In an interview last week with the New York Post, KISS bassist Gene Simmons weighed in on the Obama administration and Wal-Mart. Guess which one he’s for and which one he’s against? (hint, the new KISS album, Sonic Boom will be out exclusively at Wal-Mart on October 6).
“They’re terrific. They give 2.5 million people jobs,” he says of Wal-Mart. When asked by the notoriously right-wing Post what he thinks of the current political leadership, he stated “Means well, lacks experience. And that’s dangerous. I voted for President Obama, but his health care plan is a complete disaster.”
Oh Gene. Only someone completely out of touch and beholden to corporate interests would call Wal-Mart terrific. I mean, it’s a great store to go people-watching and all, but they’re union-busting and pay the majority of their workers below the poverty level. And as far as politics, does anyone really give a fuck what Gene Simmons thinks? There are some musicians out there, like Otep and Rage Against the Machine, who are known for being politically active. And then there’s KISS, a band whose 30+ year career consists of new ways of writing songs that say “let’s bang.” Don’t get me wrong, they’ve got some amazing songs, but asking Gene Simmons about politics is like asking Born of Osiris what their favorite Misfits song is.
