Linda Rondstadt... let me get this straight...

[republicansarewhores]

Having just experienced the chilling effects of the suppression of my First Amendment rights in a public area here in Los Angeles yesterday, this strikes a particularly nauseous chord with me.

So it's against the law to dedicate a song to someone? Whether Rondstadt was working or not... do you think this behavior would have been equally fair for Rondstadt if she had dedicated a song to President Bush and declared HIM a great patriot? I hear other celebrities "on the job" praising Bush all the time, mostly backwards ass country fuck singers at their concerts and they are not lambasted for expressing their opinions "on the job." What's the difference exactly?

This is the kind of behavior that was exhibited by Germans who hated Jews in Hitler's Germany. It's not anti-semetic, but fascist just the same.

Here's what I read.

This is why the majority of people who are not supportive of the President DON'T speak up... because of this kind of bullying and fascist behavior.

(Is the only solution to demand that entertainers supportive of President Bush be just as summarily dismissed or fired if they express their political opinions "on the job"?

In a related article regarding Ben Cohen's 12-foot-tall effigy of President Bush with fake flames shooting out of the pants, White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said most people in America support Bush's policies, and that the president supports free speech.

"The president welcomes the fact that we live in a democracy and that people in this country are free to make their own opinions known," Lisaius said.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WA%20Pants%20on%20Fire

RAW


US singer Linda Ronstadt kicked out of casino for praising Michael Moore

Tue Jul 20, 3:33 PM ET Add U.S. National - AFP to My Yahoo!

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - US singer Linda Ronstadt was booed off the stage and kicked out of a Las Vegas casino after praising polemical filmmaker Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11," the casino said.

The management of Las Vegas Aladdin Casino and Resort evicted the famed crooner from the premises after members of the audience reacted furiously to her praise of Moore, whose film bashes US President George W. Bush (news - web sites), during a concert on Saturday night.

The incident marked the latest backlash against liberal US entertainers who criticise Bush and follows comedienne's Whoopi Goldberg's sacking last week by a diet products company following her raunchy rant at the conservative president at a Democratic fundraising concert.

"She was removed from the hotel towards the end of the concert," a hotel official who declined to be identified told AFP of Ronstadt's unceremonious departure from the Aladdin.

"The company decided to remove her from the property after she dedicated a song to Michael Moore. This angered our guests who spilled their drinks and demanded their money back," the official said.

The liberal Ronstadt, 58, a 10-time Grammy Award-winner and an icon of the politically-agitated 1970s, praised Moore as a "great American patriot" who "is spreading the truth."

She also dedicated the song "Desperado" to Moore and urged the audience to go and see "Fahrenheit 9/11," which mercilessly slams Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq (news - web sites) and his handling of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

According to local media, members of the 4,500-strong audience stormed out of the concert hall, tore down concert posters and tossed cocktails into the air. (kind of reminds me of images of stormtroopers in German beerhalls via 1935 RAW)

Hotel president Bill Timmins then ordered security guards to escort Ronstadt off the premise, even denying her access to her suite.

Moore reacted furiously to the hotel and casino's decision in an open letter to Timmins on the filmmaker's website.

("What country do you live in?," Moore asked in the letter. "Last time I checked, Las Vegas is still in the United States. And in the United States, we have something called 'The First Amendment'" which guarantees the right to free speech.

"For you to throw Linda Ronstadt off the premises because she dared to say a few words in support of me and my film, is simply stupid and Un-American," Moore continued.

"What about the other half of the crowd at the Aladdin who, according to the Las Vegas Sun, cheered her when she made her remarks? Did you throw them out, too?," Moore said.

A statement from the casino in the desert gambling hub said Ronstadt was booted out because she had been engaged to entertain the audience, not to express her political views.

"The Aladdin Resort and Casino does not condone the comments made by Linda Ronstadt at her performance at the hotel Saturday," the hotel said.

"Ms Ronstadt was hired to entertain the guests of the Aladdin, not to espouse her political views. In an effort to defuse the situation, Linda Ronstadt was asked to leave the property immediately following her performance," it said.

A spokeswoman, Tyri Squyres, however told AFP that the "intention" of the hotel "was not partisan or political."

The outspoken Ronstadt, who has long supported the Democratic Party, has been dedicating "Desperado" to Moore at each of her performances in recent weeks.

She told the Las Vegas Review Journal before Saturday's explosive concert that she was appalled at the Republican Bush administration's invasion of Iraq.

"I don't understand this country sometimes and I really fear for it," she told the paper last week.

The government is making everybody in the world hate us, including the people that used to be our friends."

Ronstadt also foresaw her split from the Aladdin, where she had previous squabbles related to shows.

"I keep hoping that if I'm annoying enough to them, they won't hire me back," she said.

[notadmblnd]

1. I think it was staged.

I didn't read in any articles if she had expressed any of her views in previous shows? If so, I think that it is very likely that this protest was staged.

[Kipepeo]

19. She has been doing it all across the country

this is the first time they kicked her off a stage. I think it had more to do with the owner's political opinions than the concert-goers'.

