Artists Network of Refuse & Resist!

The Debate
over Artists Speaking Out

Dixie Chicks Speak and Springsteen Defends Them(news section)

Springsteen on Dixie Chicks

MADONNA on liberty, the war, American life

Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon
(news section)

Hollywood Revives McCarthyism
(3 articles)
Independent UK
Fox News
Washington Times

Michael Moore at the Oscars

Playwright Naomi Wallace "Strange Times"

Hip Hop Artist Michael Franti on Surveillance and Censorship

More on harassment of Michael Franti

MTV Is Wary of Videos on War

Notes from Academy Awards

Sean Penn War Of Words
(Entertainment Weekly)

A Celebrity, but First a Citizen, by Martin Sheen (LA Times)

War prompts Finnish director to boycott Oscars

Media Giant's Rally Sponsorship Raises Questions(Chicago Tribune)

Lesson of 'Hanoi Jane' Leads Antiwar Forces to Shift Strategy(LA Times)

SAG warns against McCarthyism in Hollywood

Blacklist from Page 6 in the NYC reactionary tabloid the NY Post.

Dixie Chick apologizes for antiwar comments. (Entertainment Weekly)

Eleven Reasons to Give Actors a Break, by Sean Gonsalves,
AlterNet

LEONARD GARMENT on misbehaving poets

Boondocks by Aaron McGruder
5/8/2003

More Boondocks

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

Springsteen on Dixie Chicks
From Bruce Springsteen's website: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html

April 22, 2003

The Dixie Chicks have taken a big hit lately for exercising their basic right to express themselves. To me, they're terrific American artists expressing American values by using their American right to free speech. For them to be banished wholesale from radio stations, and even entire radio networks, for speaking out is un-American.

The pressure coming from the government and big business to enforce conformity of thought concerning the war and politics goes against everything that this country is about - namely freedom. Right now, we are supposedly fighting to create freedom in Iraq, at the same time that some are trying to intimidate and punish people for using that same freedom here at home.

I don't know what happens next, but I do want to add my voice to those who think that the Dixie Chicks are getting a raw deal, and an un-American one to boot. I send them my support.

Bruce Springsteen

MADONNA on liberty, the war, American life
From VH1, April 16, 2003

"Madonna sets the record straight for the first time about the withdrawn American Life video. The star also discusses her new album, her feelings on the current state of the world and her family in the VH1 special "Madonna Speaks". Immediately following, VH1 will have the exclusive U.S. premiere of a performance only version of the new "American Life" single.

The half-hour show includes her in-depth interview with Megan Mullally of TV's Will & Grace where the newfound pals cover a variety of topics rarely discussed publicly ranging from where she is now in her life to her views on fame, Hollywood and public opinion. Additionally, Madonna in a second interview, also shares with VH1 viewers her thoughts on the factors that led to her decision to pull the video.

Here's a glimpse at what Madonna has to say:

Madonna on the theme of the first three songs on the album, "American Life," "Hollywood" and "I'm So Stupid" -- "The first three songs on the album are me wanting to shout from the rooftops that we have all been living in a dream. I have been living in a dream -and you're all living in a dream and we have to wake up to reality."

Madonna on the idea that freedom of expression has been compromised in America -- "...you know it's ironic we're fighting for democracy in Iraq because we ultimately aren't celebrating democracy here. Because anybody who has anything to say against the war or against the president or whatever - is punished, and that's not democracy - it's people being intolerant. And you know, everyone's entitled to their opinion, for or against and that's what our constitutional rights are supposed to be, that we all have the freedom to express ourselves and voice our dissent if we have that."

Madonna on what's truly important to her and what helped inspire "American Life" ? "I'm very successful, I've been in the business 20 years, I have lots of 'material' things and I've had lots of beliefs about things and what's important, and I look back at the 20 years behind me and I realized that a lot of things that I'd valued weren't important." http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/madonna_speaks/series_about_special.jhtml

Hollywood Revives McCarthyist Climate By Silencing And Sacking War Critics
By Andrew Gumbel
Independent UK, Monday 21 April 2003

Hollywood is often depicted in the US media as a hotbed of anti-government dissent and left-wing politics but that is not how it feels to Ed Gernon.

Mr Gernon was, until recently, a television producer at CBS responsible for a four-part miniseries on Hitler's rise to power, which will be shown next month. He thought the timing was apt, and said so in an interview with TV Guide magazine. "It basically boils down to an entire nation gripped by fear, who ultimately chose to give up their civil rights and plunged the whole nation into war," he said. "I can't think of a better time to examine this history than now."

That was far too strong for Leslie Moonves, CBS's chief executive, who promptly fired him. No reasons were given, although politics and a strong desire not to fall foul of the Bush administration apparently had plenty to do with it.

Another person who does not find Hollywood particularly liberal these days is the comedian and actress Janeane Garofalo, whose outspoken views on Iraq have made her the object of a vicious e-mail and telephone campaign that has intimidated ABC into pushing her new sitcom, Slice O'Life, into next year's mid-season. Again, the network's fear of losing viewers and advertisers seems rather stronger than its desire to defend one the freedom of speech of its stars.

The clearly emerging pattern is that entertainment personalities who speak out on touchy political subjects -- particularly Iraq do so at their peril. The group intent on stringing up Ms Garofalo, Citizens Against Celebrity Pundits, has campaigned energetically against everyone from Martin Sheen, whose anti-war views led to a credit card commercial of his being scrapped, to Susan Sarandon, dropped as a speaker at a Florida branch of the umbrella charity group United Way, to Sarandon's husband, Tim Robbins, whose invitation to a 15th anniversary screening of the baseball movie Bull Durham at the National Baseball Hall of Fame was withdrawn because the Hall's president, a former Reagan administration press secretary, felt his very presence might undermine the efforts of American troops in Iraq.

Beyond the film world, powerful radio station chains with strong political ties to the Bush White House have been orchestrating boycotts and hate campaigns against several anti-war performers, most notably the Dixie Chicks, the Texas country trio now fearing for their safety -- not to mention their plummeting record sales -- after their singer, Natalie Maines, said at a concert in London last month that she was ashamed to hail from the same state as the President. One radio chain, Cumulus Media, responded by arranging for a tractor to crush Dixie Chicks CDs, tapes and videos in an episode that carried uncomfortable echoes of historical book-burnings and other cultural purges.

The venom behind these campaigns is disturbing enough but there is a second strand to the story. And that is that Hollywood might not be such a liberal place after all. As Robbins said in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington last week: "I am sick of hearing about Hollywood being against this war. Hollywood's heavy hitters, the real power brokers and cover-of-the- magazine stars, have been largely silent on this issue."

While several dozen prominent actors and musicians opposed to military action in Iraq signed up for a celebrity-led group called Artists United To Win Without War, recent experience suggests that they are in the minority. Nowhere was this more clearly illustrated than at the Oscars, when the most outspoken of the evening's war critics, Michael Moore, was roundly booed, and those who had suggested it might be distasteful to go ahead with the shameless glitz of the Academy Awards with the bombs falling on Baghdad were systematically ridiculed by the host, Steve Martin.

The wife of a prominent Hollywood entertainment lawyer who attended a high-powered pre-Oscar dinner party was shocked to find that most of the assembled company was in fact heavily pro-war. "Here they were, all these so-called Hollywood liberals, and they were making jokes about peace activists and cheering on the troops," she said.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with Hollywood actors or executives being less liberal than their stereotype, but there is something troubling in the way in which their public image is manipulated, especially by the political spin doctors in Washington.

Hollywood has long been a favourite target of conservatives, who have repeatedly blamed the entertainment industry for gun violence, or drugs, or sexual promiscuity. Now there is an attempt to dismiss the anti-war celebrities in similar fashion as morally irresponsible, overpaid know-nothings who would do better to keep their mouths shut.

Mike Farrell, one-time star of Mash who is now one of the industry's most prominent liberal activists, sees a distinct political strategy at work. "The suggestion that Hollywood speaks with one voice is of course silly," he said, "but the perspective articulated consistently in the media, courtesy of the right wing, is that celebrities are taking advantage of their forum to spew left-wing views. What this is really about is stifling dissent on a national scale. It does not matter a whit whether we are celebrities or not. What galls them so much is that we have access to the media."

The intimidation experienced by Ed Gernon, the CBS producer, or the Dixie Chicks, is certainly having its effect. In his speech to the National Press Club, Robbins cited an unnamed "famous middle-aged rock-and-roller" who thanked him for speaking out against the war but said he did not dare do the same himself because of the power of Clear Channel, the nation's largest radio station owner, which has an unabashed pro-Bush agenda. "They promote our concert appearances," the rocker said. "They own most of the stations that play our music. I can't come out against the war."

The Screen Actors Guild has likened the atmosphere to the McCarthy-era anti-Communist witch-hunts of the 1950s. It issued a statement saying that no performer should be denied work on the basis of his or her political beliefs. "Even a hint of the blacklist must never again be tolerated in this nation," it said.

