Radiohead - Hail to the thief

The title of Radiohead's sixth album 'Hail To The Thief' is also an anti-George W. Bush slogan used by protesters at the end of the controversial election campaign that put him into the White House. The phrase 'Hail To The Thief' was coined by protesters at the end of the 2000 US Presidential election, when controversy famously surrounded Bush's rise to office. The battle between Bush and Democrat candidate Al Gore came to a bitter end, with the result in the key state of Florida dogged by recounts, amid allegations of unfairness in the voting process.

On the day of his inauguration Bush was greeted in Washington by thousands of protesters with banners, some of who shouted, 'Hail to the thief, our commander in chief'. The phrase has now become well used in anti-Bush circles. A website, www.hail-to-the-thief.org, that casts a cynical eye over US policy is active and goes under the banner 'Hail to the Thief! Love your country. Never trust its government.' A number of books and articles have also been written, perhaps most famously 'Mediaocracy 2000-Hail to the Thief' by Danny Schechter, which looks at the role of the media in the election.