That is perfectly correct, but what concerns me is the pretense that you would be doing so out of "patriotism". You would be doing so out of political disagreement (which is fine, but still a different animal).
The broader reaching implication is that we,conservatives, are by association stupid because we either don't see this about Bush or we don't care.
That's an interesting point and I go back and forth on whether I agree with it. For one thing, if you look at Harris's statement as it is quoted, he doesn't say anything one way or the other about supporters of Bush being "stupid" or not. So one could say you are being hyper-sensitive. On the other hand, I don't know what else he said at this speech, and in general it's certainly no stretch to imagine that Harris probably thinks that Bush supporters are "stupid" to some extent.
But this complaint reminds me a little too much of the type of knee-jerk Clinton defending I used to see and which used to drive me crazy. The knee-jerk Clinton-defense response was never rational and I called people on it all the time - "why are you so interesting in defending this guy, even if he may have been a rapist? What's that all about? Why do you care? Are you related to the guy or being paid by him or something?"
The answer was typically like you just gave: because they voted for him and didn't want to have to think they made a "bad choice". By smearing Clinton, I was (somehow) smearing them, the people who voted for him or agreed with his midnight-basketball policy (or whatever).
My response to them was "like hell I am, that's in your head, I'm talking about Clinton here, not you". What I'm saying is that perhaps the same response could apply here.
Hardly something to inspire fan loyalty to call me a dumba**.
Fair enough. But did he do that? It's not clear.
For the record I think this illustrates the wisdom of the idea that politics and religion are things you just shouldn't bring up at the dinner table (or, when you're a celebrity, to modify the adage somewhat). Even if Harris didn't mean to imply "Bush voters are stupid!" it's not surprising that people will interpret it that way. A smarter celebrity would keep his mouth shut (I believe, though am not sure, that Samuel Jackson keeps his "opinions" to himself and has said that he does so intentionally).
Being able to play pretend or belt out a song does not empower you with extra abilities to interpret the world. Your opinion is worth no more than mine, you have simply been given a bigger platform to express yourself than say, my newspaper boy. It doesn't meanit is any more true.
All true. What does that have to do with whether or not one goes to view Radio?
There are a fair number of actors and musicians whose political beliefs fry me. Does it mean that I don't go to anything they are involved in? No. But I sure think twice about it, and often choose not to spend money that helps keep them on the front page and thus drives their ability to publically insult my intellegence.
I guess my dilemma is that if I toed this line I'd basically have to refrain from watching all movies. But I like movies. *shrug* ;-) Best,