[Zhang Fei]

Stipe, a virulent sodomite, used to rant about Ronald Reagan’s AIDs policies in between songs. Which is why their audience steadily became flaccid over the years.

I don't understand why these drama queens feel compelled to waste their paying audiences' time with political screeds. These people are the biggest narcissists. Imagine if the grocery checkout guy or the dry cleaner went off on some political monologue every time you had to deal with him. Besides, it's one thing to talk politics one-on-one in a social setting, and quite another to force-feed your views on someone who's paying good money to see you perform.

[I still care]

Because the media keeps describing them as “artists” and they’ve started to believe it.

Not everyone that picks up a guitar, sings, dances or paints a picture is an “artist”. IMHO, most of them are just working out their psychiatric problems in public, and people are stupid enough to not realize it.