[notadmblnd]

2. I think it was staged.

I didn't read in any articles if she had expressed any of her views in previous shows? If so, I think that it is very likely that this protest was staged

[Cha]

3. Linda Ronstandt definetly

voiced her opinion in previous shows and you may be right that it was "staged".

"Ronstadt Has No Regrets for Concert Comments

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-072004ronstadt_lat,1,1452485.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[jdj]

4. No, she had spoken out before.

And I am surprised that they are saying she was "booed off the stage". I have not read this before. I read the problem was with management, after she left the stage. No one else said anything about the audience reaction.

[jdj]

6. Here it is, she wasn't "booed off the stage"

"Ms Ronstadt was hired to entertain the guests of the Aladdin, not to espouse her political views. In an effort to defuse the situation, Linda Ronstadt was asked to leave the property immediately following her performance," it said.


The article is contradicting itself. One can't be "booed off the stage" if one is allowed to finish one's performance. Yeah, she was booed off, just like Michael Moore was "booed off".

[maggrwaggr]

12. the entire story is a lie

she wasn't booed off the stage. The patrons who left later had no idea about any of this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2027640&mesg_id=2027640

and the story from the Vegas papers with actual eyewitness accounts:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jul-20-Tue-2004/news/24348468.html

[Cleita]

13. Excuse me but anyone who has followed Linda's career knows

that political statements are part of her act historically and her fans probably paid for this.

[Marvelous_Smarty]

5. Free Speech is Free Speech.

If someone ( a performer) puts forth an opinion in the middle of his/her act, the audience members also have a first amendment right to voice their disproval.

I do not have a problem with her being heckled or audience members storming out in disgust. My problem is with the way she was tossed out of the hotel.

I really feel she misread her audience. If some white performer praised the virtues Pat Buchanan at the NAACP, it would not be a pretty sight either.


Just because we are gauranteed Free Speech by the Constitution, it does not mean anyone HAS to listen to us.

[jdj]

9. I don't think she misread her audience either...

I think she is an example of what a true patriot is, i.e. someone who feels compelled to express their beliefs despite the fact that they may be unpopular, kind of along the lines of "give me liberty or give me death"... She was aware of the consequences, of what had happened to Moore and to Natalie Maines, and she stood up in support of them and other artists who have been criticized. In this climate it is impossible to misread the fact that the blowhard brigade is everywhere, they are like political blowfish, when offended they blow up to several times their normal size,yet they are not all that bigh, or all that many, just loud and ugly.

[jdj]

10. dupe

[tkmorris]

14. Oh please

She dedicated a song to MM, and urged people to see a movie. That's it, that's all. Nothing in that warrants the behavior that news reports claimed occurred.

If I went to see some concert or show and the singer recommended that I see The Passion of the Christ and dedicated a song to Mel Gibson, well to be frank I'd disagree with them. I feel about that movie much the same as "those" people feel about F9/11. But I would not walk out, let alone "storm" out, ripping posters from walls and flinging beverages into the air. Such behavior would be ridiculous.

Yes, those people have a first amendment right to make a public ass of themselves. It doesn't make them right, nor does it make the hotel managements actions sensible or proper.

I have read accounts from people who were at the show who didn't have an axe to grind, as opposed to the ones (one?) quoted in the AP report, and those people were not only not offended, they were completely unaware that any of this so-called mass exodus even happened. Which to me is a strong indication that it did not happen in all likelihood and this whole event was staged to make a statement.

BTW, I am only bothering with this post out of boredom. I have seen you playing Devil's Advocate all day, which I'm sure amuses you but really, you must know that the fun has to end sometime. Yes?

[Marvelous_Smarty]

20. If Linda had said something like,

"Save the Puppies!" I am sure it would have gone over better. But you have to admit, "FH 9/11" is a very divisive topic. It was going to spark a bigger reaction than "Free Martha Stewart" would have.

If I stand on a stump and start yelling, "Dubya is an Alien Mole!" I can. It is my right! My constitutionally protected right! And if someone in the crowd listening yells, "Marvelous_Smarty, you are full of shit!" He is well within his rights.

I saw FH 9/11. Thought it was thought provoking. Agreed with a lot of it, disagreed with some and thought he was reaching at times.

I have talked to other people who saw it and they think Micheal Moore was full of shit. Apparently, they are in the camp of the ones who walked out of the concert.

Why should the people in the audience have their speech silenced.

Fox News is full of shit. That does not mean they do not have a right to put forth their tripe and drivel. That they are free to do so should be celebrated, not condemned.

[Bandit]

21. 10% of the audience become unruly and starts disrupting things and

The management decides to throw out the entertainer who 90% of the audience seem to love. What is wrong with this picture? I klnow if it was my place I would evict those doing damage to my establishment and not the entertainer who most folks liked. It just plain reeks of publicity stunt and more right wing intolerance. Freepers will now love the Alladin and folks who are sane will not. It seems like a lose lose situation to me for the Alladin. They want the type of people who will completely disrespect property and others compared to the sane rational people so be it. It's their loss.

