..."My career has befuddled other people, and it's befuddled me," admitted Ronstadt, 58, who finds her fans are polarized by her nightly on-stage salute to "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker Michael Moore.
"I've been dedicating a song to him – I think he's a great patriot – and it splits the audience down the middle, and they duke it out," she said.
"This is an election year, and I think we're in desperate trouble and it's time for people to speak up and not pipe down. It's a real conflict for me when I go to a concert and find out somebody in the audience is a Republican or fundamental Christian. It can cloud my enjoyment. I'd rather not know." ...
Wow - one moment she says she thinks it is "time for people to speak up and not pipe down", but then turns around and says she would rather people who are Republicans or fundamental Christian to sit down and shut up because she would "rather not know"!!!!! In my book that is Hypocrisy. And for someone who has her enjoyment clouded by knowing the political views of people around her - her hypocrisy is even more present as demonstrated in this article:
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.
Until that last song, the concert had been an evening of good music and happy fans.
There was no shortage of conflicting opinions among the baby-boomer crowd, a sprinkling of them dressed in patriotic colors, but it was no referendum on the war in Iraq, no pro- or anti-Bush lovefest, or even a meeting of the Michael Moore fan club.
Concert-goers, who paid from $99 to $249 each for tickets, were well aware of the controversy, but said they just wanted to enjoy the songs.
"I love her music, but I hate her politics, and I hope she just sings," said Tina Uzelac of Livermore. "These tickets are pretty high-priced, and we're not paying to go to a political rally."...
I guess it's okay for her to share her political thoughts with her captive, paying audience - but let one of them make it known they don't agree with her and her enjoyment gets all clouded. I have no problem with her sharing her political point of view - but likewise I have no problem with her patrons standing up and sharing their point of view by walking out.
And as for the original US Bash that we don't have free speech in the US - where were the police arresting Linda? None to be found! Hu, imagine that. The Bush Gulag was derelict in its duty to suppress the political views of administration dissenters.
Director Michael Moore's controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 will be released on DVD in October, one month before the US presidential elections.
Moore's assault on President George W Bush's handling of the 11 September attacks and the war on Iraq will debut on DVD and video on 5 October.
Meanwhile, a Conservative candidate for the US Senate has hit back at Bruce Springsteen's anti-Bush concert plans.
In a TV advert, Marilyn O'Grady urges the US public to "Boycott the Boss".
Since Fahrenheit 9/11 won the Palme d'Or in May, it has been filmmaker Michael Moore's intention to have the documentary released on video and DVD close to election day, in the hope of damaging President Bush's chances of re-election.
The DVD and video will feature a number of extras, including deleted footage from outside Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where seven US soldiers have been charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners.
The documentary has made $115m (£62.5m) in US cinemas since it opened in June.
'Political stage'
Springsteen is one of more than 20 well-known musicians who plan to take part in a series of anti-Bush fund-raising concerts under the Vote for Change banner.
Marilyn O'Grady, the candidate for New York, says in the 30-second slot: "He [Springsteen] thinks making millions with a song-and-dance routine allows him to tell you how to vote.
"Here's my vote: Boycott the Boss. If you don't buy his politics, don't buy his music."
In a statement, O'Grady said: "Now that he's moved onto the political stage to bash my president, it is entirely fair to respond."
A spokesperson for the singer said he had no plans to comment on the advertisement.
Senator John Kerry has made his 4-month combat tour in Vietnam the centerpiece of his bid for the Presidency. His campaign jets a handful of veterans around the country, and trots them out at public appearances to sing his praises. John Kerry wants us to believe that these men represent all those he calls his "band of brothers."
But most combat veterans who served with John Kerry in Vietnam see him in a very different light.
.
The purpose of this photo is to correct the misleading use of our images --
against our will -- to further John Kerry's campaign.
.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has been formed to counter the false "war crimes" charges John Kerry repeatedly made against Vietnam veterans who served in our units and elsewhere, and to accurately portray Kerry's brief tour in Vietnam as a junior grade Lieutenant. We speak from personal experience -- our group includes men who served beside Kerry in combat as well as his commanders. Though we come from different backgrounds and hold varying political opinions, we agree on one thing: John Kerry misrepresented his record and ours in Vietnam and therefore
exhibits serious flaws in character and lacks the potential to lead.
We regret the need to do this. Most Swift boat veterans would like nothing better than to support one of our own for America's highest office, regardless of whether he was running as a Democrat or a Republican. However, Kerry's phony war crimes charges, his exaggerated claims about his own service in Vietnam, and his deliberate misrepresentation of the nature and effectiveness of Swift boat operations compels us to step forward.
For more than thirty years, most Vietnam veterans kept silent as we were maligned as misfits, addicts, and baby killers. Now that a key creator of that poisonous image is seeking the Presidency we have resolved to end our silence.
The time has come to set the record straight.
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[ This Message was edited by: Patrick-in-CA on 2004-08-21 05:29 ]
Most poeple will remember where they were and what they were doing on 9/11.Not president Bush,At two town hall mettings he was asked about that day,and both times he ended up telling untrue stories and how he learned of the attacks.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A veteran who disputed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites)'s Vietnam war record acknowledged on Sunday he had no proof to back his charge that Kerry fabricated the reports of enemy fire that won him two medals.
Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Van Odell, a member of the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that has spearheaded a campaign against Kerry's service record, said his was one of seven eyewitness accounts and he was not being directed by President Bush (news - web sites)'s campaign.
He has charged that then Navy Lt. Kerry, a Swift boat commander, fabricated the "after-action" report saying he faced enemy fire on March 13, 1969, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart for being wounded while pulling a fellow soldier to safety.
"I do not have a single document," Odell said. "I have the fact that I wasn't wounded in that 5,000 meters of fire that he wrote about."
"There was no enemy fire from either bank," he added.
The assertion was another broadside in a debate that has been raging for weeks, and with at least one CBS poll showing the issue cutting into Kerry's support among veterans, the Massachusetts senator has accused the group of collaborating with the Bush campaign and demanded Bush repudiate the ads.
Odell said he had met with Republican strategist Merrie Spaeth, a public relations consultant to his group, and once bought a home from Bob Perry, a large Republican donor from Texas and close associate of Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser.
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Posted: 2004-08-14 17:58
