As I was listening to the artist P!nk’s song “Dear Mr. President”, an idea cut through the depression of a year and a half more of George Bush. The song, if you haven’t heard it, is a GOOD protest song. Not the best, but it’s pretty good! It deserves to be heard more and more. How can that happen? Well, if it rises in popularity, it will get played more. And the more it is played, the more it can make an impact.
So that’s where iTunes gift program comes into play. I went into iTunes and found the album (located at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=136184052&s=143441&i=136184157 – just let iTunes open it up after putting that in your browser, or just go find the album, explicit version, in iTunes). Then I clicked on “Gift this music”. It opened a new window and I chose to gift JUST the song “Dear Mr. President”. A few clicks later, after using email to submit my gift to comments@whitehouse.gov (don’t try president@whitehouse.gov, as it seems to be blocked inside iTunes itself), I was 99 cents poorer, but felt much richer in conscience.
So go do it! Find your favorite protest song in iTunes and gift it to comments@whitehouse.gov. Add your own message in. I wrote, “Mr. Bush, I think you really should listen to this” and sent it on it’s way.
Now before the naysayers come in, I will say this. First off, Apple is a “blue” company for the most part. I can’t find their donations listing, but I know they support Greenpeace and NPR, so there is some progressive roots right there. So you will be generating income for a progressive company. Secondly, P!nk is a progressive artist. You will be supporting her as well. If you choose another anti-war song, you will be supporting yet another progressive artist.
So, if you have five minutes and 99 cents to spare, PLEASE take part in this!