If you are an entertainer or even a regular citizen for that matter, and you are pro-Bush then you are allowed to express your political views in public. You are lauded for it by the media and Americans. You are a true patriot. You can put Bush/Cheney bumper stickers on your car and not have to worry that your car will get keyed or that the tires will be slashed as would happen to you if you had Kerry/Edwards on your car. How many of my oh so gentle readers have keyed cars with Bush stickers on them? Of course not. We are not animals. We respect others property.
If you are against the war, you can't even put a billboard in Times Square, NYC which is owned by Clear Channel because they are Bushites and yet they claim that picture of a bomb will upset the populace. A cartoon image of a bomb is disturbing to New Yorkers? I thought we were attacked by planes? Show me an enlarged picture of a plane coming at me on a billboard and I might be disturbed, thank you.
Every time I turn on the TV, I am bombarded with pro-war, pro-Bush sentiment. I've been to events where everyone was rah rah, Go America, Go Bush, Hate Michael Moore, etc. Dissenters didn't tear up the event though. If my favorite singer in the world dedicated a song to Karl Rove or Rush Limbaugh, I'd probably decide there and then that this person was no longer my favorite singer and I would exit the premises. Would I go bonkers over a singer who expressed a political view that was different from mine? No. I was raised by staunch Republicans and yet I wasn't raised to destroy other peoples property or act violently unless my life was in danger (as long as I was wearing a slip).
Speaking as a performer, I'd be pissed off if I was told I had to just sing and keep my mouth shut between songs. If no one liked it, then tough and I wouldn't play there. Period. Since when are artists expected to conform to governmental standards? When did we become the Soviet Union?
Don't give me any lip, you. Unless we are performing in a scripted event such as a play or movie, then we are free to do our art... at least we were under Clinton.
So there were 4500 people at the Aladdin show where Linda Ronstadt performed in Las Vegas. It seems Linda is getting a bit feisty now (her concerts were generally rather boring in the past) and she sang a song dedicated to Michael Moore: Desperado, which happens to be one of my all time favorite songs on earth. About 100 people out of the 4500 were so incensed by her pro-Moore stance that they threw their drinks, tore down posters and asked for their money back. You would think she was dedicating the song to Hitler! They caused such a scene and were so disruptive that the owner of the Aladdin stopped the show and took her off stage and escorted her out of the casino according to some reports.
Why weren't the nasty, disruptive people removed so that the rest of the audience would be able to enjoy my favorite song? If I was there I would be so pissed that my favorite song was interrupted that I would demand my money back and stick my tongue out at the owner of the place (although mom would surely roll in her grave.)
So what's my point? Pro-Bush people are getting meaner and uglier by the day. They are enraged, angry and volatile. Just a few of them can ruin a party, a blog or a yahoo group. They cannot explain why they are angry, they just know they are because they are programmed to be mad as hell by the media pundits.
I am mad as hell too. I am going to attend every peaceful protest I can find. I will continue to write letters to express my dissent to the media everyday who continue to hide important stories with smokescreens. I will continue to make phone calls to TV stations when I see pundits lie in their teeth. I will continue to annoy those who are in the mainstream and spew lies. I won't keep my mouth shut... especially not between songs in my set.
Anyone?
No comments:
Post a Comment