Sssshh! Not in front of the citizens!

It seems to be getting hard to publicly point out that war is a horrible thing that kills people and generally sucks.

Today brought two terrifying data points. Note that neither is even about any of the particular wars in which we are currently involved, but rather the general idea of organized armed conflict.

First, 66 ABC affiliates decided not to show the film Saving Private Ryan, apparently due to concern that its graphic descriptions of WWII might incur large fines from the FCC in the post-we’ve-seen-Janet-Jackson’s-breast era. This despite the fact that it has been broadcast on ABC on two previous occasions. Is war only “decent” enough for TV when we’re not fighting any?

But wait — there’s more. ABC News via boingboing via backchannel relativepath (thanks!), the United States Secret Service investigated some Boulder, CO high school students simply for singing a forty year old folk song that questions if profit justifies war:

The students told ABC News affiliate KMGH-TV in Denver they are performing Bob Dylan’s song “Masters of War” during the Boulder High School Talent Exposé because they are Dylan fans. They said they want to express their views and show off their musical abilities.

This falls under the Secret Service’s bailiwick, we’re told, because apparently singing this song amounts to threatening the president’s life:

Threatening the president is a federal crime, so the Secret Service was called to the school to investigate.

Students in the band said they’re just singing the lyrics and not inciting anyone to do anything.

The 1963 song ends with the lyrics: “You might say that I’m young. You might say I’m unlearned, but there’s one thing I know, though I’m younger than you, even Jesus would never forgive what you do … And I hope that you die and your death’ll come soon. I will follow your casket in the pale afternoon. And I’ll watch while you’re lowered down to your deathbed. And I’ll stand o’er your grave ’til I’m sure that you’re dead.”

The first stanza of this song identifies those to whom the closing sentiment is addressed:

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

To confuse non-original song lyrics with the sort of threat that warrants Secret Service investigation is absurd and chilling. In fact, the Secret Service’s FAQ rather clearly and reasonably discusses the difference:

The Secret Service does not desire or solicit information pertaining to individuals or groups expressing legitimate criticism of, or political opposition to, the policies and decisions of the government of government officials. However, we are interested in legitimate information relating to threats, plans or attempts by individuals, groups or organizations to harm USSS protectees.

According to ABC News, the Secret Service got involved after a group of students and adults who heard a rehearsal called a radio talk show “saying the song the band sang ended with a call for President Bush to die”, and then someone called the Secret Service. I assume that the Secret Service takes all reported threats seriously, but then does do some degree of actual vetting before sending agents to investigate. The Secret Service actually spent time interviewing the students’ principal as well as a teacher involved in an unrelated student protest last weekend (whaa-?), so presumably someone decided that this was an actual threat. (Note that there is no hint anywhere that the evidence of “threat” goes in any respect beyond singing this song.)

We are so very far through the looking-glass. Even knowing that, what I find amazing is that the talk-show callers, whoever called the Secret Service, and apparently some decision maker all seem to have read the first stanza of this song to identify the sitting POTUS, but that doesn’t seem to bother any of them. One of the performers hits the nail on the head (again from ABC):

“It’s just Bob Dylan’s song. We were just singing Bob Dylan’s song … If you think it has to do with Bush that’s because you’re drawing your own conclusions. We never conveyed that Bush was the person we were talking about,” said Allysse Wojtanek-Watson, a singer for the band.

If you haven’t heard the song or read the lyrics lately, check it out. It’s one of those Dylan songs that send shivers down my spine, and on the “moral values” scale, it certainly surpasses fretting about love between people with similar genitalia.

It’s encouraging that these students are acting with such conscience and bravery, and it’s great that their principal supported them and the performance went off as planned. However, that small silver lining is dwarfed by the impact this sort of exercise of state power has on the broader discussion climate in our country. Boulder is, after all, a very progressive city, and this event sends a pretty strong signal to school administrators and others in less progressive places (like Richland County, WI, or 66 local ABC TV markets).

My hat is off to those fighting the good fight in Boulder, but I hold it over a heart that increasingly quivers for our country. We are not acting like a very good beacon of democracy and freedom at the moment.