Ronstadt gets audience walkout encore
You know, we used to be a country that valued free speech. When did it come about that the expression of a political viewpoint was enough to drive narrow-minded, knee-jerk Conservatives to walk out of a concert?
LIVERMORE - Linda Ronstadt's political message sent close to a hundred concert-goers home early Thursday evening.
What had been a mellow evening at Wente Vineyards, with the crowd even serenading her with "Happy Birthday" at one point, turned into a rush for the exits by some fans angry by her encore tribute to filmmaker Michael Moore.
"She just had to do it," one fan steamed as he headed for the parking lot. "It was good until the end," another yelled to TV crews waiting outside the concert.
"She's getting out of line; it's ridiculous," said Cindy Williams of Livermore, as she left during the last song of the evening.
Ronstadt's encore dedication of the song "Desperado" to Moore, the controversial maker of "Fahrenheit 9/11" who she described Thursday as "a great American patriot," got her booted from a Las Vegas casino Saturday and drew cheers, some boos, and a few "traitor" yells from the Livermore crowd....
"I love her music, but I hate her politics, and I hope she just sings," said Tina Uzelac of Livermore, who arrived wearing a flag sweater. "These tickets are pretty high-priced, and we're not paying to go to a political rally."
These intolerant maroons knew what they were getting themselves into, and yet they still went to Ronstadt's concert. What the hell were they expecting? Ronstadt's politics are not exactly a state secret. Or is it simply the opinions she happened to voice? I wonder what the reaction would have been if her on-stage opinionating had been strongly pro-Bush? Would Progressive members of the audience have stormed out in the same childish, immature manner? Somehow I doubt it.
What is it about Conservatives that leads them to believe that their opinions are more worthy and valuable than those of Progressives? Republicans talk about tolerance, but the reality is that the word is conspicuously absent from their vocabulary.
I don't question anyone's right to disagree with Linda Ronstadt. All I'm saying is that those of you who do disagree would benefit all of us by displaying a degree of maturity that now seems sadly lacking. This is a free country. We are ALL entitled to our opinions. If you don't like it, that's too damn bad. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CAT LITTER! Stop acting like a bunch of spoiled, recalcitrant children.
Stay in your seats or stay home....
When people have paid money to be entertained they are not expecting to hear political statements. In fact, quite the opposite. They can read the newspaper, watch the news, talk to friends, go to campaign rallies, or see Linda holding banners and screaming outside the White House or on any street in this country.
But you can't expect to get paid to sing songs and then stand up and make political speeches.
You know, most people don't pay to hear some anonymous person sing, they pay to hear Linda Ronstadt in concert. Linda Ronstadt is a human being like the rest of us, and as such the work she puts into her concert reflects her personality. Songs and a political dedication could be one in the same for her. If one doesn't appreciate the design of Ronstadt's concert, one doesn't have to pay a ticket to see it. In this respect, I can forgive the concert goers' desire to express their displeasure and request that Linda change the design of her concert. That's the free market in action.
Still, I can't help but wonder at the hysteria of some of these people leaving the concert. A single dedication, possibly no more than thirty seconds to one minute of mentioning Michael Moore's name and praising his accomplishments, is enough to send people out the door? That level of hatred these people have for Moore is disturbing -- it is at least as bad as the hatred they accuse Moore of putting into his films.
If the criticism of American foreign policy by an American is "treachery", then I really do fear for the future of the world's greatest democracy.
I've just been wondering how many of the people leaving early were actually doing so because they were upset ... and how many were doing so to avoid the mad dash and traffic post concert. Sure, a few (who were vocal about it) were upset, but I have to tell you, my husband and I haven't heard the last song of any concert in years, but we have been home well before anyone else was even able to get out of the parking lot. :D
The people who left the concert were expressing their political opinion, an act of free speech guranteed by our constitution. This post labels those Americans "narrow-minded, knee-jerk Conservatives," and then goes on to say that Republican vocabulary lacks the word tolerance. This is illogical.
How dare they act like campus leftists by trying to shut down someone for saying something they dislike!
Fact: this is Ronstadt's encore number and she has done this for her entire tour.
Fact: nobody makes a big display about supporter of Bush making their statements.
Fact: this is simply bad manners, to disrupt a performance over the dedication of an encore.
The reality is that if you don't like the personality or politics of a performer, but do like their music, buy the CD and save those who paid for the live show your histrionics.
It is offputting when an entertainer goes partisan and/or lectures on political matters when the forum is meant for them to be a "talent". Here are things that would be equally offputting:
A business exec who is supposed to be telling his company story and describing his management style at a seminar goes off on a political rant.
A baseball manager, when he finishes commenting on the recent trade on a sports talk show adds his thoughts on how the country is being run.
An urban planner whose speech is about the future of mass transit in Podunk lets loose with some vindictive diatribe about Middle East policy of the administration.
I can go to political rallies, or meetings of groups with a "cause" to get that stuff. Not on my night off at a cabaret, thank you very much.
Probably the same thing that leads Progressives to believe their opinions are more worthy and valuable than those of Conservatives.
Yes, that may be true. I've noticed the word is equally absent from the vocabulary of Democrats.
The same is true of both sides.
Bush = Hitler?
A lot of people on BOTH sides need to wake up and smell the kitty litter. Thinking it's only those on the other side simply contributes to the problem.