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Boondocks by
Aaron McGruder
5/8/2003 
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Boondocks
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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
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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time about the withdrawn American Life video.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
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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
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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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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."
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for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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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
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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
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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
------------
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."
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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
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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."
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107,
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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)
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who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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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
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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
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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.
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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."
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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.
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[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.
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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.
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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 D | 
