Via The Great Orange Satan, Bruce Springsteen has endorsed Barack Obama for President.

Dear Friends and Fans:

LIke most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.

He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone."

At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams of My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.

After the terrible damage done over the past eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans.

Over here on E Street, we're proud to support Obama for President.

Bruce Springsteen

Clearly, Bruce Springsteen hates America and doesn't understand politics.

Last night, I saw a terrific interview of Bruce Springsteen on 60 Minutes.  Scott Pelley, who happens to be from my hometown of Lubbock, TX, asked Springsteen about his "anti-war" CD and about his musical evolution.   His responses remind me of what I've been hearing from JRE for the last 2 years.  The Showbiz blog from CBS aptly entitled the interview: Silence is Unpatriotic.

From MakeThemAccountable.com:

Born In The U.S.A.

By Brent Budowsky

In an upcoming 60 Minutes Bruce Springsteen will advance a profound debate about the true nature of Americanism.

It is time for progressives to light up the sky with patriotism, to rewrite the rules of our current debates, to rekindle that timeless spirit that has made America America for more than two hundred years.

From the internet to the arts, from the houses of Congress to the houses of worship, from the movie theaters to the concert halls, from the community organizers to the corporate boardrooms, from the studios of progressive radio to the grassroots of the real America, we should seize the high ground of American patriotism, American values, American ideals, our American history, the American spirit and the American future.

Let freedom ring.

MORE MORE MORE

I have been fortunate to meet a lot of interesting people in my life, and especially in 2004 when I was helping out on John Kerry's campaign, and I am here to tell you that of all the people, no one impressed me more than Bruce Springsteen. Flat out, the real thing, which might explain why millions of Americans love him, respect him and listen to him, and his music.

On November 1, 2004, we had a big Kerry rally in Cleveland with John Kerry and many celebrities and a performance by Bruce. Not only did he dedicate "Thunder Road" to Kristen Breitweiser, one of his Jersey girls, he took the time to speak with all the widows before the show. And not just  quick hello, he had long conversations. I love him for that too.

Having caught Bruce Springsteen performing "We Sall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions" last night on PBS from St. Luke's Church in London, this thought hit me:

The entire album is so full of life but Springsteen's version of the old spiritual "We Shall Overcome" is amazingly majestic. It's a low key but extremely moving cover that amazingly also includes a touch of pedal steel guitar.

So here's my proposal: that the Democratic presidential nominee adopt this song (especially Springsteen's version) as THE campaign song. It invokes so much of  the best of the history and what is right with the Democratic Party and has a religious element to boot.