Within three hours of that statement being posted, the guild was inundated with the by now familiar deluge of hate mail. Nevertheless, the statement remains steadfastly posted on the guild's website.
Copyright 2003 by TruthOut.org

Hollywood Revives McCarthyism (continued)

From Fox News:
Thursday, April 17, 2003
By Liza Porteus NEW YORK

Now that the big battles of Operation Iraqi Freedom are over and Iraq is on its way to establishing a democratic government, there are questions over whether anti-war celebrities will suffer backlash for their vocal stances.

"Let's face it - they're getting an awful lot of flack for this - they had to have known that going into it," said Robert Thompson, director for Syracuse University's Center for the Study of Popular Television.

Big Hollywood names like West Wing star Martin Sheen, actress and comedian Janeane Garofalo, actor Tim Robbins and his long-time actress partner Susan Sarandon - and let's not forget country-music stars the Dixie Chicks - have been slapped with harsh criticism over the past few months for being such vocal critics of not only the war in Iraq, but of the Bush administration.

No way will this war turn out well, they said, as they served as spokesmen and women for various anti-war groups like Not in Our Name.

Their actions had repercussions then and will likely have more now.

"When those various Hollywood people were speaking out, they were getting a lot of negative response for it, they're getting negative response from it now and if they continue to do it, they will get negative response for it then," Thompson said. ABC was flooded with calls and e-mails from viewers threatening to boycott the network and its advertisers if a sitcom featuring Garofalo went on the air.

The Dixie Chicks, who, while overseas, said they were "embarrassed" that President Bush is from their home state of Texas, may have their Lipton tea commercial shelved. A myriad of country music stations refused to play their music after the comment.

The baseball Hall of Fame canceled a 15th anniversary celebration of the film Bull Durham that was to feature co-stars Sarandon and Robbins, while the United Way of Tampa Bay canceled an event after people complained about guest star Sarandon's anti-war views.

So will these celebrities forge ahead on their anti-war path? "These celebrities, they choose to enter a profession where they entertain the American public as a whole," said Lori Bardsley, a Summerfield, N.C., resident who set up Citizens Against Celebrity Pundits. "If they open their mouths on political issues, religious issues and moral issues, they should expect a backlash because we all have differing opinions.

"They have the right to speak freely as an American citizen but it will affect the profession they choose." But one source familiar with the group Artists United to Win Without War, with which Robbins, Sarandon, Sheen and Garofalo are affiliated, said the stars have no plans to hide away in silence, especially since most of them have even sharper criticisms of Bush and his White House team when it comes to foreign policy.

"The anti-war movement never stopped for a minute," the source said.

At the National Press Club in Washington Tuesday, Robbins said that while he and Susan "have been listed as traitors, supporters of Saddam and other epithets," many people, including musicians and other artists, are happy that some are speaking out because they themselves had to be silent to protect their careers.

"It is time to get angry, it is time to get fierce. It doesn't take much to shift the tide - a bully can be stopped and so can a mob," he said.

Some stars promised to take it all back if the war went well. Garofalo told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly that if the Iraqis were happy with their liberation, she would bring a fruitcake and orchids to the White House and apologize to Bush.

"I would be so willing to say, 'I'm sorry,'" Garofalo said. "I hope to God that I can be made a buffoon of, that people will say, 'You were wrong. You were a fatalist.' And I will go to the White House on my knees on cut glass and say ' I shouldn't have doubted you."

Sheen told Paul Bond of The Hollywood Reporter that he's "always open to the possibility that I'm wrong," but when asked if he would publicly state that maybe his anti-war rhetoric was too harsh, Sheen promised Bond a dinner where they would "see who eats who."

But no apologies have been heard yet and some say the American people are waiting. "I don't think the American people will ever forget what they did," Bardsley said. "They put so much money and so much behind an effort that brought about the most anti-American vile sentiment we've seen in a long time - when our troops were put in harm's way."

Meanwhile, opposition to the anti-war crowd is getting louder.

Citizens United, a group behind pro-troop campaigns, sponsored "Rally for the Troops, Rally for America," an event in Washington last Saturday that drew about 20,000 participants.

Guests included Watergate-era Nixon official G. Gordon Liddy, country music superstar Aaron Tippin, former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., former Reagan White House official Linda Chavez, former senator and actor Fred Thompson and "The Singing Cop" Danny Rodriguez.

Entertainer/politico/pundit Ben Stein couldn't show up, but he sent in a video message. "I think the American people realize just how out of touch with reality they [vocal anti-war celebrities] are and a lot of times, the celebrities don't know what they're talking about - they don't have the facts, so they kind of make these missteps," said David Bossie, president of Citizens United. "But then they get caught, and then my god, the whole world comes crashing down."

While celebrities are in a great position to rally for good causes, Bossie said, this time, it may come around to bite them where it hurts.

"Celebrities have to understand that actions have consequences," he said. "If they are willing to take those actions and are educated to what the risks are and they still feel that way, fine. I think they're really putting themselves in a position that can cause them and their careers a lot of harm."

Hollywood Revives McCarthyism (continued)

Celebrities sing antiwar tune as hostilities wind down
By Jennifer Harper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The war is over, troops are coming home, domestic matters are on the mend in Iraq. But the criticisms keep coming. Some celebrities are stuck in complaint mode.

"What's next? Will the Bush administration install a puppet government in Iraq?... Will American corporations with uncomfortably close White House and Pentagon connections reap the spoils of war? Will the United States use this victory as a blank check to go after every other government we don't like?" asks Barbra Streisand in her latest statement, posted at her personal Web site (www.barbrastreisand.com).

"The 'thrill' of war and victory can become addicting," Miss Streisand continued. "The Republican domestic agenda consists entirely of tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations."

Miss Streisand's ire is typical of the "horror" that remains among antiwar folk in the war's aftermath, explains Xochitl Johnson of Not in Our Name, the California-based group that organized an antiwar petition signed by scores of Hollywood's elite.

"This isn't over. We're just digging in now," Miss Johnson said yesterday.

"Everybody, celebrities included, can't suspend their principles because the Iraq war ended. And thanks to all the Ed Asners and Susan Sarandons out there, Bush did not have absolute complicity in the war. The whole world was not going, 'rah rah rah.' " Still, there must be some reinvention to maintain public interest. Miss Johnson promises that her group will explore "what's next" when they meet in San Francisco next weekend. Meanwhile, rehashing the old guns vs. butter debate has become an effective Act II for the famous who want to continue their diatribes.

"Since September 11, it looks like we can't hold two guns at the same time," former President Bill Clinton said last week.

"If you fight terrorism, you can't make America a better place to be."

Filmmaker Michael Moore remains annoyed at the Bush administration, telling a Texas audience April 15 that Americans naturally back a leader in times of national tragedy but hinted that a "Wag the Dog" scenario is afoot.

"It's not about the weapons of mass destruction; it's about the weapons of mass distraction," Mr. Moore said, suggesting that war is a deft way to pull public interest away from domestic troubles.

Then there's always the First Amendment. In a new TV special on cable channel VH1, Madonna voiced her displeasure.

"It's ironic that we were fighting for democracy in Iraq because we ultimately aren't celebrating democracy here," she said. "Anybody who has anything to say against the war or against the president or whatever is punished, and that's not democracy."

Celebrities with complicated finances probably won't contact the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, which advises Americans to forgo paying federal income taxes to voice political beliefs. "War Tax Resistance during the Reign of W" will be the theme of the group's conference near San Francisco on May 16.

Some celebrities are capitalizing on the negative public backlash to their antiwar beliefs. In an appearance at the National Press Club on Tuesday, actor Tim Robbins railed against "talk-radio patriots," among others, who criticized his political views and those of his companion, Susan Sarandon.

The Dixie Chicks, recently boycotted by country music fans after lead singer Natalie Maines said she was "ashamed" of President Bush, will be featured on ABC's "Primetime" on Thursday to tell their side of the story.

And after muffling his antiwar views after an unpopular visit to Iraq last December, actor Sean Penn has a new project. The actor begins work this month on "The Assassination of Richard Nixon," playing Samuel Byck, who threatened former president in 1974

Michael Moore at the Oscars
by C.J.
Revolutionary Worker #1194, April 13, 2003, posted at rwor.org

My Oscar "Backlash": "Stupid White Men" Back At #1, "Bowling" Breaks New Records, April 7th, 2003

A Letter from Michael Moore, "I'd Like to Thank the Vatican", March 27, 2003

In a year when a huge section of the planet's populace is actively arrayed against the war-making of the U.S. government, you had to hope SOMETHING wild would happen at the Academy Awards. We were not disappointed. Half a dozen or more actors took their time at the podium to speak against the war or at least to acknowledge that people are suffering because of this war. (One heartfelt remark came from Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal from Y Tu Mama Tambien , who introduced the best song nomination for "Frida": "The necessity for peace in the world is not a dream. It is a reality, and we are not alone. If Frida [Kahlo] were alive, she'd be on our side, against war.") At least 30 people appeared on stage or in the audience wearing dove or peace symbols.

But you'd have to say that the "keynote address" was given by filmmaker Michael Moore, whose breathtaking 55 seconds at the mic gave backbone and context to all the other notes of protest. Moore won best documentary feature for Bowling for Columbine, a radical film whose great popularity has itself given lie to the idea that America is simply the land of fat sheep.

