Posted on 07/20/2004 10:06:51 AM PDT by walford
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Certain entertainment industry figures are having a tough time going beyond their qualifications by engaging in political discourse. 1970s diva Linda Ronstadt was recently booed off the stage for casting filmmaker Michael Moore as a truth-spreading “patriot” and encouraging the audience to see Fahrenheit 9/11. Las Vegas’ Aladdin Hotel president Bill Timmins reportedly had Ronstadt summarily ejected from her quarters for having “spoiled a lovely evening for our guests” by needlessly causing “all bedlam” to break loose. [Note: there were no fires, looting, brawling, etc. – these were not anti-globalization protesters, after all. Some posters were torn down, but the majority of the outrage was confined to catcalls and patrons storming from the venue.] The Left is already in an uproar over this. The Internet forum Democratic Underground is encouraging members to deluge the hotel with protest calls, e-mails and letters. We have already seen Whoopi Goldberg’s martyrdom for being champion of free speech and controversial ideas. Last week on Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor, Newsday columnist Ellis Henican and legal analyst Lis Wiehl lamented how Slim Fast cravenly acquiesced to ‘right-wing pressure groups’ by dropping Goldberg as their advertising spokesperson. -- All this for a scantly quoted off-the-cuff assertion that a certain part of her body is more qualified to be President of the United States than is the incumbent. Henican and Wiehl further alluded to an apparent double-standard in allowing Vice-President Cheney a pass for dropping the F-bomb on the Senate floor. There is a slight difference, of course. Cheney’s remarks were muttered in a private exchange between himself and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). They were made public via anonymous Senate staffers. In contrast, Goldberg’s diatribe spewed into a microphone at a $7.5 million Democratic fundraiser at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. To these were added such comments as Jessica Lange characterizing the Bush administration as a “self-serving regime of deceit, hypocrisy and belligerence.” Chevy Chase went on to describe the President as a man who is as “bright as an egg-timer.” In attendance was Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry, who praised these and similar comments by the ‘star-studded’ troupe of Hollywood luminaries as the ‘heart and soul of America’ given voice. AIM Report editor Cliff Kincaid has already noted how the media is less than eager to press for the tapes’ public release. Kerry and his handlers are too politically astute to allow the untrustworthy general public access to dialogue meant for internal consumption only – especially on video. Lis Wiehl also hinted at boycotting Slim Fast for depriving Goldberg of future advertising income. Ellis Henican added that such corporate punishment for political speech is an outrage, pointing out that conservatives would not take kindly to similar treatment. First of all, the idea that a corporation -- employing thousands of people -- should be financially penalized because it will not subsidize someone who abuses her name recognition by taking sides in a political contest is ‘socially retrogressive,’ is it not? Having some experience with marketing, my guess is Slim Fast’s position likely hinges upon the fact that product promotion has no expected benefit [and much to lose] in being associated with unnecessary stands on controversial issues – one way or the other. Further, the few conservatives who are in the entertainment industry may occasionally encourage all Americans to ‘support the troops,’ but are not making insulting and vulgar references to the Democratic candidate. Nor are they using the occasion of a live performance to promote an openly partisan propaganda film [the likes of which simply does not exist on the opposing side, by the way]. The Left and Right are not mirror images of each other -- there is an ESSENTIAL difference. There are certain elitists in the entertainment industry who seem to believe that their visibility anoints them with some Special Wisdom that goes beyond their life experience, education and/or training. In reality, the ability to sell records or make faces in front of a camera qualifies them for nothing beyond those narrow pursuits. Until and unless they can debate the issues with the likes of William F. Buckley, entertainers should consider confining themselves to their professions. If not, these para-pundits should stifle their shock when the ‘uneducated masses’ choose to conspicuously reject their ill-advised and ill-informed attempts at political pedagogy. |
The article skips over the critical part. The part that really probably got her fired.
People were demanding their money back.
Real americans do not want to pay to see anti-american blaber.
Even worse, Medicare has reclassified obesity as a disease. Fat headed democrats and in particular fat democrat pigs like Teddy Kennedy and Jerome Nadler can collect yet another government check.
The point of this tirade was to get the word out about writing protest emails from the dumies.
This action would make me WANT to visit the Aladin.
It's also the part with the brains :)
As God is my witness, when I read that the president of Aladdin had Miss Ronstadt tossed out of a performance, I wondered what she was doing singing at a kerosene lamp convention.
"Do you feel that the way Bush speaks is an indication of stupidity?"
Well, he certainly SOUNDS stupid. Why? We're just guessing. But at least we agree that there's, at a minimum, some sort of problem with ... motor skills(?).
"If so how do you reconcile that with his college degrees, or do you feel that two colleges gave him passes on degrees and grades because of who his daddy was? Do you really think that all the professors he had with tenure never required him to perform in their classes?"
