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Journal bethanie's Journal: Dedicated to all you Desperadoes out there 36

Journal by bethanie
I'm *amazed* that no one has posted a JE about this little beauteous incident that happened over the weekend, and, of course, the NY Times editorial (free reg, or use ID: bethaniejournal, password: happystick).

First of all, I'd like to address the concept that getting booed off the stage and kicked out of the hotel means that Ronstadt has less of a right to free speech than the rest of us. Well, last time I noticed, none of *us* were getting *paid* to stand up on a stage and *entertain* thousands of people. With that kind of celebrity comes responsibility, and yes, accountability for what you say and do.

It's complete bullshit for celebrities to expect to be able to stand up in front of a crowd and express extreme and/or unpopular opinions and be free from resulting recriminations. If one of us stood up at our place of work, or even out on a street corner, and started spouting off our mouths about stuff, we'd have to pay the consequences. Now, I'm not saying that we should be subjected to assault or anything -- that's illegal, and we *are* protected against that. But if we get fired or yelled at or walked out on, then that's just par for the course.

So when a celebrity bad mouths a war and her President, or praises the extreme political leanings of a satirist currently blazing the headlines, or tears up the photograph of a living religious icon, then by god, she should understand that the repercussions are going to be directly proportional to the number of witnesses to her protest.

As for the Ronstadt's message itself, whatever. I'm not taking a political stand in this election, 'cause I'm *definitely* not pro-Democrat, but I'm also not wholeheartedly endorsing or defending Bush. I'm kinda like Em in that I think ALL this political stuff is bullshit, and I'd rather be rid of all of it.

Anyway. Nice, juicy story. Fun to read about & discuss! :-)
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Dedicated to all you Desperadoes out there More

Dedicated to all you Desperadoes out there

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  • Are less than half the story.

    She stated that she was trying to be so annoying she wouldn't be asked back before even going in.

    She billed the show as a greatest hits show then refused to do any of them.

    She ragged on Vegas, the Audience, and the Hotel throughout the entire show.

    Then, the closer, which is what so many sites are claiming was all that happend, she ragged on Bush, war, and praised Michael Moore.

    I think what she said about Bush and Mr. Moore had very little to do with the audiences reaction.
  • there has been a lot of talk about it on Hannity and Limbaugh's shows. I don't get Boortz, but I'm guessing he talked about it too.

    Personally, I'm in total agreement with you. People paid money to be entertained, not lectured to. She has her right to her opinions, but not on the job. It would be the same as if I were to use my company's mail server to send out spam badmouthing Kerry. It just doesn't work that way.
    • She has her right to her opinions, but not on the job.

      So, what's your opinion about religion on the workplace then? Not that I'm expecting you to have a particular answer, but I'm truly curious what you think, as well as others here who I do expect particular answers from.

      • If you are preaching to coworkers on company time, then its the same deal. If you do your job and aren't wasting company time or resources, then religion really doesn't have any bearing. Now, if you start using religion as motivation or justification for doing things that aren't in the best interest in the company (or for your electorate when talking about politicians) then you have every reason to be fired for not doing your job correctly.
      • There's a difference between being religious in the workplace and forcing your religion on others in the workplace. Same is true here-- I don't care if she like Michael Moore or not, but I don't need to hear about it; it's not why people paid to see her.
        • Given that she's done it repeatedly at other venues, and I don't get the feeling she's hidden her political beliefs for 30-odd years, I'm kind of surprised to hear people claiming they know what people paid to see or not. Unless you're one of those people, there's not a lot of first hand knowledge you can have, and even if you are, you're only one data point--hardly statistically significant.

          Really, it's stupid to have the NYT claiming some kind of first amendment bs about this, but it's also pretty silly

          • I'm not denouncing her-- she has every right to say whatever she wants to say. But she does NOT have the right to dictate that people listen.

            Freedom of speech means that you have the right to say what you want, and I have the right to ignore you or make it clear that I don't like what you're saying. That's what the audience did.

            • Where did she ever "dictate" such a thing? I have no issue with what the audience did, by the way, and I agree with you completely about freedom of speech. But I suspect your issue is not with Linda, but with liberal pundits trying to spin the event. liberal pundits are just as FoS as the conservative ones :-)
  • 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

    • How is it wrong? Obviously the people in the audience were not pleased with her and showed their disapproval, the management acted on that customer input and fired the performer. Perhaps the manager at this location was more attentive to customers than managers at the other locations?

      She very well knew that she did something that would agitate people, she still did it and needs to accept the consequences of her actions.

      • Whoopty do. She was ejected after or during an encore . She was done with the show anyway. As for the consequences of her actions, maybe I need to go re-read the articles, but the coverage I heard a few days ago mentioned that she was joking that she'd tried for years to be so obnoxious that she didn't have to return to Vegas and she finally succeeded. Doesn't sound like she has any problem with the consequences at all, even if she's just making a joke.
      • Obviously the people in the audience

        No, some of the people in the audience. Of the three stories Bethaine linked two, only one fails to mention the cheers she recieved as well. ... and fired the performer.

        Only he didn't "fire" the performer. He interrupted her before she was done, and didn't even let her go get her belongings.

        She very well knew that she did something that would agitate people, she still did it and needs to accept the consequences of her actions.

        She DID accept the "consequences."

        • Treating her like a criminal who had stolen from the facility for making a political statement is well and truly wrong.