As Moore walked up to the stage to accept the award, the world witnessed the whole hall jump to their feet in appreciative applause.

Moore"s acceptance speech: "Whoa. On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan from Canada, I'd like to thank the Academy for this. I have invited my fellow documentary nominees on the stage with us, and they're here in solidarity with me because we like nonfiction. We like nonfiction and we live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fictition of duct tape or fictition of orange alerts we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you." At that point, the orchestra started up, nearly drowning out Moore's final remarks which were: "Any time you've got both the pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, you're not long for the White House."

Watching this on TV was electrifying. Moore described some of the controversy in a March 27 piece in the L.A. Times : "Before I had finished my first sentence about the fictitious president, a couple of men (some reported it was `stagehands' just to the left of me) near a microphone started some loud yelling. Then a group in the upper balcony joined in. What was so confusing to me, as I continued my remarks, was that I could hear this noise but looking out on the main floor, I didn't see a single person booing. But then the majority in the balcony--who were in support of my remarks--started booing the booers. It all turned into one humungous cacophony of yells and cheers and jeers. And all I'm thinking is, `Hey, I put on a tux for this?'

Moore took a lot of heat for declaring the emperor has no clothes and is vicious to boot. But this filmmaker has some very wide shoulders, based--from what I can tell--on a big love for the people and one helluva sense of humor.

Discussing his inspiration for his acceptance speech, Moore wrote: "I found myself [on Oscar day], at the Church of the Good Shepherd on Santa Monica Boulevard, at Mass with my sister and my dad. My problem with the Catholic Mass is that sometimes I find my mind wandering after I hear something the priest says, and I start thinking all these crazy thoughts like how it is wrong to kill people and that you are not allowed to use violence upon another human being unless it is in true self-defense.

"The pope even came right out and said it: This war in Iraq is not a just war and, thus, it is a sin...

"As I walked up to the stage, I was still thinking about the lessons that morning at Mass. About how silence, when you observe wrongs being committed, is the same as committing those wrongs yourself. And so I followed my conscience and my heart."

"On the way back home to Flint, Mich., the day after the Oscars, two flight attendants told me how they had gotten stuck overnight in Flint with no flight--and wound up earning only $30 for the day because they are paid by the hour. They said they were telling me this in the hope that I would tell others. Because they, and the millions like them, have no voice. They don't get to be commentators on cable news like the bevy of retired generals we've been watching all week. (Can we please demand that the U.S. military remove its troops from ABC/CBS/NBC/ CNN/MSNBC/Fox?) They don't get to make movies or talk to a billion people on Oscar night. They are the American majority who are being asked to send their sons and daughters over to Iraq to possibly die so Bush's buddies can have the oil.

"Who will speak for them if I don't? That's what I do, or try to do, every day of my life, and March 23, 2003-- though it was one of the greatest days of my life and an honor I will long cherish--was no different." http://rwor.org/A/V24/1191-1200/1194/moore.htm

Playwright Naomi Wallace "Strange Times"

STRANGE TIMES
Saturday March 29, 2003
The Guardian (UK)

Continuing our series on political theatre, Naomi Wallace argues that playwrights have a duty to engage with the here and now.

I have no problem with calling myself a political writer. I do, however, have a bone to pick with the question: "Do you consider yourself a political writer?" It suggests, perhaps more insidiously in the US (especially the south, where I am from) than in Britain, a certain narrowing of vision, a less than "human" exploration of life forces within the writing itself. Perhaps the problem is the very term "political": most often it is used to mean theatre with a left-wing axe to grind. So, among other things, the question carries with it a hackle-raising, almost indiscernible whiff of red-baiting: "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the...?"

Added to this, there is the fairly mainstream notion that ideas and political theory are limiting for writers, if not downright hostile to talent and the "real", and that truth springs from the individual, unencumbered by the blinkers of politicking. Only some superior "individual experience", the tiresome argument goes, can provide the writer with authentic organic matter from which to draw words and images. And yet the fact is that the individual and the cultural values and ideologies of his or her time are intimately and intricately linked.

Think chicken and egg. Why should we divorce these elements from one another? Instead of asking them about politics, we might ask writers whether they consider themselves engaged. Engaged, for example, with questions of power and its myriad forms; questions of who has it and who doesn't, and the reasons why. Questions of what happens to those who struggle with their disempowerment; who we are allowed to touch, what colour of skin articulates which desire; what orifices are worthy of worship; which of us is beaten to death for not following the rule book on acceptable sexual conduct - all these are questions intimately connected to our social contracts. I admit - and this is an unfashionable confession - I write from ideas. I do not start by drawing from the well of authentic experience uncontaminated by the dead carcass of "issues". I write to explore theories. My new play, Things of Dry Hours, began when I read the book Hammer and Hoe by the brilliant historian and cultural critic Robin DG Kelley. It is a history of the Alabama communist party during the great depression of the 1930s.

Built from scratch by working people who had no Euro-American radical political tradition, it was composed largely of blacks, most of whom were semi-literate and religious. It also attracted a handful of whites. What ideas fired the imaginations of these people? What kind of dreams did they dream for another kind of America? In other words, what were the intimate motivations and repercussions of this political movement and social milieu?

But the play is, finally, a love story, and as Kelley and other blazing historians like Peter Rachleff and Howard Zinn have taught me, joining the communist party back then was an intensely personal act that had everything to do with love and desire. If one could not feed one's children (and being able to feed one's children is still in itself an act of love), then joining the party and striking for better pay was an act of hope to ensure the family's survival. One of the many communist party projects was working against house evictions, which leads again to the question of desire: if you didn't have a roof over your head, if you didn't even have a bed in which to fuck your lover, your personal life took an ugly downturn.

Clearly, the facile opposition between the political and the poetic, as it were, makes no sense. Look at one of the greatest successes in 20th-century theatre, Tony Kushner's Angels in America. It is an intensely political piece dealing with topical issues - but it is also sexy, entertaining and a deeply personal experience. Politicised theatre is a scarce commodity, whereas writers delving into the human soul, anguished or otherwise, represent the vast majority of playwriting. And the human-soul school of writing has produced an awful lot of bad, bad stuff. Writing that seeks to be oppositional or defamiliarising, to turn history upside down or tackle pressing social problems has the virtue of at least attempting to unsettle us, to make us act out.

So who's afraid of the political? Certainly not the great writers of the past, who saw topical political and socio-economic issues as their subject. Look at the Greek playwrights or Shakespeare. Where would Spenser be without the colonisation of Ireland, or Milton without the English civil war? Historically, writers have not been above politics, the consciences of the nation unsullied by the dirt of everyday bickerings. No, they have - to stick with British and American writers - been up to their elbows in the muck and blood of empire-building and its repercussions at home.

Which isn't to say that theatre writers, novelists and poets haven't been just as passionately in support of empire and war as they have been against it. The point is, writers have not and should not now exempt themselves from dealing with the pressing politics of the time. Today it is, once again, war and empire. And it is with these monstrosities that we should engage in one form or another. What would Euripides, Marlowe or Brecht have done? They would have made these times strange, to use a Brechtian formula, so that an audience could see their society anew and possibly act on those new visions. Why settle for a lesser goal?

It is quiet where I live with my family in Yorkshire, so far from the war. But, writing here alone, it is sustenance to know of a growing community of courageous playwrights who are working - on and, importantly, off the stage - to confront and resist racism and empire. In the US there is Kia Corthron, Robert O'Hara, Kushner, Lisa Schlesinger, Betty Shamieh, Richard Montoya and August Wilson; in Britain think of Trevor Griffiths, Edward Bond, Sarah Daniels, Biyi Bandele, April de Angelis, Mark Ravenhill, Gary Mitchell. Political theatre, engaged theatre, whatever damn name you want to call it, is not diminished by ideas of justice or theories of resistance. On the contrary, ideas and theories are the elemental sparks from heaven. We can only pray that these sparks burn a hole through our skulls and stir our hands to writing.

And so for today, let us use these sparks to imagine, in every detail, the hundreds of new ghosts that our governments are creating in Iraq. We can make these ghosts real. We can open our doors to them, invite them to sit at our tables. We can talk to them about the theories and ideas that have killed them. And we can make a choice not to let their murder go unrecorded.

Naomi Wallace's The Retreating World is at the Latchmere, London SW11, until tomorrow. Box office: 020-7978 7040

More on Naomi Wallace and Imagine: Iraq

Even More on Naomi Wallace

Hip Hop Artist Michael Franti on Surveillance and Censorship

Hip Hop Artist Michael Franti Speaks Out on U.S. Government Surveillance of his Band and MTV Self-Censorship

"There's a lot of us who are now making a blip on the radar... [the government is] starting to pay attention and collect information."

"Our label received a letter, a mass e-mail from MTV instructing the fact that no videos could be shown that mentioned the word bombing or war."

