Rise Against discuss America's flaws

As posted on Spinner.com:

Chicago hardcore group Rise Against have never been afraid to take a social stance -- both in their songs and on a personal level. Accordingly, while keeping alive the old-school tradition of punk music as an instrument of political change, they make it a point to walk it like they talk it -- the band members are fervent animal-rights activists, to cite one example. Lead singer Tim McIlrath, who takes very seriously his responsibility as an American to voice his opinion that the nation should live up to its ideals, has listed five ways in which he believes the government and the American people have not kept up their end of the bargain.

1. The Iraq War: Still being involved in an unjustified invasion ofIraq that is not a civil war that is taking our beloved solderiers - our brothers and sisters and wives and husbands - away from us, en masse.

2. 'American Idol'

3. The Minutemen: If you patrol the border of Mexico in your pickup truck with your buddies, some dogs and a rifle, you are a racist and you are looking for an excuse to use your gun rack.  Stop pretending you aren't.

4. Meat Is Murder: America's obsession with torturing animals, inject them with hormones, brutally slaughtering them, establishing acceptable amounts of feces and then not only eating it ourselves but then teaching our children that this is "the way things are," just like our parents taught us - bon appeetit!

5. Global Warming Naysayers: People who still believe that global warming is just a theory and that out climate change is simply a natural cycle - those same people believe in the War in Iraq has something to with 9/11.  Those people bore me.