Music Artists Get Political

From Fox News:

Major musicians are lining up behind political candidates and causes in an effort to mobilize their audiences, but some experts and a new Fox News-Opinion Dynamics poll suggest they are unlikely to have a dramatic impact on voter attitudes.

Nonetheless, musical artists of all genres can be found delving into issues and candidates with all their creative energies.

We give too much credit to the opinions of celebrities. We have a tendency to put what they say or think above what we ourselves think, and it shouldn't be that way.

Don't get me wrong, the Dixie Chicks and the members of System of a Down are more than welcome to their opinions, but what they think shouldn't be any more important than what the average citizen thinks. The problem, however, is that these celebrities have access to the media unlike anybody else in the nation. What they say and do sometimes gets more press coverage than the President. What's really irking is when groups or artists like the Dixie Chicks find out that their political views aren't that popular with their fans and they begin to cry about "censorship" and their inability to "express their views" when their records sales bottom out. I'd tell them that its their fans expressing their views.

I would say that if you want to express your opinions to the masses you had better be ready for some people to disagree with you. It comes with the territory. If you deal in the arena of opinion there's always going to be a chance that you're going to get attacked. On my own website I've been accused, on different occasions, of being a racist, a bigot and a homosexual. Its just part of expressing your opinion. You're going to get some negative feedback and some of it may be ugly.

What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that we shouldn't put too much stock in things said by a group of people as out-of-touch-with-reality as celebrities. Sure they're able to bombard us with their opinions through the media, but that doesn't make them right. No more than having these websites makes Tom or I right.

So the next time you see some celebrity on TV giving it to our President, take it with a grain of salt. They're really no better than you or I.

Posted by at December 16, 2003 09:18 AM