From national radio show, DEMOCRACY NOW! March 27, 2003, on Pacifica network

Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! Host: For nearly a decade hip-hop artist and activist Michael Franti has been a leading progressive voice in music. He grew out of the Bay area music and political scene of the 90's and in 1986 he founded the drum and bass duo "The Beatnigs" paving the way for his next musical endeavor "The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy". His most recent musical project is the musical collective "Spearhead" begun in 1994 and he's used his music to push social boundaries, speaks out against sexual violence, encourages his community to prevent the spread of HIV and has been very vocal in his opposition to war. And now it maybe the reason why the government is looking at him and his group Spearhead. Welcome to Democracy Now Michael.

Michael Franti: Hi Amy.

Amy Goodman: It's good to have you with us. Can you talk about what's been happening as you've been touring the country with songs like "Bomb da World."

Michael Franti: Well we've been touring for the last year and a half performing that song and everywhere we go it gets standing ovations, people begin to cry. People are just very grateful to hear any voice out there right now who are speaking in support of peace and human rights.

Amy Goodman: What's happened as you've been on this tour?

Michael Franti: Well, what's happened most recently is that we performed at a rally on March 15th in San Francisco and the next day on the 16th - that, that rally was out here - and on the 16th on the East Coast, a band member of mine who prefers to go unnamed, his mother received a visit from two plain clothes men from the military and this band member of mine has a sibling who is in the Gulf. And they came in and talked to her and said you have a child who's in the gulf and you have a child who's in this band Spearhead who's part of the "resistance" in their words, and they had pictures of us performing the day before at the rally, they had pictures of us performing at some of our annual concerts that we put on that are in support of peace and human rights. They had his flight records for the past several months, they had the names of everybody who works in my office, our management office "Guerilla Management". They had his checking account records. They asked his mother a lot of questions about where he was, what he was doing in this place, why he was going here. They confiscated his sibling's CD collection that they had brought over to listen to while they were in the Gulf, and basically were intimidating - told her which members of the press she could talk to and which members of the press she should not speak to.

And basically what this signals to me is that - I don't feel like we're being particularly singled out or under any investigation for any activity because all the activity that we do is very much above board and all the events where photos were taken out were all public things we were at. But what it does signal to me is that there's a lot of us who are now making a blip on the radar, you know, whether we're organizers at rallies, whether we're musicians, whether we're people who are speaking out, authors, writers, actors. And we're beginning to make little blips on the radar. They're starting to pay attention and collect information about what's going on. You know, more important to me or more important than me you know, being a part of that is the fact that our civil rights are being eroded across the board for every person.

And for musicians in particular it's a really hard time. Last week our label received a letter, a mass e-mail from MTV instructing the fact that no videos could be shown that mentioned the word bombing or war. No videos could be shown that had protesters in it. Any footage from military - they gave a list of prior videos that could not be shown, yet MTV has aired videos that show troops saying goodbye to their loved ones and going off to war in a very heroic fashion and troops which are gonna be coming home traumatized, wounded and dead and then be treated and thrown onto the scrap heap of veterans, as we've seen veterans treated in this country. And at the Academy Awards, there were also letters and talk that went around saying not to speak out. Radio - mainstream radio, Clear Channel in particular, of course has put the word out not to air songs that are in opposition to the war and in support of peace. Meanwhile, our song "Bomb Da World" which we just put out is now in heavy rotation on a top youth radio station in Australia and in Denmark and it's expected to get added to a lot of stations in other countries.

Amy Goodman: A few days ago, Democracy Now! Correspondent Jeremy Scahill and I were at the Ani DiFranco concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center to talk about Democracy Now and the importance of independent media in a time of war, just before she went on. And Clear Channel, which owns New Jersey Performing Arts Center, runs that venue, told her no political information could be given out and threatened - it seemed the venue threatened to close down the concert if there was any political speech.

Michael Franti: It's incredible, it's outrageous and I think it's something that we all need to be aware of and need to support the art, you know, whether it's music, whether it's films, whether it's dance performances or whatever, this is the last place, apart from Pacifica and a few other stations around the country, where these voices are being heard.

Amy Goodman: And Clear Channel that runs 1,200 radio stations now, runs many of the big venues in this country for musicians.

Michael Franti: So it's important that we call these stations and demand that these voices be heard.

Amy Goodman: Well Michael Franti, I want to thank you for being with us, as we go out with your voice, with "Bomb Da World."
Listen to Interview: RealAudio|| MP3U

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More on harassment
of Michael Franti
[Note: Artists Network quoted in article below]
2003 (San Francisco Chronicle)
Saturday, April 5

Artists react to tale of intimidation/Investigators visited mom of hip-hop band member, says musician

Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer

Politically active artists have been shaken by the alleged visit of military investigators to the family of an outspoken San Francisco hip-hop band member, calling it one in a series of moves aimed at silencing dissenting musicians and actors.

The incident surfaced a week ago when Michael Franti, the front man for the band Spearhead, told Pacifica Radio network's "Democracy Now" that military investigators visited the mother of an unnamed band member in Boston. The woman also has a daughter stationed with U.S. military forces in the Middle East.

The mother, whom Franti also declined to name for her safety, said plainclothes investigators appeared at her door on March 16, showing pictures of the band performing at an anti-war demonstration the previous day in San Francisco, Franti said. They questioned her about entries made in her son's checking account, his travel records for the past several months, and his general whereabouts, Franti said.

Franti said they told the woman which members of the press she could talk to, and which she couldn't. They had confiscated CDs her daughter had brought to the Middle East, calling two Spearhead albums "the resistance."

"They were basically just intimidating," said Franti, 36, who told The Chronicle Friday he isn't intimidated by the incident.

Descriptions of the alleged encounter have gone out via underground and Internet channels. But the details are so vague that a spokeswoman for the secretary of defense said Friday she can't comment "because there aren't enough details to comment on anything."

Still, artists and others familiar with Franti's longtime commitment to social justice are supporting him.

The 7-year-old Spearhead has appeared on stage with artists including the Dave Matthews Band and Ani DiFranco, and has performed at several recent anti- war demonstrations in San Francisco.

"That story that Michael Franti told was just chilling to the bone," said Connie Julian, national coordinator for The Artists Network of Refuse and Resist, a 3-year-old support network.

"It has steeled some people to speak out more, and it makes some people shut up," Julian said. "But mostly, I hear people talking about how they want to do something about it."

The alleged incident comes amid a backlash toward artists who spoke out against the war at the Grammy Awards and the Oscars, and after the leak of an internal memo from MTV Europe, the overseas arm of the video channel, claiming the channel would not play videos that mentioned the word bombing or war because of heightened sensitivities.

MTV spokesman Graham James said Friday that the leaked document was never intended to be implemented.

"There is absolutely no MTV policy anywhere in the world banning war- related music videos," James said in a statement. "The memo was only a recommendation from a staffer and was not and will not be implemented. It was ludicrous. In the U.S. and everywhere, all voices have been and will continue to be heard on MTV."

A line from Spearhead's song, "Bomb The World," has become a rallying cry -- and a popular T-shirt -- in the anti-war movement. "You can bomb the world to pieces," Franti sings, "but you can't bomb it into peace."

MTV Is Wary of Videos on War
By NEIL STRAUSS
March 26, 2003, New York Times

Though images of war are dominating television screens, one channel is not having it. The day after the war in Iraq started, a memo was distributed through the offices of MTV Europe by its broadcast standards department.

In the memo, Mark Sunderland, one of the department's managers, recommends that music videos depicting "war, soldiers, war planes, bombs, missiles, riots and social unrest, executions" and "other obviously sensitive material" not be shown on MTV in Britain and elsewhere in Europe until further notice.

The memo cites explicit examples. These include videos that relate directly to the war in Iraq, like "Boom!" by System of a Down; videos with bombs exploding, like Billy Idol's "Hot in the City"; videos with war scenes, like Radiohead's "Lucky"; and even Aerosmith's "Don't Want to Miss a Thing," which has scenes from the action movie "Armageddon."

Taking further cautionary measures, the memo goes on to advise against showing videos in which lyrics, song titles or even band names allude to war, bombs or other "sensitive words." It mentions the songs "B.O.B (Bombs Over Baghdad)" by Outkast; "You, Me and World War Three" by Gavin Friday; and anything by the B-52's.

"I guess MTV doesn't have a research department, because from Day 1 we've said in interviews that our name is a slang term for the bouffant hairdo Kate and Cindy used to wear -- nothing to do with bombers, " said Fred Schneider of the B-52's, referring to fellow band members.

Oddly, the memo also mentions "Invasion" by Radiohead, although a spokesman for the band said he was unaware of any song by the group with that title.

A spokeswoman for MTV Networks said that the memo applied only to MTV in Europe. She also said that the videos listed were not banned but simply singled out as examples of the kinds of videos that it is advising against showing. She added, however, without elaboration, that MTV in the United States was also "being responsive to the heightened sensitivities of its audience."

The rap mogul Russell Simmons and the rapper Mos Def have said that MTV in the United States would not show antiwar public service commercials they had created. The MTV spokeswoman, who insisted on anonymity, confirmed this, saying in an e-mail message that "MTV does not accept advocacy ads."

