On the April 28 edition of Fox News' The Big Story, host John Gibson alleged that singer/songwriter Neil Young's latest album, Living With War (Reprise, May 2006), which is critical of President Bush and the war in Iraq, indicates that Young is “forgetful” and has “amnesia,” and that the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are “a distant memory” for him. Gibson suggested Young go see the newly released movie, United 93 (Universal, April 2006), a fictionalized account of events aboard United Airlines Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on September 11, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Gibson even questioned whether Young “would accept free tickets from me” to see the movie. But far from “forget[ing]” about Flight 93, Young wrote a song in 2001 titled “Let's Roll,” "[i]nspired by a Newsweek story recounting the fatal flight," as The Washington Post noted at the time.

The title and refrain of “Let's Roll” refer to the words reportedly spoken by passenger Todd Beamer before he and several other passengers attempted to storm the aircraft's cockpit and regain control of the aircraft. From “Let's Roll” (Are You Passionate? Reprise, April 2002):

I know I said I love you,

I know you know it's true,

I got to put the phone down,

And do what we gotta do.

One's standing in the aisleway,

Two more at the door,

We got to get inside there,

Before they kill some more.

Time is runnin' out ... let's roll.

Time is runnin' out ... let's roll.

Gibson also criticized singer Pink for her song, "Dear Mr. President." Referring to recent video and audio tapes released by Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Gibson said: “I wonder if they listen to Neil Young and Pink. I doubt it. Do you think they would spare Neil Young and Pink while they killed the rest of us because, after all, Neil Young and Pink are against the war, and they want peace?” Gibson then added: “If Zarqawi and bin Laden are against Bush, they must be against war, right? You might think so if ... all you listen to was Neil Young and Pink.”

From the April 28 edition of Fox News' The Big Story with John Gibson:

GIBSON: Now, it's time for “My Word.” Neil Young, the Canadian singer, has been living in the U.S. for the last 40 years. Hear that? That's him in the background. He's released a new album taking a shot at President Book -- Bush and the war in Iraq. It's called Living with War. The line that struck me was, “I never bow to the laws of the thought police.” Hmm.

Another song is called “Let's Impeach the President” -- impeach him for lying, impeach him for misleading us into war, for spying on people inside their own homes.

Debates with musicians are always problematical. You may have reason on your side, but they've got the rhythm section and the lead guitar. Hard to beat that.

Then there's Pink. She's got a new song called “Mr. President,” in which she imagines taking a walk with the president discussing the war, No Child Left Behind, asks him how he can live with himself.

I'm all for artists speaking out. I lived through the '60s too. In fact, I worked in the music business back then. Everybody was against the war. That was because we started a war we didn't have to, everybody knew that.

Things are different nowadays for me. When I think of the war, I think of Flight 93. I wonder if Neil Young and Pink are going to go see that movie. I wonder if they'd accept free tickets from me.

I also commend to them the recent tapes of bin Laden and Zarqawi and Zawahiri. They continue to call for jihadists to kill us all, as many of us as possible. In fact, Zarqawi promised just a day or two ago that the worst is yet to come. I wonder if they listen to Neil Young and Pink. I doubt it. Think they would spare Neil Young and Pink while they killed the rest of us because, after all, Neil Young and Pink are against the war and they want peace?

If Zarqawi and bin Laden are against Bush, they must be against war, right? You might think so if you listen -- all you listen to was Neil Young and Pink. The last song on Young's Living with War is “America the Beautiful.” Unlike the Reconquista crowd, Neil Young didn't change the words. He sings the words as they have always been sung, but you get the feeling that now, on this album, Living with War, they are an indictment, an accusation. “America the Beautiful” -- “purple mountain majesties,” “amber waves of grain,” “from sea to shining sea” -- the idea is that in Iraq, we have turned our backs on America's ideals.

Young and Pink are angry and sad. 9-11 is a distant memory. They don't feel threatened by anybody but our -- but our own president. This is what it has come to. They are forgetful. They have amnesia. They bring -- blame the wrong leaders, and they are proud of their opposition, and they couldn't be more wrong.

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