In an effort to further promote the message of love, peace, and the type of compassion intrinsic to all dedicated liberals, Alec Baldwin, a paunchy comedian with anger issues, called attention to what he feels is Michele Bachmann’s inability to articulate by inarticulately spewing obscenities in the Minnesota congresswoman’s direction by way of Twitter.

Within seconds of Michele announcing she’d decided to launch a bid for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, it became clear that not one iota of liberal negativity toward conservatives has abated.

Over the past few days, the rock world has joined the fun by publicly stepping forward in an effort to send a message to the latest object of targeted political ridicule, Michele Bachmann. The goal is to drive home the point that liberal rock musicians disapprove of both Bachmann’s politics and her audacity in thinking she actually has a chance to send honorary rock star Barack Obama back to Chicago.

Following Alec Baldwin’s Twitter tirade, Tom Petty, a Mad Hatter in sunglasses, decided it was his turn to deny Bachmann, without explanation, the use of one of his hit songs. Petty is so anti-GOP he forbade Michele Bachmann from playing  “American Girl” as a musical backdrop to her announcement to run for president.

Apparently, the last thing Tom Petty wants to be associated with is writing the signature anthem that could accompany a female Republican candidate on the trip from Minnesota to the White House.  So, to prevent that from happening, the rocker sent a three-word message to Michele: “Cease and desist.” (more…)

Glee is the worst show on television, and its creator Ryan Murphy is the most unabashed bigot in television.  We saw Kathy Griffin portray an egregious Tea Party stereotype last week (and, remember– this character was supposed to highlight Murphy’s “inclusiveness” toward conservatives), and Murphy has continued this winning trend by making friends and influencing people mouthing off about artists who have actually created the popular music he parasitically exploits.  I’m sensing a pattern here; anyone who dares to challenge Murphy gets publicly insulted, even with hateful portrayals on his show (including shockingly racist ones– but more on that later).

I will admit, when it was first announced, I looked forward to the show, because it was promoted as an offbeat comedy featuring Jane Lynch, who’s normally hilarious, but it’s nothing of the sort.  This is a soap opera of the worst kind– it’s the ultimate wet dream for the kind of people who actually believe that gays should be more outraged at high school bullies than Shariah-ordered executions.  It’s nothing but blatant wish fulfillment for TV executives who are at the top of the world but can’t get over some hangup from high school. Your glee club wasn’t that great and didn’t get any funding in school?  Aww, poor baby, let’s make a show where everyone in the glee club would be a final contestant on American Idol! You got picked on in high school?  That’s okay, you can write a show where the homophobic bully is secretly gay!  Don’t like Christians opposing gay marriage? No worries; we’ll just create a stupid, belligerent, superstitious, overweight, violent black character to mock them:

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And, even worse, it’s a musical.  Not a musical in the sense that characters express themselves through songs– it’s a musical where the characters extraneously break into glammed-up, severely auto-tuned covers of hit pop songs.  It’s all about leeching off the success of those who create in the music world…

… and some in that world have begun to publicly denounce it.

When the band Kings of Leon quietly rejected a request to license their music to the show, Murphy shot back by telling the band “F— you,” calling them “self-centered a–holes,” then accusing them of the unforgivable sin of neglecting him “arts education.”  Slash of Guns ‘n’ Roses rightly dissed the show as an insult to musicals, and Murphy tactfully declared, “people who make those comments, their careers are over; they’re uneducated and quite stupid.”  That’s odd, because the rather popular and prolific Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz didn’t have nice things to say about Glee, either.  Nor does Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters:  ”f— that guy for thinking anybody and everybody should want to do Glee.”

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When MTV first came out in the early ’80s, it was the greatest thing going.  But over the years, they stopped showing videos and the music seemed to die.  Until recently, it was difficult to find actual music on television.

Palladia, however has changed that.  I was recently watching O.A.R.: Live at Madison Square Garden (Go Bucks!) on the HD Channel.  Broadcast in vivid 1080i with tremendous sound, Palladia has made music television fun again.  I felt like I was singing along to “Shattered” with the rest of the audience.  Palladia broadcasts plenty of videos, but the concerts are what make the channel a true experience.

They use programming from MTV, VH1 and CMT, but from my experience, it has been completely music centered.   I have yet to see a reality show or an hour devoted to 1973 fads. Obviously, this could change at anytime — it is owned by MTV, after all.  Until then, I’m enjoying the ride.

I may check out Foo Fighters: Live at Wembley this week.

John Kasich can be reached at Recharge Ohio, Facebook, and Twitter