In the MTV Europe memo, Mr. Sunderland cites as justification the programming code of the Independent Television Commission, the regulatory body for commercial television in Britain. The code sets down rules against programming that "offends against good taste or decency." The code makes no mention of banning references to war, bombs and planes during wartime, though it does include language against the portrayal of violence during times when children may be watching.

The MTV Europe memo is a stark example of a trend that has been occurring at other radio and music-video outlets in America and Europe as stations become more careful about the content of songs they play during wartime. Yet a company's policy is not always consistent among its divisions in different countries.

Serj Tankian, the singer in the hard rock band System of a Down, said that MTV in Britain was not showing his band's new video, "Boom!," but that MTV in the United States was. (The MTV spokeswoman confirmed this.) The video was directed by the Oscar-winning documentary maker Michael Moore and shows scenes of peace marches around the world. Meanwhile, Mr. Tankian said, the music-video network MuchMusic in Canada is showing "Boom!," but MuchMusic USA is not.

Georgia Juvelis, a spokeswoman for MuchMusic USA, said that the video had not yet been shown but still might be. It is not being added to the regular rotation but may be added to a show, "Oven Fresh," in which viewers vote on the videos they want to see.

BBC Radio 1 recently removed the song "Bandages," by the rock group Hot Hot Heat, from its playlist, fearing that the repetition of the word "bandages" in the song may upset some listeners.

In the meantime several radio promoters at record labels said that the biggest radio conglomerate in the United States, Clear Channel, though known for its conservative policies, had not expressed any overt policy about altering its playlist.

Free Music

After 9/11 one of the first musicians to take on an activist role was Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, the highly influential 22-year-old underground rock band. Mr. Moore began compiling little-known articles on world events, most with a liberal intellectual viewpoint, and distributing them to friends.

"I've always been a frustrated editor," he said.

Another one of Mr. Moore's longtime fantasies was to have a label that gave away music free. "I thought it would be great to be in a band that made millions of dollars that could do something like that, but it never panned out," Mr. Moore said, referring to earning millions. "I liked the idea because it would drive retail stores crazy. Originally the ideas were more far-fetched, like hiding the records around the city so that people had to find them."

Now, with Chris Habib, Sonic Youth's Webmaster and technology whiz, Mr. Moore has started his own free music label, Protest Records. Using more practical means of distribution, Protest Records is giving its music away as MP3's on the Internet at www.protest-records.com.

Eight songs are on the site, most advocating peace or questioning the motives for the current war. Besides songs by Cat Power, the Beastie Boys, and Stephan Smith, there is music by more avant-garde acts like Eugene Chadbourne and Sharon Cheslow. Mr. Moore also said that he had been contacted by R.E.M., Mudhoney, Zach de la Rocha, the Fugs, Christian Marclay and Ian MacKaye, who all intend to submit songs.

The inspiration for the label, he said, came when he attended a benefit at the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church in the East Village and heard Steven Taylor, a guitarist in the current incarnation of the Fugs. Mr. Taylor sang a song called "Go Down, Congress," which he wrote about the relationship between Dick Cheney and the oil-services company Halliburton. "I thought, this is a great protest song, but there are only a hundred people in this room who are ever going to hear it," Mr. Moore said.

So he decided to start Protest Records, so little-known musicians and songwriters could have their work appear alongside that of higher-profile bands. He is accepting any protest music by any act, especially those making more challenging and avant-garde music. And the songs do not all have to be about the current war, he said; they can be in opposition to any issue.

"The music can even be instrumental," Mr. Moore said. "It's all about the intent of the expression. Someone can send in a 15-minute drone piece and say it's their antiwar song, and if they're sincere about it, I'll see it as a valid criteria for adding it to our site."
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

NOTES from ACADEMY AWARDS, MARCH 26
Notes from acceptance speeches at Academy Awards
Sunday night. (Compiled from reports from LA Times, Entertainment Weekly and www.thenation.com, www.commondreams.org and NY Times.) Also see J. Hoberman article in Village Voice, http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0313/fhoberman.php

This was maybe one of the most politicized Academy Award show in recent history. "I saw a total of thirty people with silver dove pins or peace symbols on their lapels and gowns shown on camera either while in their seats or at the 'podium.' Eight people used their time at the podium to speak for peace, against war or at least to acknowledge that people are suffering because of war." (Steven Shultz, www.commondreams.org) [Scarcely anyone was wearing pro-war/patriotic paraphernalia.]

Michael Moore won best documentary for BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE . His acceptance speech: "Whoa. On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan from Canada, I'd like to thank the Academy for this. I have invited my fellow documentary nominees on the stage with us, and we would like to -- they're here in solidarity with me because we like nonfiction. We like nonfiction and we live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fictition of duct tape or fictition of orange alerts we are against this war, Mr.Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you. And any time you got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time is up. Thank you very much. [see and hear what he said BACKSTAGE after: http://www.oscars.com/oscarnight/vod.html]

Entertainment Weekly reports: "[The Academy] producers tried to cut off Michael Moore's anti-Bush speech, with director Louis Horvitz yelling ''Music, music!'' toward its conclusion, the LA Times reported. Among those booing Moore's speech were the production's stagehands, one of whom angrily confronted the filmmaker backstage, according to the LA Times.

[from AN: I wondered why the booing of Moore's speech erupted so quickly and so loudly, considering he got a standing ovation as he walked up to the stage. The booing stage hands may account for some of the volume here. The audience reaction was not shown on TV.]

Steve Martin appeared a little later and quipped, "The Teamsters are helping Michael Moore into the trunk of his limo."

Adrien Brody won, unexpectedly, for best actor in the anti-holocaust film "The Pianist", which also surprised people by winning best director for Roman Polanski. Brody in his acceptance speech said: "There comes a time when everything seems to make sense. This is not one of those times." The orchestra started to drown him out after he'd taken his allotted 45 seconds and he demanded to go on, "Come on! I only get one shot at this-- I am also filled with a lot of sadness tonight because I am accepting an award at such a strange time. My experiences in making this film made me very aware of the sadness and the dehumanization of people at times of war. Whomever you believe in, if it's God or Allah, may he watch over you, and let's pray for a peaceful and swift resolution," Brody said. He also gave a shout-out to his boyhood friend from Queens who is currently part of armed forces in Iraq. This was all that many news stories focused on the day after.

Chris Cooper won for best supporting actor, and gave the first anti-war comment of the night: "In light of all the trouble in this world, I wish us all peace."

Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal (from "Y Tu Mama Tambien"), introduced the best song nomination for "Frida" by saying, ""The necessity for peace in the world is not a dream. It is a reality, and we are not alone. If Frida [Kahlo] were alive, she'd be on our side, against war."

Elliot Goldenthal won for his song in "Frida" song and dedicated his award "to the bridges that we tried to build, to the people of Mexico, to the artistic tradition and legacy of personal and political art."

Actress Susan Sarandon flashed a peace sign as she appeared on the stage.

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, an outspoken foe of the war who won the best original screenplay award for his film "Talk to Her," dedicated his Oscar "to all the people that are raising their voices in favor of peace, respect of human rights, democracy and international legality."

Actress Barbra Streisand defended free speech rights. [Apparently she had to demand a last minute rewrite of their presentation.]

From LA TIMES: "An attempt by dozens of protesters -- trying to make good on a vow made earlier in the week to shut down the Oscars -- failed to get close. The protesters ran up Sunset Boulevard in the direction of the theater, but they were quickly turned back by police who converged on the street in high numbers, sirens blaring.

"Protesters--hoisted placards with faux movieposters: "Apocalypse No!" "I See Dead People." "The Sick Sense." As stars passed by in their limousines some rolled down the windows to flash the peace sign or popped up from sun roofs to snap pictures of the demonstrators. From the sidewalk, the non-typical Oscar bystanders pleaded with the limo passengers to take a stand. "Speak out! Speak out!" they chanted.

"By 6 p.m., after the ceremony had begun, police officers ordered the crowd to disperse as required by their permit and threatened arrests. The jail bus was positioned nearby. Ten people were arrested on suspicion of unlawful assembly and assault on police officers."

Sean Penn War Of Words
Sean Penn claims there's a new Hollywood blacklist, but is there even a backlash against A-list protesters?
by Benjamin Svetkey
Brian M. Raftery
March 21, 2003, Entertainment Weekly

As far as we know, Sean Penn is not now nor has he ever been a member of the Communist Party. Unlike his father, director Leo Penn, a victim of the Hollywood witch-hunts of the 1950s, he's never been threatened by a Congressional subcommittee on un-American activities, pressured to name names, or hounded by anyone named McCarthy (except perhaps Andrew).

But on Feb. 11, the 42-year-old actor filed a $10 million lawsuit in a California civil court declaring that "the dark era of Hollywood blacklisting" has returned. His nemesis: Steve Bing, the wildly wealthy producer and playboy (and card-carrying contributor to the Democratic Party) who grabbed headlines last year by furiously insisting that he was not the father of Elizabeth Hurley's baby (turned out he was).