I think (and this is just a guess ... I hope I can't get sued!) that he was a perfectly bright guy with an MBA from Harvard and that the substance abuse that no one denies took a toll. Have you heard Glenn Campbell speak recently? If you're old enough to remember his TV days, it's alarming. And very like Bush. Then there's Gary Busey and Steve Stills (OK, they're worse and Stills is almost deaf). Since the Douglass Ginsburg (sp?) fiasco in the 80's, there's been a political ceasefire on drug use, so the Dems won't talk about it, much less the fact that they had a cokehead in the WH for 8 years.
But maybe you're right. I remember Gail Sheehy (or some other obnoxious lefty) wrote in 2000 that he was dyslexic, which explained his Mom's work with childhood reading programs. I thought it was a mean and stupid thing to write, but maybe she was onto something.
Yes, I do believe that George Bush has a learning disability and that is the source of this motor problems and his speach pattern difficulty.
There are lots of folks out there with learning disabilities and it has nothing to do with mental retrardation, low IQ or drug induced brain cell death. It just means that folks process information differently.
For folks to ridicule someone on the basis genetic differences that are not based on the quality of their work or thoughts is something I find disturbing. Actually it is something that the Hollywood left would be up in arms over, if the object of the "hate speech" were not G. W. Bush.
Go figure!
"Did Elvis ever record that song? I've only heard Orbison's and Ronstadt's versions of it."
My first wife was a total Elvis fan, once while riding and listening to "Crying" on the radio she remarked during the song that Elvis was such a great singer, I of course informed her that she was listening to Orbison. She insisted that it was Elvis singing until the end of the song when the disc jockey named the song and the singer. She was mortified, I made it worse by telling her that Elvis couldn't sing that song because it was too difficult for him.
"Or how 'bout Bostonians who don't know where the 'r' is or isn't supposed to go..."
Why is it that so many people from the North cannot pronounce the word "saw"? It comes out as saur as in the last syllable of dinosaur. "I saur your brother at the grocery store yesterday."
RE: Bush's lack of spoken talent.
Look, some people are not gifted with the spoken word. I am a stutterer, who must be very careful when speaking in public. People who don't know me sometimes treat me like I'm stupid. You can judge my stupidity for yourself by browsing my website [see tagline].
If I were tested on my math skills, I would likely be considered retarded.
Give the President a break. He is smart enough to have [mostly] the right ideas, surround himself with people who can help him formulate policy and carry it out effectively.
I personally don't trust people who are glib. They strike me as pushy salesmen, sleazy lawyers and/or cult leaders.
Why are people in Hollywood so stupid that they can't seem to grasp that their JOB is to ENTERTAIN. They are supposed to take you out of this world for a couple of hours and put you into theirs. I'm to distracted by the fact that Julia Roberts thinks I'm a reptile to enjoy her movies - so now I just don't pay to see them.
Or the Baltimore dialect...
FANE: an electronic communication device patented by A. G. Bell
Example: winner ya gonna cwull me onnah fane, hwon?
Is there a "T" in Balamore?
Just love the Balamore Oreo's.
Chevy Chase has used the 'egg timer' comment before--twice, as I recall, in referring to Howard Stern. I guess that you could say that Chase is as reliable as an egg timer with his egg timer references.
ronstadt should consider herself lucky. All she suffered was a firing and an eviction. Not too long ago, if you pissed off the boss of a Vegas resort, you ended up in a shallow grave in the desert.
Has this panty-waist forgotten Rush Limbaugh and Florida Orange Juice and ESPN?
Dr. Laura's TV show?
Mel Gibson while "The Passion of the Christ" was being framed as anti-semetic?
The fact that Conservatives in HollyWierd have to maintain a low profile in order to keep working...unless they break the hold these leftists have, a la Bruce Willis and Tom Selleck?
Cry me a river, you gutless traitors! "Freedom of Speech" does NOT belong to leftists exclusively, NOR does it mean that the public MUST subsidize your wretched, excess-laden lives whenever you decide to blovate on a subject you have NO F*ing CLUE ABOUT!
Look, I have no problem or prejudice about people with speech impediments or learning disabilities. Or brain damage. I'm sure most are very smart.
I also don't have anything against fat midgets. But, they don't belong in the NBA. Oratory is job #1 in politics. I get a little queasy watching the POTUS smirk after sucessfully delivering a cheap applause line to grade schoolers. Maybe I'm old school, but I expect more.
Oh, and don't give me that Texas macho stuff. Phil Gramm talked like a hick, and he was the most brilliant man in the Senate. Not that today's GOP had any use for him.
Thanks
Then I gratefully stand corrected.
If you think it's so important, the Framers of the Constitution must be less enlightened than you are, because nowhere in the Constitution does it mandate that the top priority for our politicians is to speak well.
Maybe you should propose a constitutional ammendment for it.
A tad pompous from someone calling himself "zeugma".
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