No Age Guitarist Tricked Into Ditching Obama T-Shirt

Okay, this is just ridiculous. News comes this morning from Stereogum, that Randy Randall—guitarist for L.A. avant-punk duo, No Age—was asked to take off his Obama T-shirt just minutes before the band was to appear on CBS’s Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (you know, this douche bag). Apparently, everything was all well and good during rehearsals (as you can see from Randall’s smiling face during these pre-show photos), but as the guitarist explained in an e-mail to Stereogum, “After the rehearsals, the people from CBS said I couldn't wear the shirt. I threatened to walk off the set and not do the show. They would not budge. They said that it was because they had to give equal time.” In other words, CBS was only paying its respects to the Fairness Doctrine. So Randall, sensible guy that he is, offered to hang a McCain shirt somewhere onstage. Still, CBS wouldn’t bite.

After much consultation, Randall and his sidekick drummer, Dean Spunt, decided not to walk out. Instead, Randall, in fine rock ’n’ roll fashion (remember Kurt and Eddie?), turned his shirt inside out and wrote “free healthcare” on it. Well done, sir. CBS is still planning to air the episode on Oct. 27, just eight days before the election.

The real kicker here, as Jay Babcock, editor of Arthur, explains in his blog, is that there is no Fairness Doctrine. The FCC policy was struck down way back in 1987, and an effort to repeal that decision was squashed two years later. A Congressional push to make the doctrine a matter of law in the 1990s was vetoed by Bush senior. As the Museum of Broadcast Communications clearly states, “There is no required balance of controversial issues as mandated by the fairness doctrine.” CBS had no right to censor Randall. Unfortunately, Randall didn’t realize this; otherwise, he surely would have made an even bigger stink than he did.

While we certainly wish No Age’s Craig Ferguson appearance hadn't imploded, it can only be a good thing when 20-something punks are writing political slogans on their T-shirts in front of national television cameras. When small-time rock stars are willing to commit political martyrdom—however superficial—it’s a sign of a healthy electorate.