Penn asserts in the lawsuit that he and Bing had an oral contract to make a comedy called Why Men Shouldn't Marry, but that Bing reneged because of Penn's trip to Baghdad and his outspoken opposition to war with Iraq (which the actor shared with the world on Larry King Weekend in January, a few days before he was allegedly fired from Bing's film). Bing, not surprisingly, denies Penn's allegations, insists the two never sealed any agreement, oral or otherwise, and has filed a $15 million countersuit describing Penn as "crazy and irrational" and charging him with ''civil extortion.''

Of course, disputes between actors and producers have been clogging California courts for decades. But blacklist is too powerful a word in Hollywood to be simply ignored. So, is there, as Penn claims, a new blacklist? Is there even a backlash?

At first glance you'd certainly think so. Penn, after all, isn't the only celebrity to run into trouble in the delicate cultural climate of post-9/11 Hollywood. Bill Maher's ABC talk show Politically Incorrect was yanked after he argued that the word coward might not be the most accurate description of the terrorist hijackers. Richard Gere's pleas for "love, compassion, and understanding" during The Concert for New York City in October 2001 nearly got him booed off the stage. During a radio interview, actor David Clennon (thirtysomething's Miles Drentell) compared President Bush to a Nazi, prompting some 1,200 letters demanding that CBS fire him from The Agency. George Clooney was somewhat more diplomatic when he likened Bush to Tony Soprano, but that remark is causing him headaches too. Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly made Clooney Public Enemy No. 1 and claims the comment has all but wrecked the actor's career. "Look at Clooney's last two movies," he says. "They bombed. People are not going to plunk down $9 to see a movie starring someone they despise."

Of course, those two particular movies -- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Solaris -- probably wouldn't have made much money even if Clooney had appeared in them wearing an Uncle Sam suit and tap-dancing to "Yankee Doodle." (The two quirky films combined have earned less than Ocean's Eleven made its opening weekend.) In fact, if you look closely, none of the celebrities mentioned above seem to have suffered any long-term damage. Gere just earned a SAG nomination for his performance in Chicago (although he was snubbed for an Oscar nod); Clennon is still on The Agency; and even Maher is returning to TV, with a show on HBO.

The fact is that, for better or worse, it's hard to find any celebrity who doesn't feel free to opine on the potential war. The numbers of bold-name protesters (such as Martin Sheen, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, and Edward Norton) seem to be growing every day. "I felt isolated when I first started speaking," says Susan Sarandon, "but I'm much less afraid now." Even some non-Americans are daring to be called un-American these days, like Pedro Almodovar. "When I demonstrate, that's not the time to worry about backlash," says the Spanish director (who received a standing ovation when he dedicated his Golden Globe "to all those who do not fear working for peace"). "If something like [a backlash] happened to me, don't worry -- I would tell you immediately."

For now then, there seems to be just one name on the "blacklist": Sean Penn. And it's up to a court to ultimately decide if he's really been blacklisted or put on another sort of list Hollywood producers have been reputed to keep: one titled Life Is Too Short -- to fill with notoriously "difficult" actors. (Posted:02/28/03)

A Celebrity, but First a Citizen
Being famous does not bar an American from speaking out against an unjust war.
By Martin Sheen

March 17, 2003

I am not the president; instead, I hold an even higher office, that of citizen of the United States. For most of us in this country, citizenship is a birthright. However, this does not cloak the citizen with a life free of responsibility.

On the contrary, America comes with a price, often a heavy one, that we should each gladly pay. Though duties pedestrian and noble, from paying taxes to voting, are obvious tasks incumbent upon citizens, often something more is at stake -- as evidenced by the rows of white gravestones near such places as Normandy. It is the obligation of all citizens to participate in the affairs of state. Whether we support or criticize actions taken in our name, we need to lend voice to our findings. When done respectfully, sincerely and soberly, this can be a profound act of patriotism.

One need not be a scholar of international law to know that war at this time and in this place is unwelcome, unwise and simply wrong.

And although my opinion is not any more valuable or relevant merely because I am an actor, that fact does not render it unimportant. Some have suggested otherwise, trying to denigrate the validity of this opinion and those of my colleagues solely due to our celebrity status. This is insulting not only to us but to other people of conscience who love their country enough to risk its wrath by going against the grain of powerful government policy.

Activism by celebrities does carry added responsibilities. Statements, demonstrations and marches that include public figures undoubtedly receive a measure of press, providing access to a stage that others often cannot reach. As a result, we are often called to give voice to the voiceless and a presence to the marginalized.

Whether celebrity or diplomat, cabdriver or student, all deserve a turn at the podium. In speaking the truth as we know it, my friends and I have stood proxy for all those yet to join this great public debate. We urge their participation and welcome them to the fray, for in the end, this is not about us but is truly about the matter of life and death.

(Martin Sheen plays the president in NBC's "West Wing.")
Copyright 2003 Los Angeles Times

War prompts Finnish director to boycott Oscars

March 20, 2003,
in ArtsCanada

HELSINKI, Finland - Finnish director Aki Kaurism'ki, whose film The Man Without a Past is nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, has boycotted Sunday night's ceremony to protest America's war on Iraq.

Kaurism'ki made his decision to cancel before the U.S. led attack, saying he would not participate in the event while the American government readied for an invasion.

"Therefore, I nor anybody else from Sputnik Ltd. can participate in the Oscar gala event at the same time the government of the United States is preparing a crime against humanity for the purpose of shameless economic interests," he wrote to the Academy.

Finland's Minister of Culture Kaarina Dromberg repeatedly tried to persuade Kaurism'ki to go, to no avail.

His film, which focuses on the Finland's homeless population, won second prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival.

Meanwhile, actor Will Smith has said he will not attend the Academy Awards in light of the war.

Smith, who was scheduled to be a presenter, didn't intend his withdrawal as a protest over the military action, his publicist said Thursday.

"Not in any way, shape or form," Stan Rosenfield said. "There's no agenda, there's no speeches. He just did not feel personally comfortable in going because of the world situation." http://www.cbc.ca/artsCanada/stories/200303

Media Giant's Rally Sponsorship Raises Questions

Chicago Tribune March 19, 2003
by Tim Jones

Some of the biggest rallies this month have endorsed President Bush's strategy against Saddam Hussein, and the common thread linking most of them is Clear Channel Worldwide Inc., the nation's largest owner of radio stations. In a move that has raised eyebrows in some legal and journalistic circles, Clear Channel radio stations in Atlanta, Cleveland, San Antonio, Cincinnati and other cities have sponsored rallies attended by up to 20,000 people. The events have served as a loud rebuttal to the more numerous but generally smaller anti-war rallies.

The sponsorship of large rallies by Clear Channel stations is unique among major media companies, which have confined their activities in the war debate to reporting and occasionally commenting on the news. The San Antonio-based broadcaster owns more than 1,200 stations in 50 states and the District of Columbia.

While labor unions and special interest groups have organized and hosted rallies for decades, the involvement of a big publicly regulated broadcasting company breaks new ground in public demonstrations.

"I think this is pretty extraordinary," said former Federal Communications Commissioner Glen Robinson, who teaches law at the University of Virginia.

"I can't say that this violates any of a broadcaster's obligations, but it sounds like borderline manufacturing of the news."

A spokeswoman for Clear Channel said the rallies, called "Rally for America," are the idea of Glenn Beck, a Philadelphia talk show host whose program is syndicated by Premier Radio Networks, a Clear Channel subsidiary.

'Just patriotic rallies'

A weekend rally in Atlanta drew an estimated 20,000 people, with some carrying signs reading "God Bless the USA" and other signs condemning France and the group Dixie Chicks, one of whose members recently criticized President Bush.

"They're not intended to be pro-military. It's more of a thank you to the troops. They're just patriotic rallies," said Clear Channel spokeswoman Lisa Dollinger. Rallies sponsored by Clear Channel radio stations are scheduled for this weekend in Sacramento, Charleston, S.C., and Richmond, Va.

Although Clear Channel promoted two of the recent rallies on its corporate Website, Dollinger said there is no corporate directive that stations organize rallies.

"Any rallies that our stations have been a part of have been of their own initiative and in response to the expressed desires of their listeners and communities," Dollinger said.

Clear Channel is by far the largest owner of radio stations in the nation.

The company owned only 43 in 1995, but when Congress removed many of the ownership limits in 1996, Clear Channel was quickly on the highway to radio dominance. The company owns and operates 1,233 radio stations (including six in Chicago) and claims 100 million listeners. Clear Channel generated about 20 percent of the radio industry's $16 billion in 2001 revenues.

Size sparks criticism

The media giant's size also has generated criticism. Some recording artists have charged that Clear Channel's dominance in radio and concert promotions is hurting the recording industry. Congress is investigating the effects of radio consolidation. And the FCC is considering ownership rule changes, among them changes that could allow Clear Channel to expand its reach. Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) has introduced a bill that could halt further deregulation in the radio industry and limit each company's audience share and percent of advertising dollars. These measures could limit Clear Channel's meteoric growth and hinder its future profitability.

Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota, said the company's support of the Bush administration's policy toward Iraq makes it "hard to escape the concern that this may in part be motivated by issues that Clear Channel has before the FCC and Congress."

