Elton John Losing Marbles

Elton John has said stars are scared to speak out against war in Iraq because of "bullying tactics" used by the US government to hinder free speech.

I got news for Elton John. The U.S. government is not employing bullying tactics, that's what the left does. That's what socialists do, and communists, and Islam and every other kind of tyranical government that needs to enslave you in order to rule over you.

"There was a moment about a year ago when you couldn't say a word about anything in this country for fear of your career being shot down by people saying you are un-American," he told the magazine.

That's not from the government, it's the people speaking out in disagreement with you. If we don't like what you are saying we don't have to listen to it. It's called freedom. I know you're not used to the idea.

The singer said things were different in the 1960s.

"People like Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, The Beatles and Pete Seeger were constantly writing and talking about what was going on.

"That's not happening now. As of this spring, there have been virtually no anti-war concerts - or anti-war songs that catch on, for that matter," he said.

Things are different now. The people of America see that there are those who want to take away their freedoms. Freedoms that have been hard won, the price being paid in the blood of our Fathers and Mothers, brothers and sisters. If your anti-war song doesn't catch on it's because no one wants to hear it. It's because we don't agree with it. And you know what? You're still free to sing it. We don't have to listen but you can sing it all you want. No one is going to grab you in the middle of the night and cut out your tongue. You won't go to jail or be killed because of what you believe, but WE DON"T HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT EITHER. It's called freedom. It scares you, I know.

"On the one hand, you have someone like Toby Keith, who has come out and been very supportive of the Bush administration and the war in Iraq - which is OK because America is a democracy and Toby Keith is entitled to say what he thinks and feels.

"But, on the other hand, the Dixie Chicks got shot down in flames last year for criticising the president. They were treated like they were being un-American, when in fact they have every right to say whatever they want about him because he's freely elected, and therefore accountable."

First, America is not a democracy. I'm not going to explain it again, you're old enough to know better. Toby Keith is entitled to say what he thinks and feels and the Dixie Chicks are entitled to say what they think and feel. We, the people, are entitled to listen to either one, both or neither. We can choose to buy their records or not. We can choose to listen to the radio or not. The radio station is free to play the songs or not. They want people to listen so they play songs people want to hear. If the Dixie Chicks keep singing songs people don't want to hear they won't make as much money because people won't buy the songs. That's OK, that's freedom. If the stars are scared to speak out it's because they are scared to make less money, not because they are being threatened.

Now, if the government decides it needs to crack some Dixie Chick heads because of their songs, well, then they must have moved to a different country. That's not going to happen in America (*). That happens in China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria, etc, etc. Why can't you see the difference?

(*)Unless America keeps sliding to the left and people keep giving up their freedoms.

Quotes are from this article.