Flor de luna loco

As a teenager in the late 70s I was caught up in girls and guitars more than politics. The few political opinions I had were mainly anti-republican because we all knew the party of Nixon represented war, not fun. And besides, they wore suits. Even to bed.

Eric Clapton and Duane Allman were mythical characters revered by the garage band set I ran around with. Close behind were Toy Caldwell of the Marshall Tucker Band, Jeff Beck, and later Mark Knopfler, all guys who could make a guitar talk. I could add a few more, but Carlos Santana was always right up there. Like many, Santana was my first exposure to Latin music and I loved Carlos without ever knowing or caring what his politics were.

Fast forward to 2006. The easiest way for an ex-celeb to make news is to trash Bush or the war, and Mr. Santana made news on Monday.

"I have wisdom. I feel love. I live in the present and I try to present a dimension that brings harmony and healing," the 58-year-old rock icon said. "My concept is the opposite of George W. Bush."

Let me see if I can plug that in--Carlos is saying Bush has ignorance and feels hate, lives in the past and presents a dimension of disharmony and pain. That's certainly one way to say Bush sucks without scrambling the universal constant.

"There is more value in placing a flower in a rifle barrel than making war," he said. "As Jimi Hendrix used to say, musical notes have more importance than bullets."

Whoa dude, do you feel any love vibes eminating from Bin Laden, Castro, Saddam or Chavez? I'm not remote-sensing any myself.

Oh well, I'll still occasionally listen to Moonflower, but I do wish some of these aging rock stars would acknowledge the true evil in this world every once in awhile. For example, Santana would not be allowed to play in countries with government systems starting with a "T", ie, totalitarian or Taliban. Yet, he's free to play and say anything in the western democracies, along with cashing those huge checks. Last we checked Bush was still slogging away against the foes of freedom like a wobbly kneed middle weight in the 10th round.

So, peace out, Carlos. Just remember, peace isn't free, amigo.