Dollinger denied there is a connection between the rallies and the company's pending regulatory matters.

Rick Morris, an associate professor of communications at Northwestern University, said these actions by Clear Channel stations are a logical extension of changes in the radio industry over the last 20 years, including the blurring of lines between journalism and entertainment.

From a business perspective, Morris said, the rallies are a natural fit for many stations, especially talk-radio stations where hosts usually espouse politically conservative views. "Nobody should be surprised by this," Morris said.

In 1987 the FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to cover controversial issues in their community and to do so by offering balancing views. With that obligation gone, Morris said, "radio can behave more like newspapers, with opinion pages and editorials."

"They've just begun stretching their legs, being more politically active," Morris said.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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Lesson of 'Hanoi Jane' Leads Antiwar Forces to Shift Strategy
By Johanna Neuman,
Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- As the United States readies for war, the antiwar movement faces a dilemma.

Mindful of the hostility that greeted actress Jane Fonda when she returned from a trip to Hanoi in 1972, at the height of the Vietnam War, antiwar leaders held a conference call this week to plan their strategy. With many Americans feeling a tug to rally round the flag in a time of conflict, the antiwar movement is planning to emphasize its support for U.S. troops.

Angry, rhetoric-filled protest rallies are giving way to more prayerful actions -- including silent marches, like the one planned for Saturday in New York, and candlelight vigils, like the one held Sunday in 140 countries. Instead of a virtual "march on Washington" using e-mails, there is talk of a hunger strike by religious leaders. One of the smaller antiwar groups, United for Peace and Justice, is planning civil disobedience, including a noon walkout from work and school on the day after U.S. bombing begins in Iraq.

But mostly, the antiwar movement that blossomed in the months of wrenching U.N. diplomacy plans to respond to the war it tried to stop by underscoring its commitment to U.S. troops. As soon as the war begins, the Win Without War coalition, an umbrella group of more than 35 organizations, from the Sierra Club to the NAACP, plans to launch a fund-raising campaign, soliciting contributions for both Iraqi civilians and U.S. veterans. Arguing that the Bush administration is slashing medical benefits for veterans, the group hopes to raise money for families of reservists who have lost their paychecks and veterans returning from Iraq with disabilities.

Tom Hayden, the California peace activist who was a leader in the antiwar movement during the Vietnam War, said it is natural that opponents of war want to protect their efforts from being tagged as unpatriotic.

"We know we'll be attacked by the White House and right-wing radio broadcasters for disregard of the troops, when in fact it's the White House that's putting them in harm's way," he said. "Even the most modest critics of this administration's policy, like [comedian] Bill Maher, have been tarred with that brush already. Now you can expect more of the same."

Bob Edgar, a Methodist minister and a former six-term Pennsylvania congressman, is general secretary of the National Council of Churches, which is made up of 36 Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox Christian denominations with about 50 million members. Under the Win Without War umbrella, the National Council of Churches is contemplating hunger strikes and other means of nonviolent civil disobedience promoted by India's independence leader, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and later by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

"The Jerry Falwell crowd will always try to shade us as being unpatriotic," Edgar said. "We have tried to be generically nice and polite since November, but this could be a moment when we follow King and Gandhi. We used those tactics to end apartheid in South Africa, and we are prepared to use them now."

Antiwar leaders insist that their concern for the troops predates the launch of war, and that they are merely giving voice to humanitarianism.

"For us, it's not about public relations, it's about serving people's instincts," said Wes Boyd, a software entrepreneur and founder of MoveOn.org, the Web site that began with a call on Congress to "move on" from its Clinton impeachment battles and has become a robust, innovative contributor to the antiwar effort. "We know that our folks will first and foremost be concerned about victims of war. Real people think about real people."

Opponents of war are reluctant to acknowledge that the shadow of Fonda's trip hovers over their strategic decisions, but Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said the incident has left an imprint on political memory. "We're not going to have a steady stream of visitors to Baghdad sending out radio broadcasts telling soldiers to defect," he said.

Fonda visited the capital of North Vietnam in July 1972 and was photographed in the gunner's seat of a North Vietnamese antiaircraft gun. She also broadcast appeals on Radio Hanoi urging U.S. pilots to stop bombing North Vietnam. The State Department rebuked her, several members of Congress urged that she be tried for treason and the Manchester Union Leader, a conservative newspaper in New Hampshire, editorialized that she be shot if convicted. Dubbed "Hanoi Jane," she apologized, years later, to veterans. Many in Hollywood believe her career suffered as a result of her trip.

Hayden, who was once married to Fonda, said the Nixon White House used the visit to vilify Fonda, in the process discrediting the peace movement.

But Jennifer Duffy, an analyst at the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter on American politics and elections, said Fonda's antiwar legacy is still debated in Washington. Recalling a recent conversation among political types discussing the forthcoming Academy Awards, she said, "We were wondering how many people will use their time at the podium to say their piece, and whether they will turn into Jane Fonda."

Still, opponents of this war are convinced there will be other wars like it to come, more preemptive military actions in President Bush's war on terrorism, and they are eager to keep the levers of protest in place.

"We're not going to run scared," said Eli Pariser of MoveOn.org, which is planning to post messages of support to soldiers on its Web site. "If war doesn't make sense, it's critical that we continue to talk about it."

SAG warns against McCarthyism in Hollywood
Screen Actors Guild warns entertainment executives not to pick on anti-war actors
Tue Mar 4, 9:45 AM ET
AP Wire story

LOS ANGELES - The entertainment industry must not blacklist people who speak out against war with Iraq, the Screen Actors Guild said. "Some have recently suggested that well-known individuals who express "unacceptable" views should be punished by losing their right to work," the union said in a statement posted Monday on its Web site.

"Even a hint of the blacklist must never again be tolerated in this nation," the statement added. The reference was to the Hollywood blacklist of the 1950s, when actors and writers suspected of harboring pro-Communist sentiments were barred from working.

"During this shameful period, our own industry prostrated itself before smear campaigns and witch hunters rather than standing on the principles articulated in the nation's fundamental documents," the statement said.

Martin Sheen recently said top executives at NBC had "let it be known they're very uncomfortable" with his outspoken opposition to war with Iraq. Sheen, who plays the president on the "The West Wing (news - web sites)," said the network fears his position will hurt the show. An NBC spokeswoman responded that network executives have expressed no such concerns.

In a lawsuit filed last month, actor Sean Penn accused producer Steve Bing of reneging on an agreement to pay him $10 million to star in a proposed movie called "Why Men Shouldn't Marry" after Penn said he was against war with Iraq. Bing denied the allegation in a countersuit, saying Penn pulled out of the project.

[Note, this blacklist is from the Gossip column page in the NYC reactionary tabloid the NY Post.]
"PAGE SIX"
By RICHARD JOHNSON with PAULA FROELICH and CHRIS WILSON
March 19, 2003 --

Don't aid these Saddam lovers

AFTER Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience last week that she was "ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas," country stations from Kansas to Pennsylvania immediately dropped the band from their playlists. Maines soon apologized for her "disrespect."

But what about other appeasement-loving celebs?

If you'd prefer not to support the careers of stars who want to stop the liberation of Iraq from mass murderer Saddam Hussein and his rapist henchmen, PAGE SIX offers this quick reference list.

* "Mystic River," which comes out in the fall, boasts the mother of all appeasement casts, with Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Laurence Fishburn.

* Samuel L. Jackson, another Hollywood drone who signed an anti-liberation letter to the Bush administration recently, is starring in "Basic," which opens next week.

* Susan Sarandon can currently be boycotted on the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries "Children of Dune," which began on Sunday. Another Sarandon project worth skipping is "The Nazi Officer's Wife," out in June.

* Those who oppose sadistic, Stalinist dictatorships won't want to show up at the Estess Arena in Atlantic City on April 25 to see Sheryl Crow's concert. You'll also want to avoid her show the next day at Earthfest in Boston.

* Another petition-signer, Alfre Woodard, is starring in "The Core," coming out next week.

* Fred Durst's band Limp Bizkit has a new album coming out and will be touring the U.S. this summer, but his fans probably don't even know what Iraq is. Meanwhile, alleged girlfriend beater and war opponent Jackson Browne is touring in the only place where he has any fans left - Germany.

* Janeanne Garofalo has high hopes that this summer's offering "Wonderland" will revive her career. But the producers of her last effort, "Manhood," which showed at Sundance in January, are apparently still searching for a distributor.

* The bus stop ads for Danny Glover's "Good Fences" just went up all over town, but there are certainly better ways to spend $10.

* You've probably already stopped watching NBC's "The West Wing" on Wednesdays, thanks to Martin Sheen. Now, you can skip the network's new political series "Mr. Sterling" on Fridays, since it stars the peacenik James Whitmore.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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Dixie Chick apologizes for antiwar comments.
After protests, boycotts, Natalie Maines says she's sorry for dissing President Bush
by Brian Hiatt, From Entertainment Weekly,
March 14, 2003

Angry fans and radio stations appear to have rapidly clipped Dixie Chick Natalie Maines' antiwar feathers. The country singer apologized Friday evening for saying her band is ''ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas'' -- comments that prompted furious online posts and phone calls from listeners, and boycotts from some country stations. ''I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful,'' Maines said in a statement released by her publicist. ''I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect.''

