Linda Rondstadt fired for supporting Michael Moore! What about freedom of Speech?

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Here's a clue, to keep you employed, you need to be tolerant, and mindful of your employers wishes.

Yes, we know that, because we live in a authoritarian society.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Ming


Gee... you aren't very tolerant of people who express different views than your own... you just insult them, and state your point of view while ignoring theirs... So much for being a member of a so called tolerant society

I do find it more than a bit ironic that Aggie is protesting re: free speech given his past attitudes and then to have Ming the Merciless as a defender of free speech.

[Kidlicious]

Insulting people and ignoring them is not the same thing as shuting them up.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Kidicious
Insulting people and ignoring them is not the same thing as shuting them up.

Not according to:

You need to wake up and smell the coffee. A society that really values free speech, and wants to benefit from open discussion does not have as a cultural norm the boycotting and hate mailing of people who express different views.

It's called a tolerant society, and while none is perfect, some are a lot better than others.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Tuberski
It's lik a bad "Who's on First?" routine.



ACK!

That's exactly what it was, and I was Abbott. Oy.

You seem to have blown that into a craptacular frenzy of rights for plumbers.

I never mentioned plumbers' rights, either.

My issue wasn't about rights at all, really. It's about what makes someone "qualified," as it were, to voice an opinion about a subject. We don't seem to mind any joe schmoe here expressing his opinion on politics, but the moment a celebrity does it, the barrage of comments that such folk's opinion's don't matter. Seems like an odd double standard (This is seperate from the issue of them using someone else's property and dime to voice their opinion, though).

Celebrities speak out on all sorts of issues--even at their concerts--and people seem to be fine with it: AIDS, poverty, charities, hunger, etc. But if it's a political message, suddenly the singer is unqualified. Seems pretty arbitrary to me.

Now, wrt to Rondstadt, I do have to ask this--was it the voicing of the opinion that upset the half of the audience that walked out, or the message itself? I'd say the latter, and had she voiced the opposite opinion and called Michael Moore a jerkface who should shut up, those who had left would have stayed and cheered and probably the other half would have walked out in anger. So it just goes to show that people don't mind political commentary in their concerts, so long as they agree with it.

[Kuciwalker]

Boris, forget it. You're talking right past him. I'm somewhat confused about where he even gets half the stuff in his posts.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Boris, forget it. You're talking right past him. I'm somewhat confused about where he even gets half the stuff in his posts.

Yeah, this is my last attempt. He was obviously looking for an argument that I wasn't giving him.

But it looks like Aggie stepped up and gave it to him, so at least he'll be placated.

[DinoDoc]

She wanted to be fired, she got fired. What's the problem?

[SpencerH]

I think the surprising thing to me is her 'fans' leaving in response to a politically motivated song. Linda Ronstadt was always a far lefty politico-type. Did it come as some kinda surprise to them? If I went to see a Joan Baez concert I wouldnt be surprised if she was 'a tad' critical of the current US administration and I sure as **** wouldnt leave over it (I'd just plug my ears between songs ).

[Boris Godunov]

Technically, she wasn't fired. She was only hired to perform one concert, which she did. It was after her concert obligation had ended that the owner opted to remove her from the premises.

Personally, had I been in his place, I would have just let her leave peacibly and make it clear to her management that I'd not be bringing her back to the hotel ever again. The spectacle and media uproar of her being tossed out will ultimately cause the hotel more problems than it wants.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by SpencerH
I think the surprising thing to me is her 'fans' leaving in response to a politically motivated song. Linda Ronstadt was always a far lefty politico-type. Did it come as some kinda surprise to them? If I went to see a Joan Baez concert I wouldnt be surprised if she was 'a tad' critical of the current US administration and I sure as **** wouldnt leave over it (I'd just plug my ears between songs ).

I asked my mom about this, as she is a big Linda Rondstadt fan and has all of her albums. Mom said it wasn't a shock to her, either--she'd been to several concerts, and Rondstadt had always expressed support for liberal causes, although she couldn't recall anything overtly political.

An interesting insight my mom had is that Rondstadt has, as of late, been decidedly lackluster in her concerts, just going through the motions, not giving encores, etc. So maybe the audience was already steamed at being treated to a mediocre show for which they paid $80 a ticket, and then the political commentary was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

[Sava]

It's such a shame that in the country that praises freedom, we have ignorant douchebags who want to punish celebrities for expressing their views. These people are flag waving dopes... but in reality they hate America. They hate freedom and they hate it when someone (especially a woman) expresses an opinion they disagree with. But this is expected from the right. If I were Rondstadt, I would have been mindful of something like this.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
She wanted to be fired, she got fired. What's the problem?

Aggie needed something to troll about. Sava too.

[Sava]

not a troll... I really do think its a shame people feel the need to punish others for expressing their views.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Celebrities are accountable for their opinions. The majority of What a 'celebrity' sells is his image, most particularly for thoses that do concerst. If you want good musci you listen on your home entertainments ystem. Fans that go to concerst do it to indentify with and be near celebrities much more that to consume their music. Opinons and how they are expressed are part the image being sold. If a celeb irritates his fan base, he 100% deserves to be pissed on and boycotted by them. It is the natural and correct result in such a relationship.