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....
