social volumes on his car stereo - if he agrees to spend 20 hours in the company of classic artists like Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.
The offer was made to - but subsequently rejected by - Ohio resident Andrew Vactor, who was given a $35 incentive by Judge Susan Fornof-Lippencott. She explained that the idea was to make him listen to something he might not like as a way of showing him how his own choice of music might be deemed offensive by others. Vactor, however, still chose to pay the full whack.
"I didn't have the time to deal with that," he said. "I just decided to pay the fine."
DiScuss: Censorship? Have your say below. RE: the latter, what music would you use as a punishment? We'd say Scouting For Girls.
