Posted on 04/18/2003 7:55:19 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
As actor and left-wing activist Tim Robbins complains about how unfairly he and Susan Sarandon are being treated these days, you can almost hear the world's smallest violin playing in the background.
Until it was abruptly canceled, Robbins and Sarandon were scheduled to appear at a Baseball Hall of Fame salute to their movie Bull Durham. The Hall's president decided to can the whole event, saying the couple's opposition to the war in Iraq undermined the U.S. position and "ultimately could put our troops in even more danger."
It's not the first time their anti-Operation Iraqi Freedom statements have led to an event cancellation; Sarandon's invitation to speak at a United Way of Tampa Bay event was recently retracted as well.
Nor are they the only celebrities whose comments regarding the war or American leaders have led to repercussions.
Actress Janeane Garofalo's plans for a new ABC sitcom are reportedly in trouble. Airplay for the Dixie Chicks - whose singer Natalie Maines bashed President Bush in front of an overseas audience - has dropped off. The group's record sales have fallen by more than 40 percent, and it's not certain whether their concert sponsor, Lipton, will run a planned television ad featuring the trio next month (the company is reportedly working on a backup ad idea). And, worried about some backlash, Avril Lavigne's publicists are trying to brush aside recent anti-Bush comments from the teenage pop singer.
"There's a piling on, and we're isolating people. That's just wrong," opined actor Kevin Costner.
But what, precisely, is wrong about a negative public reaction toward celebrities who take unpopular positions on public policy issues?
Some have worried aloud about censorship and infringement of the constitutional right to free speech. Robbins took that approach this week when thanking his defenders who have "a fierce belief in constitutionally guaranteed rights."
Sarandon sounded a similar note when she said: "It's so ironic that we should be quote-unquote liberating another country and giving them a democracy when we're telling people here if they open their mouths, they're not allowed to participate." But the censorship/First Amendment angle is nothing more than a red herring.
If Robbins or Garofalo want to complain about what our troops were doing, they are at liberty to do just that, and the press will be happy to give their remarks wide circulation, free of charge. That's hardly censorship.
And if someone chooses not to buy a Dixie Chicks CD or cancels an event featuring Robbins and Sarandon, that's hardly an infringement upon their freedom of speech. It in no way prevents them from speaking their mind, and on an even more fundamental level, it's not a governmental action.
The First Amendment, as those who have read it will recall, provides that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, and regardless of whether it's applied to state activity, it says nothing about private entities canceling speaking engagements.
Interestingly enough, Sarandon herself touched upon the real issue when she acknowledged that her business "is dependent upon a certain cooperation with the public."
In that respect, she's absolutely right. Why else would people in Hollywood and Nashville have publicists in the first place? Why else would so many in the film industry - Michael Moore excepted - have held themselves in check during this year's Academy Awards?
No matter how often entertainers call themselves "artists" and wax eloquent about their "craft," the entertainment business is still a business, and public opinion makes a difference when it comes to the bottom line. And when it comes to the war in Iraq, 76 percent of the American people believe the United States did the right thing, according to a poll released last week.
What we're seeing is not an infringement of the freedom of speech. It's a decision by a great many Americans to vote with their pocket book, or to distance themselves from those who criticize our troops' mission during wartime.
"Whenever someone attacks me about being outspoken," Sarandon recently said, "I say there is no reason you should listen to me; all I'm doing is asking questions and encouraging people to do the same thing."
That's fine. But she, Robbins, and their ideological comrades need to remember that right now, a lot of people don't want to listen to what they have to say. Instead of whining about rights that aren't even at issue, they should remember what happened to Iraqis who spoke out before the war and be grateful they live in a country where they have the freedom to say whatever they want, no matter how stupid or silly it is.
( John Nowacki is director of legal policy at the Free Congress Foundation..)
Free Congress Foundation
It's not arbitrarily isolating people, Kevin. It's called a quarantine.
Precisely. Nice post, most articles seem to ignore this small, inconsequential point. < /sarcasm>
Me thinks many of these "useless idiots" must have slept through high school history class.
Absolutely, positively, correct!
The vast majority of the left, needs to be continually reminded that Freedom of Speech, does not include the right of consequence free action. It simply precludes the government from interfering with anyone's tome....no matter how ludicrous it comes out.
He went on to say that Hollywood would soon be petioning Congress for REPARATIONS for the McCarthyism which is killing box office receipts and destroying already failing careers.
"It should be REQUIRED that all people 40 and under, see at least four movies a week. How else are they going to get educated?" Costner asked.
"I mean, the best political minds of this Century reside in Hollywood", he meekly replied.
This wrinkled up aging has-been, along with the militant gays, tried to shut down Dr. Laura's show.
Congressman Billybob
I'm sure Dr. Laura and Trent Lott would agree with you Kevin.
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