I'm not a hip-hop fan, but I have to admire San Francisco hip-hop station KMEL-FM. They have refused to eject a US Navy recruitment booth from their annual Summer Jam concert, as demanded by anti-American peacenik groups who would have no free speech if not for the protection afforded them by the Navy and the rest of the armed forces.

Clear Channel officials said the Navy and other military recruiters had sponsored the Summer Jam concert for at least 10 of its 19 years. But activists are particularly concerned this year. Only one Bay Area music station has more listeners than KMEL-FM, according to the most recent Arbitron ratings. A Clear Channel official confirmed that roughly 40 percent of the station's audience are people of color.

"For many people in these communities (of color), the military is an escape from the violence they see in their neighborhoods," said Jen Low, an organizer for the protesters. With several branches of the military not reaching recruiting goals and with public opinion polls turning against President Bush's handling of the war, activists see an opportunity to show "the Navy is attempting to use any and all means to meet its goals," according to the activists' letter.

They want KMEL to sever its "ties" with the Navy or grant "counter- recruitment groups equal access to the 2005 KMEL Summer Jam as that granted to the U.S Navy."

Medecki said counter-recruiters were welcome to have a booth at the event at Shoreline Amphitheatre for the same price other sponsors paid -- $5,000 to $10,000.

The aging hippies, trust-fund communists and pro-terrorist anarchists can't come up with that sort of cash -- but plan on buying tickets and distributing literature inside the venue without a booth.

Here's hoping the event and venue have a solicitation policy banning this, and enforce it.

Posted by: Greg at 02:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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