I love stuff like this. Celebrities of all stripe feel they have something important to say, and have a venue for doing so. Of course, they consider themselves to be just plain ol’ workin’ folk, so their opinion should resonate. They are so accustomed to having people hang on their every word, they sincerely believe they have the answers.
In an unprecedented series of concerts in nine swing states, more than 20 musical acts – including Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks – will perform fund-raising concerts one month before the Nov. 2 election in an effort to unseat President Bush.
Now, I don’t doubt their sincerity. I’m sure they believe in this cause. But let’s think about how celebrities support a cause just a second.
They donate money, of which they have plenty, or they supply their name and perform. A simple donation doesn’t get them much in return except a tax break and a letter from some organizer–maybe a photo op or two. But putting on a performance–man, that’s the best. They receive adulation from their fans, which is their primary reason for doing what they do, they get some kind of tax break for their effort, and the get lots of publicity. It just doesn’t get any better than that.
This is not intellectual honesty. These are folks who have much more spare time than any of us, and could really get involved and work at this if they were sincere about helping. Sincerity of belief seldom translates to commitment for any of us, and especially not with this group. How many are actually putting in time at a phone bank to support their candidate? Do any of them go door to door to hand out literature? Is there one of them willing to put his name on the line and run for office?
Ben Afleck is doing far more than any of these folks, and all he does is ride around in style with the Kerry campaign.
I hope Bush wins in a landslide this year simply because it would make some of these folks shake their heads and wonder where their influence went. “Shut up and Sing” is a current book title, and I think it says it all. All I would add is, “Or actually do something.”
My mom saw an interview with Ben Affleck the other day in which he said (quoting from memory) that he was glad that he got a tax cut this year but thought that it was bad because he doesn’t really need the money and wished the government would have kept it so it could help other people. To Ben I say “Hogwash!” If he cared so much, he’d take the amount he got as a tax break and donate it to the charity of his choosing, cutting out the government middleman and saving, what, like 70% (or whatever the figure is that they estimate bureaucracy eats up). Instead he sits back and says, “Gee, I’d like to help, but shucks the government gave me my money back…” How insincere. If any celebrity really cared about an issue, think of the good he could do! Simple folks like us in the blogosphere donate hard-earned money all the time to Spirit of America and other organizations we believe in (often donating our own tax breaks), and we don’t have to give benefit concerts to do it.
Comment by Sarah — August 5, 2004 @ 6:35 am
Think of how many sewing machines I could buy for the women of Ramadi with just the money Affleck earned from Gigli!
(Let’s see, that’s $10 million, divided by $474 per machine…)
Comment by Sarah — August 5, 2004 @ 6:52 am
Bunker, don’t you think you are being a bit over-the-top chiding celebrities that oppose your politics, then embracing ones who agree with you? Why don’t you post Bruce Springsteen’s Op-Ed alongside Ben Stein’s? Seems to me that some choose to mock/boycott celebrities who disagree with your political POV and chastise them for merely speaking their minds to their audience. That is part of what Art is about. Don’t like it? Don’t buy it. That is what I do…And it works both ways…I, for one, am going to buy Springsteen’s album The Rising and donate some money to MoveOn.
See the way I see it, entertainers have been engaging in politics since Greek times. Oddly, entertainers are often from middle class families, not weathly ones…And in my estimation many are more in touch with the pulse of America than you or I. If that wasn’t true then they would not make any money.
P.S. You guys realize that political contributions are not tax deductable right? I have given thousands of dollars to many organizations in the last year, and only a handful are tax-deductible. To my knowledge only groups that do not lobby directly are deductible.
Comment by rfidtag — August 6, 2004 @ 10:42 am
Many celebrities care about “an” issue enough to get involved. But, unfortunately you don’t give the one who you disagree with your politics any credit.
Simple folks of the massive computer network? I don’t follow. Ben Affleck is given a huge $1 million dollar tax refund during wartime and says “I’ve been given an egregious tax cut that I don’t need.” Sounds fiscally irresponsible to me…I wouldn’t give it back to Bush either as he has already proved himself to be reckless with Federal funds. Instead, I would probably use that money to bolster causes I believe in like the American Red Cross.
Oh, yeah…I am rfidtag and I approve this message.
Comment by rfidtag — August 6, 2004 @ 11:09 am
I’m not chiding people because they support someone I don’t. Read it again. What I am saying is that celebrities are self-important, and actually do very little except what they regularly do. I’m sure there are some who work a soup line regularly (rather than the holiday photo op), but these folks going on tour to raise money aren’t going out of their way to help anyone. Talk (and performing) is cheap.
I would applaud any of those who thought their tax break was wrong and donated it to some worthy cause. I don’t hear about them rushing to do so, and they’ve never been shy about touting their charitable contributions.
Oh, I didn’t present Stein’s article as a political issue. I thought he had some interesting things to say, and that my readers might be interested, also. Personally, I have no interest in what Springsteen might say one way or another. Stein makes the point I would make about celebrity. That is, the word “hero” is thrown around far too frequently, and tends to lose all meaning. Had Springsteen said the same thing, I would have linked to him. His politics are of no interest to me.
By the way, the best charity for efficiency in using donations has historically been the Salvation Army. I believe Catholic Charities falls close behind.
Comment by Bunker — August 6, 2004 @ 11:49 am
Ya know I don’t get the problem with “celebrities” getting involved in today’s politics. It wasn’t a “problem when Sinatra endorsed Kennedy was it?? I remember damned well Elvis and Sinatra both supporting Nixon, as did Sammy Davis Jr. and I absolutely do not rember tham being subjct to calls for boycotting their “art”. So why now why today when a “celebrity” opines on something is it an act of “treason”. Just curious.
Comment by Bubba Bo Bob Brain — August 6, 2004 @ 9:06 pm
I don’t see it in those terms. I simply think it’s a farce. It is a “feel-good” for most of them, who commit nothing more than an hour or two of their time, and who do little more than what they do on a regular basis.
Comment by Bunker — August 7, 2004 @ 1:54 pm