MICHAEL STIPE - STIPE'S SWIPE AT 'DESPICABLE' U.S. GOVERNMENT

R.E.M. frontman MICHAEL STIPE has blasted the U.S. government for using the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist atrocities to "their own greedy" advantage. The Losing My Religion star is enraged at the "despicable" acts carried out by President George W. Bush's administration, insisting this wasn't the government he was promised as a child. And he's adamant future generations of Americans will look back at this era of U.S. politics in disgust. He says, "This American administration is despicable. In 1973, I didn't realise it would be a big deal that a black man and a woman are running for President. "I didn't get the future I wanted and was promised. It didn't happen because globally we have these people who are pulling us backwards for their own reasons. "I want something more progressive. What will this decade represent when historians look back at the first decade of the 21st century? They're going to look at my government's over-reaction to 9/11 and how they used that to their own greedy end. How sad is that?"