The politics of John Lennon

I've always been fascinated by the intersection between music and politics. And because I'm a fan of John Lennon, I look forward to the new documentary The US versus John Lennon. Although I'm a bit embarrassed to say that the first time I started to listen to Lennon seriously, was after I misheard my older sister when she had just started university say that 'the only person who truly understood Marxism was Lenin'. Anyhow, the new film will be interesting, and there's a review of it in the New Statesman which says that although Lennon saw himself as a radical, was anti-authority, and he loved to stir things up, he was no political animal. But they provide some good Lennon quotes - such as: 'Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives' - which I tend to agree with. And pondering Lennon's supposed influence on getting the US out of Vietnam, the review asks a good question: 'now we have another hated president and a pointless war, and it certainly makes one wonder: which living pop stars with radical leanings or strong spiritual values will lead us out of Iraq? Billy Bragg? Sting? Cliff Richard?'