[Swede]

15. She does it at all her concerts. Here's a story from last week.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040715/news_lz1w15linda.html

[Mistress Quickly]

7. no one said it was against the law

just a bunch of baby-ish pukes got their panties in a wad, and mgt. went along with them.

No laws involved, except the law of business.

[gauguin57]

8. I'm hearing three different things ...

1) That Linda was booed and kicked out of Aladdin because of the Moore comment/dedication.

2) That audiences have been pissed off because Linda, whose current concert tour is billed as "greatest hits" hasn't been singing her greatest hits (and is vocal about not wanting to sing her greatest hits).

and

3) (From MSNBC tonight) Linda cut her Vegas concert short because she had an inner-ear infection.

?????

[calimary]

11. Here's another take I saw. Note the comment from the local anchorwoman.

Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Aladdin officials defend eviction of singer after political comments
By MIKE WEATHERFORD
REVIEW-JOURNAL


Aladdin officials said Monday the decision to evict singer Linda Ronstadt from their hotel Saturday was not a partisan political response but an attempt to "defuse the situation" with an angry crowd.
"It was a very ugly scene," Aladdin President Bill Timmins told The Associated Press. "She praised (filmmaker Michael Moore), and all of a sudden all bedlam broke loose."
"It did not come down to the statements she had said, per se," hotel spokeswoman Tyri Squyres said Monday of the 58-year-old singer, who dedicated her encore song "Desperado" to Moore and encouraged the audience to see his film "Fahrenheit 9/11."

(snip)

"I was so stunned to read in the newspaper that anyone had a negative reaction," said KLAS-TV, Channel 8, news anchor Paula Francis. "Everyone who was leaving when I was leaving was just thrilled. They thought it was a good concert."
At the end of an hour's worth of singing, "she got a standing ovation, then she came out and did the (`Desperado') encore," Francis said. "There were loud boos and there was quite a bit of applause. But everyone calmed down right away and seemed to enjoy the rest of the encore."

Link here:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jul-20-Tue-2004/news/24348468.html

[bloom]

16. it's awfully weird

to have this story run on CNN or wherever as if people are having a riot over what Linda said - when in fact they didn't.

Hearing the "riot" story on the news made me think right off - how they don't mention it when masses of people protest Bush*. And here it wasn't even true. It's like they WANT to get people thinking others are protesting liberals... to get something going.

This shit (fabricated news stories with the intent to start riots) ought to be illegal.

[oasis]

17. Freepers orchestrated the whole thing after learning that she promoted

F9/11 in previous shows.

[gauguin57]

18. Caller on Randi Rhodes show ...

... said she was at the concert.

She said Ronstadt was a "class act."

She also said a lot of people cheered to drown out the boo-ers. She also said Ronstadt made reference to her concert having been billed as "greatest hits," saying "it was news to us!"

Also, the caller said a lot of the people who walked out were just leaving at the end of the concert, to get to the buffet or Wayne Newton or whatever.

This caller said, "Whatever happened to the peace and love of the '60s generation? When you see Linda Ronstadt is performing, what do you THINK she's going to say on stage?"

[NewYorkerfromMass]

22. NYTimes editorial stepped up to the plate for Linda today:

Something went awry at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas last Saturday night. Linda Ronstadt did what she has done at several concerts across the country this summer. She dedicated the song "Desperado"- an encore - to Michael Moore and urged members of the audience to go see his new movie, "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Elsewhere, audiences have reacted to the mention of Mr. Moore by cheering, booing, walking out and sometimes glaring at one another in parking lots. At the Aladdin, a few audience members tore down posters, threw drinks and demanded their money back. According to one person who was present - William Timmins, the Aladdin's president - it was "a very ugly scene." Mr. Timmins promptly made it even uglier. He had Ms. Ronstadt ejected from the premises.

This behavior assumes that Ms. Ronstadt had no right to express a political opinion from the stage. It implies - for some members of the audience at least - that there is a philosophical contract that says an artist must entertain an audience only in the ways that audience sees fit. It argues, in fact, that an artist like Ms. Ronstadt does not have the same rights as everyone else.

Perhaps her praise for Mr. Moore, even at the very end of her show, did ruin the performance for some people. They have a right to voice their disapproval - to express their opinion as Ms. Ronstadt expressed hers and to ask for a refund. But if their intemperate behavior began to worry the management, then they were the ones who should have been thrown out and told never to return, not Ms. Ronstadt, who threatened, after all, only to sing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/21/opinion/21wed4.html

[wildeyed]

23. Whatever happened,

this is really good for her career. I haven't heard about Linda Ronstadt in years. Now she is getting tons of press and everyone who saw F9/11 and likes MM is thinking, hmmmm, maybe I should check out her most recent album. So those nasties at the casino did her a huuuuge favor. Go Linda!

[Canuckistanian]

24. Maybe she'll be boycotted!

They'll shut her down, just like MM and the Dixie Chicks! That'll show her!