Not Gonna Post Newslinks On This One...

[badstar]

Just a general statement...Celebrities using their famousness (yeah I know...) to preach to people about their cause of choice drives me berserk. Yeah, they have the same right to speech as the rest of us, and in being famous, they're going to get heard...but all the attention that they may get for it, you'd think they were experts on a subject when they're not (I haven't really looked into all the details, and I'm sure that there are some out there who are knowledgable about their subject of choice...but others are no more so than the rest of us.)

Thank you to burny_md for pointing out to me that what I wrote sounds hypocritical and not reay something that I should bitch about. In that post, I basicly did the same thing as my stepfather did a few years back when he was going on and on about celebrities trying to save the environment and work for various other "evil, liberal" causes...which at the time really annoyed me.

That said, I'd like to clarify..as anyone who's read my journal or known me for more than a few minutes has probably found out, I'm really good at getting irritated and expressing my thoughts as they come to me without clearly explaining.

That said, be it a cause that I agree with or not, when people resort to lowly tactics like name-calling and generalizations to influence people on their respective cause, and not speaking inteligently about it...that I have a problem with (Celebrity or not, but especially when you're famous, if you realy want to use your influence, don't you think it's more effective to speak intelligently about the subject? Then again, maybe not...so many people will rally around when you sling mud and insults instead of speaking constructively.

The particular case in question happenes to be something that I don't agree with...here is a quote from Pat Boone speaking against people protesting the war or military conflict...whatever it is in Iraq right now (Really, what is it officially? Are we still in a state of declared war?)

"They still have this crazy notion that by just being peaceful and maybe toking up or something like that – it's like an ostrich with its head in the sand – maybe the danger and the bad guys will go away and leave you alone, which is not gonna happen." (Rest of the story here, no registration required.)


You know, I think (hope?) most people are inteligent enough to know that we shouldn't just ignore the whole situation, And I'm reasonably sure that most of us know that going over there and just giving them a hug isn't gonna fix it either.

And if the story was the opposite, and he was supporting the protestrs, I'd have as much problem if he had said something like "This is the same government as we had during Viet Nam. They just want to bomb the hell out of the place and destroy it for their own interests. They're stupid."

Neither is more constructive than the other. As I originaly pointed out...we all have the same rights and freedoms. It irks me when anyone does this (myself included), but moreso when you have someone with potential influence over the thinking of so many people. But that just ties into my irritation with people being so quick to bash without having somethign constructive to say, and with the culture of celebrity worship....

I think I've made my thoughts clearer, I know this is significantly different than what I originally said. I left the original text to illustrate the recognition that I was not writing in a very well-thought-out manner.

I end here because beyond this, I become redundant and start to repeat myself.

Comments

[burny-md.livejournal.com]

Okay, as much as you like to bitch about things, you wouldn't be bitching if the celebrity was using their famousness to say end the war, or help the poor, or something that you agreed with. So your blanket statement of all celebraties using their famousness for their cause of choice, I don't think is fair. And I mean its not like YOU have to listen.

The way I look at it, celebrities have used thier influence enough for good things that if they want to push something that they feel strongly about, more power to them. I mean what it comes down to is that they are using their power to help someone else that doesn't have enough of a voice. It doesn't matter what the cause is. Why should they help some cause that they don't feel strongly about or support?

[fuego.livejournal.com]

...and as it happens, I am also bad with posting a bitch about something and not fully explaining myself. Something's on my mind and I just say it. I'm bad at doing it when speaking too. Perhaps I should refine my statements to more accurately reflect my thoughts. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

[sunneyone.livejournal.com]

i completely agree with you.

About the War

[fervid-dryfire.livejournal.com]

The GWOT (Global War On Terrorism) will continue, at least conceptually, until all known members, sources, and supporters of terrorist organizations cease and desist...whether that ends up happening by them all surrendering, quitting, or being dead, I don't know. The point is that the war is basically ongoing, because terror cells still exist and have the potential to strike us anywhere and anytime. Furthermore, known and unknown governments continue to support terrorist organizations, so we'll have to exert effort to stop them as well. This means that we'll probably be at it in a lot of different places, for quite a while.

So in short, we are still in a state of declared war- but not with Iraq.

Re: About the War

[fuego.livejournal.com]

Gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up.