Fri 12 Dec 2006BABY YOU CAN BURN MY FLAGREVIEWED - THE US VS JOHN LENNON:THE title of this
diverting, if unsurprising, VH1 documentary promises the viewer
ghastly revelations concerning the United States government's
covert campaign against the most political of The Beatles.Well, we certainly hear a great deal about John Lennon vs the US
(or, rather, its then leaders) in the film. He makes friends with
the Black Panthers. He campaigns for the release of the jailed
radical John Sinclair. He falls under the spell of Abbie Hoffman
and Jerry Rubin. But anybody familiar with the escapades in
political hooliganism carried out by the Nixon administration and
its bullet-headed goons will hardly feel the need to raise an
eyebrow at the modest inconveniences reportedly visited on Lennon.
His phone may have been bugged. Men in coats were spotted lurking
opposite his building. An ultimately ineffective attempt was made
to have him deported. Boo hoo! Tell that to the families of kids
shot down at Kent State for protesting the Vietnam war.