Internet-unsavvy Presidential candidate John McCain is steamed at Madonna, whose Sticky + Sweet Tour kicked off over the weekend in the UK. Apparently an image of the Straight Talk Express' driver is flashed during a video montage of baddies that also includes Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe and baddie-of-all-baddies Adolf Hilter! (Barack Obama, meanwhile, is placed alongside John Lennon, Mahatma Gandhi, and Al Gore.) Instead of realizing that because Madonna broke
Godwin's Law any further argument was, in fact, moot, McCain's campaign released a snippy statement via Fox News (sigh) that said in part "It clearly shows that when it comes to supporting Barack Obama, his fellow worldwide celebrities refuse to consider any smear or attack off limits." Wouldn't a counterpoint by Ted Nugent have been a lot more succinct? Anyway, before you think this is just another boring "Madonna gets 'political'" news item, there's also Britney Spears-related news coming out of the tour! Which is, just, so much better, you guys.
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Idolator
So Ann and Nancy Wilson haven't really been too pleased that the folks in charge of the music at the Republican National Convention have decided to turn their 1977 song (and current plastic-guitar staple) "Barracuda" into a rallying cry for GOP vice-presidential nominee/unavoidable topic of Internet discussion/overly self-impressed speechifier Sarah Palin, who was affectionately (?) called Barracuda during her high-school days. (Earlier today, they released a statement saying that they'd sent the GOP a cease-and-desist notice telling them to stop playing the damn thing. Of course, that didn't stop the Republicans, who played the song again after John McCain accepted his party's Presidential nomination tonight—and this decision fired up Nancy Wilson so much, she rang up Entertainment Weekly's Whitney Pastorek to say, "I think it's completely unfair to be so misrepresented... I feel completely fucked over." Keep in mind, you're talking about a song that's been covered by Fergie here, so you know that it takes a lot to offend!
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John McCain has acquiesced to John Mellencamp's demands that the Republican presidential nominee stop playing the Coug's "Pink Houses" and "Our Country" at his campaign rallies. "You know, here's a guy running around saying, 'I'm a true conservative.'" Mellencamp's publicist told the AP. "Well, if you're such a true conservative, why are you playing songs that have a very populist pro-labor message written by a guy who would find no argument if you characterized him as left of center?" There aren't too many catchy, uptempo pop tunes about union busting, unrestricted free trade, and a policy of entrenchment in an unwinnable war? [
