Posted on 07/20/2004 10:06:51 AM PDT by walford
|
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. |
"Linda Ronstadt was quoted as saying in that she feels uncomfortable performing for Christians and Republicans."
Linda's Beginning to Sound like another aider and abetter!!!!
Maybe she prefers to be with the likes of Castro, Il, The Mullas, Hussein, and Laden, shroeder and Chirac or Kofi.
Maybe these are Some of linda's friends listed below:
http://www.cpusa.org/
http://www.dsausa.org/
DSA's "Progressive Caucus" Links below:
http://bernie.house.gov/pc/
http://bernie.house.gov/pc/members.asp
They are the Enemy Within!!!!
Fianlly someone makes the point that these lefties have NO qualifications to receive serious consideration of who they support or do not support. But, being able to memorize other peoples hard work and make faces in front of a camera, does sort of discribe the Dumocrat party.
"Chevy Chase went on to describe the President as a man who is as “bright as an egg-timer.”.."
This coming from a man who's career consists of hamming it up in the latest "Vacation" movie every 5 years..not that there is anything wrong with that, but c'mon.
linda could use some slim fast.
The grossly ugly - Whoopie Goldberg
The grossly fat - Linda Ronstadt
The grossly stupid & untalented - Jessica Lange
Agreed, to which I add:
This from a man so coked up he doesn't even know where he is half the time...
What the Politically Correct, but ignorant don't know is that both Gerald Ford and G W Bush exhibit some clear signs of certain "learning disabilities." They both had respectable college degrees, achieved great things and were very smart and caring men.
First, I am not badmouthing either of these guys, as I too was born with a mild learning disability that made it very difficult for me to learn to read. Learning disabilities don't mean that a person is stupid, slow, or dumb, it just means that their brain processess information differently than the "standard." However, I learned how learned to read and with a lot of effort, have one undergraduate and two graduate college degrees. I have developed skills to compensate. For example, I took speed reading courses, so that I could increase my reading speed. Sometimes when I speak I "know" what I want to say, however, I have no idea what the word is until I hear it coming out of my mouth. That ocasionally leads to some poor choices of words, so I am quite careful in my speaking.
Again, a learning disability, depending on the type, doesn't make one stupid, but it can impact how you speak, your balance/coordination, and the style you use to learn things. There are many many famous and sucessful people with learning disabilities, from Nobel lauriets, race car drivers, actors, politicians. Some studies I have seen indicate about 20% of the male engineering school graduates have some form of learning disability.
In fact there are federal disability laws that require that certain accomodations be provided to people with diabilities. the ADA laws are not just about wheelchairs and blind. As such I am sure that many of these bleeding heart Hollywood types have no idea how "un-politically correct" they appear to the rest of America.
Now would these Politically Correct types, criticize FDR because he had a physcial disability? Probably not. But boy do they like to make fun of GW's speaking and characterize it as "stupidity." Shame on them!
Some day, I hope someone like O'Riely rips apart one of these people (one-on-one) for being cruel and insensitive, as I think that some of them who try to be so politically correct would be horrified of what they are doing.
Well said!
Good post. I don't agree, but it's nice to hear someone not pretending that there's nothing unusual about a grown man who can't pronounce simple words.
And O'Reilly IS stupid!
I have heard that as well.....
I am not sure I fully understand what you are saying. Maybe you can elaborate a little.
Do you feel that the way Bush speaks is an indication of stupidity? 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?
If you really feel GW's speaking parterns are "uncommon," have you contemplated the old west male sterotype of the strong silent type or the old WWII poster, which say "I let my M1 do my talking for me?" You might find that what you consider "uncommon" is actually fairly common, especially among men.
ALL OF WHOM HAVE LIKELY PERFORMED FELLATIO ON EVERY PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR IN HOLLYWOOD OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS.
(Did I really say that?)
bump
A fact missed by the dolts of this country. It's far to easy to say "they're both the same, with their similar dirty tricks". That is simply not the case though. There is a difference, as SUBTLE as it may be, it's there.
Now if I could only find that recording of Blue Bayou that she stole from Elvis, so I can melt it down. Of course it was her only hit!
I guess everyone is forgetting that Bush is a Texan. While you might think he can't procounce simple words, you need to know that he is "talking Texan".
President Bush sounds normal to us down in these here parts.
Do we make fun of the way some Northerners say "Aunt?"
Do we make fun of the way some Southerns say "fixin' to"?
And Californians saying "Dude"?
Talking Texan is an art that must be appreciated.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.