          In a sense, she did steal from the Aladdin and from the ~5000 concertgoers. They forked over a fair chunk of money for an evening's entertainment, and ended up getting a bit of far-left polemic mixed in with what turned out to be a mediocre performance [lasvegassun.com]. Just on the artistic merits, that sounds like a rip-off to me. :-)

          • Well, ~2500, anyway--and they could just do what everyone else who complained in every other venue she did this in, and ask for their money back.

            The ~2500 who cheered were robbed by the Aladdin. ;)

  • here's my problem with "celebrities."

    they love to cry "censorship" AFTER they've said what they said, and then people have problems with it, and then react (see Goldberg and her being fired by slim fast). That IS NOT CENSORSHIP people.

    If they (celebrities) can't cope with the consequences of their speech... then maybe they should just shut the fuck up.

    People have a RIGHT to react to what is said.

    Freedom of speech isn't just for the left or celebrities.

    • That's because these stupid celebrities that shoot their mouths off (although, this isn't an example of that as the links don't give the whole story - she was tossed out because she was being generally obnoxious, not because of her specific political views) are only doing it to get a reaction and bring themselves publicity. Then, when the shit hits the fan and splatters all over them for what they did or said, they cry and piss and moan about it because they don't have the convictions to back up what they s

  • She's allowed to have her opinions, and they're allowed to decline her services, and refuse her service.

    Done.

  • ...especially since for me it's a local story (first heard about it on the radio on the way into work Monday morning), but I never got a round tuit. :-) Besides, it's not as if we don't already know that Hollyweird has far exceeded its pinhead quota.

  • You're right. All politics is rubbish. It probably has always been so. Even voting in self defense is going to be tough this year.

    Hell, just adopting a rational attitude toward terrorism is tough - I found that out the hard way in October 2002, living as I do in the D.C. area.

    As to the case at hand, where do you draw the line between entertainment and art? I'm not sure I want to, even with someone so obviously on the "entertainment" side of the fence as L.R. And do we want to expunge polotical speec

    • I dunno, I kind of expect performers to push whatever agenda it is they're pushing. And you are more than welcome to not like 'em. Or love the sing but hate the singer.

      Ahhhh, October 2002; a crisp fall that had its own dance; the sniper-shuffle at the gas stations. Good times, good times.

  • ...damn celebrities stirring up trouble to attract more attention to themselves.

    *insert name of any celebrity* : Oh look, nobody's paying attention to me. *waves arms* Look! I'm saying something unpopular! *snickers* This'll put me back in the press...

  • There was a reader letter on the National Review website from someone claiming to be there, who said the stories of thrown drinks and torn-down posters were wildly exaggerated. Biased source, obviously, but I'm not sure which way the bias is supposed to cut in this case.

    Anyway, here's what's always struck me as ironic about these "Celebrities are being oppressed!!!" stories -- the anti-globalization/anti-corporation/anti-Starbuck s |Gap|McDonalds crowd is always complaining that Americans are a mindless mas

  • I think what I find interesting about the entire situation is that she said so little (from what I can tell) and got such a reaction. C'mon, artists regularly use their acts for political or social commentary. It seems a bit outrageous to walk out on an act because someone dedicates a song to an issue you disagree with them on. To go further and deface posters is the only thing I see really wrong with what happened. Those few individuals are the kind that really mess up society -- the kind who deface bu
    • From what I can see, Ronstadt merely dedicated a song to Moore and the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 and encourage people to go see it. Whoopee. No big deal. As to whether she should be banned ... sure, go right ahead. To me it would only be an issue if the guy Timmins tried to influence other venues to reject her (or refused to pay for the full night's performance - since this was an encore afterward).

      Ya. That was almost exactly my reaction, too.

      Ronstadt didn't exactly have a right to say what she did when she

      • Ronstadt didn't exactly have a right to say what she did when she did and expect to get paid for doing so, but the reaction of the audience struck me as...odd.

        It's odd given what has been reported in a lot of media outlets - but according to several of the comments in this JE and a review I read, that was just the most widely reported bit of one suckful performance. Given the way she was apparently acting throughout, their reaction was totally understandable - it's her actions which are weird. Several peo

    • I dunno. I have a longstanding friend of the Republican persuasion (which is not my own persuasion), and I have to opine that an awful lot of them are bumper-sticker-defacers. During eight Clintonian years of Republican political spam (oops, that should read "forwards of relevant messages") from this guy, I got to read everything from accusations of murder (serious) to stuff so filthy or off-color that it made me uneasy to receive it in my corporate inbasket. Of course it was all free speech and as such g
      • 1) Have no sense of humor

        I've often considered writing an entry on the subject of politics and humor, but I don't think it would actually generate meaningful discussion.

        It's my perception that liberal-ish folks are better humored than Republican faithfuls. I don't associate with too many conservatives who aren't die-hard Republicans, so I can't speak for the libertarians and their ilk. I've often wondered if it's just my perception, or if liberals really are more easy going with a better sense of humor
  • or another recently wrote a book called Shut Up & Sing.

    That about sums it up for these dimwads. You dropped out of high school to be a rock n roller... do what you know not what someone tells you. Shut Up & Sing.
  • From New York Daily News (the Long Island paper) gossip page:

    Linda gets Moore support

    "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker Michael Moore is aflame after hearing that Las Vegas' Aladdin Hotel & Casino ejected Linda Ronstadt. As we told you yesterday, Aladdin security showed the singer the door when she hailed Moore as her "Desperado."

    Blasting the move as "stupid and un-American," Moore told the Aladdin president in a letter: "Invite her back and I'll join her in singing 'America the Beautiful' on your stage. Th

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