Final Word from Friday, November 5, 2004
In some of their best songs, the Clash condemn Orwellian societies that engage in ideological persecution. "Clampdown" or "Police on My Back" would make fine anti-ČSSD campaign marches for ODS, with its talk of Grosstapos and incipient Nazism on the part of its rival. But the abuses by the Czech police, according to Euro and Týden, seem less about ideology than about profiting from confidential information gleaned from wiretaps. Czech voters probably don't need to fear a police clampdown or the guns of Brixton, but they might indeed need to fear a "Cashstapo" overpowered by greed. The Clash themselves were accused at times of selling out, but lead singer Joe Strummer said in a film commemorating the 25th anniversary of London Calling that the band always put its fans first. They were its voters, really, and there's a message there for ČSSD on election day. eavesdropping wiretapping