JBJ on "In the Studio"

Thanks for posting this on Facebook, Johnna!

JBJ did a short interview on politics with In the Studio - from inthestudio.net:

REDBEARD: Jon, in a September 1989 interview, you told me that your politics and religion have to be kept private. When did you change your mind in that regard, and more importantly, why?

JON BON JOVI: I really see myself as a concerned citizen (now), and a father of four and a husband, and certainly an ambassador of pop culture in this world. As I traveled near and far to Africa, Asia, Europe, I’ve seen just from afar that people love America. They really love the culture. They love the music we have given them. They love the idea of the dreams that we have given them. And I’m sad to say that, in places where I went fifteen years ago and was greeted as that ambassador of culture, I would have second thoughts about going to(now) . Not necessarily for fear of my own safety but perhaps for somebody on a road crew. And it’s a shame, because I love this country immensely. And I don’t get involved in politics as much as I do in philanthropy, because I’m a firm believer that 50% of the people are against you just because they believe you vote with a certain political party. I don’t want to be the man at the party, I want to be the guy who makes a difference, that believes in the ideals of what this country was founded on. The more I read of Thomas Jefferson andAbraham Lincoln and George Washington, and especially John Adams who was not as well known to me until recent years, that I realized that this is a magical place, a mystical place that is worth defending. Not the way it was represented by George W.Bush and Dick Cheney. And if that’s going to cause me some pain, as it has, then so be it. I’m just reporting in as a concerned citizen.


RB: Are you saying that declaring your political beliefs threatens your career?

JBJ: Nothing like the Dixie Chicks not getting played on the radio. Even though I may not have agreed with the Bush administration, & didn’t vote for them, I never slagged the man in office simply out of respect for the office of the Presidency of the United States. And for that reason alone, we as Americans have to forget about “red”(Republican) and “blue”(Democrat) and we all honest to God have to become “purple” and try to have compromises so that we as a nation can continue on and go forward, not only for us but for our kids. Regardless of my beliefs, I don’t sit on my stage at night and talk politics. You come to see me perform. I don’t use my platform as a place to talk politics. And yet there have been times, places, and people who have chastised people in my line of work for speaking out. I am one that believes that dissent is in fact patriotic, and we should question our leaders. Because if you don’t, you’re nothing more than a sycophant. Just because a person’s in office doesn’t mean he knows all the answers. This is still a democracy.