She also seemed to soften her antiwar stance in the face of protests. ''While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers' lives are lost,'' she said in her new statement. In an earlier statement on their website, the Chicks had taken a stronger stand: ''While we support our troops, there is nothing more frightening than the notion of going to war with Iraq and the prospect of all the innocent lives that will be lost.''

On Friday, some country stations had begun boycotts of the Dixie Chicks, who had been topping playlists with the Vietnam-themed single ''Traveling Soldier.'' '''The majority of our calls are from listeners who are upset and concerned with Natalie not backing our leader, our president,'' said DJ Dennis Mitchell, of Cat Country 106.7 in Harrisburg, Penn. Before Maines' apology, Mitchell told EW.com that his station had stopped playing the Chicks' music, and might not start again for as long as a month.

Eleven Reasons to Give Actors a Break
By Sean Gonsalves,
AlterNet March 17, 2003

What's up with these talk radio hosts and TV pundits getting all hot and bothered over the various Hollywood celebs who have spoken out against a U.S. invasion of Iraq?

I wonder how many of these Hollywood bashers voted for the thespian-turned-politician Ronald Reagan. Should we not pay attention to the "Great Communicator?"

A friend recently sent me a top 11 list of why blacklisting Hollywood war opponents is ridiculous.

11) Two weeks of basic training before filming "Saving Private Ryan" is more military experience than Condoleeza Rice, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney (five deferments), Tom Delay and Dennis Hastert combined

10) Donald Rumsfeld went to Iraq while Saddam Hussein used our chemical weapons on Iranian soldiers (and civilians along the border) and secured the additional shipments to the Iraqi dictator. Sean Penn visited Iraq, but has only used chemicals on himself.

9) Martin Sheen has been arrested 70 times in his pursuit of peace and social justice. George W. Bush's three documented arrests: drunk driving, stealing a Christmas wreath and football hooliganism.

8) MSNBC (General Electric and Microsoft) canceled Phil Donahue, its highest-rated show, because it offered alternative views.

7) With all of the TV networks recruiting military consultants, why haven't we seen much of Gulf War #1's triumphant Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf? Blacklisted?

6) The Pope, a man of some celebrity and moral authority (and an actor in his youth), is against the war.

5) Brit Hume, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh are celebrities, not elected officials or diplomats (incidentally, all avoided service in Vietnam) who make their livelihood shilling for war. Janeane Garofalo, Matt Damon, et al., risk their livelihoods by opposing it.

4) There is no such thing as apolitical art.

3) "Apocalypse Now" took five years to complete and Martin Sheen saw it all the way through -- disease, monsoons and all. George W. Bush skipped the last 17 months of his National Guard service in Texas.

2) Are awards shows asking pro-war celebrities to keep their remarks "neutral"?

1) It's their First Amendment right!

Now if I, or any other "left-wing" commentator, writes or says something critical of U.S. foreign policy, we are branded by many as "un-patriotic terrorist sympathizers" who don't "support our troops."

These kind of ad hominem attacks, while entertaining to some, focus too much on personalities and not enough on ideas and whether or not what is being said is the truth; to say nothing of the utterly illogical claim that to be critical of policy-makers is the same thing as dissin' soldiers.

But I say, fine. If the anti-war crowd is "aiding and abetting terrorists," is the pro-invasion cabal going to attack the Pope for his outspoken views against war in Iraq?

And I wonder what the attack-Iraq patriot police would say to the 1,000 combat veterans who sent a letter to President Bush questioning his rush to war.

You would think the "liberal" media would be all over this. But then again, it's hard to attack these soldiers' lack of patriotism without making yourself look like an amateur actor with less sense than the real actors speaking out against an invasion of Iraq.

Sean Gonsalves is a Cape Cod Times staff writer and a syndicated columnist. E-mail him at sgonsalves@capecodonline.com.

LEONARD GARMENT on misbehaving poets

A Song of Themselves By LEONARD GARMENT
Last week a group of American poets showed once again that artists can be the worst enemies of the arts. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/08/opinion/08GARM.html?th

Last week a group of American poets showed once again that artists can be the worst enemies of the arts. Laura Bush, as part of her efforts to encourage reading by honoring literature, had invited several poets to the White House for a symposium. One of the invitees - perhaps channeling Eartha Kitt, who lambasted Lady Bird Johnson about the Vietnam War at a White House luncheon in 1968 - decided to use the occasion to protest the administration's Iraq policy. He solicited antiwar poems to present to Mrs. Bush at the White House and posted them on a Web site.

One poet, Marilyn Hacker, offered this contribution: "while, claiming they're 'defending democracy,'/ our homespun junta exports the war machine/... Jews who learned their comportment from storm troopers/ act out the nightmares that woke their grandmothers." The White House canceled the symposium. The poets expressed indignation that the administration was stifling their freedom of speech.

The issue is not, of course, Iraq (about which I have my own uncertainties). Nor is it about freedom of speech - these poets are free to read their poems in their own forums, as many have said they will on Wednesday, the day on which the symposium was to have taken place. Rather, it is about bad behavior, the sort I have grown increasingly weary of over the last 35 years. In the late 1960's, as a counsel in Richard Nixon's White House, I was assigned to what I called (laughingly at first, more seriously later) the "arts and riots" beat. I worked with the chairmen of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities to increase their budgets. Partly because Nixon was such an unlikely arts advocate, the effort succeeded, perhaps too well.

As the endowments' budgets grew exponentially, so did the conflict between politicians who disliked spending the government's money on the arts and artists who disliked the idea that politics should have any role in determining how public money should be spent. The results of this conflict ranged from the irrational to the surreal. The arts endowment gave a grant for an anthology that included a "visual poem" that read, in its entirety, "lighght." (I always have trouble remembering exactly how many "gh's" it had.) The award sent a Republican representative, William Scherle, into a permanent orbit of anti-endowment outrage. More seriously, as the Vietnam schism widened, Leonard Bernstein composed the fierce antiwar opera "Mass." President Nixon declined to attend the premiere, on Kennedy Center's opening night. Bernstein asked me to try to change Nixon's mind, arguing quite seriously that if the president did not attend, he would be impermissibly mixing art and politics.

More strange, the American Film Institute, newly established by Congress and housed in the federally subsidized Kennedy Center, scheduled a showing of the Costa-Gavras film "State of Siege," which treated with sympathy the killing of an American hostage by leftist rebels in a Latin American dictatorship. Knowing the film would be a boon to opponents of federal arts financing, I asked the help of the institute's director, George Stevens Jr. He canceled the showing, with the shrewd explanation that it was perhaps less than appropriate to show a pro-assassination movie in a center named after an assassinated president. Still, the endowments kept their Congressional support through occasional crises like these until 1990, when two events - an exhibition of homoerotic photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe and a photograph by Andres Serrano of a crucifix in the artist's urine - pushed them to the edge of extinction. Congress appointed a commission, which I led along with John Brademas, a former Democratic representative who had been the principal draftsman of the legislation that created the arts and humanities endowments. Our commission's unanimous report centered on a statement that in awarding grants the endowments could, consistent with the Constitution, take into account the country's diversity of sensibilities and beliefs. This proposition was challenged by disappointed grant-seekers, but upheld when the Supreme Court ruled against Karen Finley, she of the chocolate-saturated performance pieces.

The recent incident, while more genteel than events past, threatens to create the same kind of resentment and mistrust in places important to the country's cultural life. Here is a concrete example. One of the poems originally scheduled for the White House was "A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes. The poem was to have been sung by cast members of "Harlem Song," a musical showcase of Harlem history that ran last year at the renovated Apollo Theater on 125th Street and is scheduled to return this year. This came about because, at the behest of the show's producer, I made "Harlem Song" known to a friend at the White House, who then traveled to New York to see the show. The invitation from Mrs. Bush followed. People connected with the show were excited over the national exposure the symposium would bring and the possibility that it might lead to an invitation to present the entire show at the White House. With or without the White House, "Harlem Song" will go on. But when the symposium was canceled, the disappointment of people associated with the show was distinct. So was mine: with colleagues in New York and Washington, I have been working to build a museum of jazz, America's only indigenous art form, in Harlem. The success of a show like "Harlem Song," and the audiences it can attract uptown, are immensely valuable to the area. They also deepen the profound relationship between the cultural and civic lives of the city, which defines New York to the world. Such relationships will thrive only if politicians and artists display mutual restraint. Each party must refrain from gratuitously poking a finger in the eye of the other, a principle that the protesting poets flouted. They sought to use for political ends the platform that the White House provided to them for their artistry. They showed no concern for the effect of this on other artists and enterprises. Of course, they were exercising their constitutional rights. But they should not be surprised that Mrs. Bush, exercising her own rights, declined to offer them tea and cake. Let's call it poetic justice and move on.

Leonard Garment, a lawyer, is president of the Jazz Museum in Harlem.