11-02-06, 7:51 a.m.
While reviewing a number of recent news stories on the Internet, I came across an item reporting that a heckler had thrown a drink at Barbra Streisand during a recent concert. My interest was aroused because I wanted to know what she had done to deserve such treatment. Did she sing 'Don't Rain On My Parade' out of key? Did she forget the words to 'People?'
[And if she did, I wish she would tell me how she managed it because there are some songs I would like to get out of my head. I won't mention them specifically; if I did, anyone reading this would then have the same songs in their heads forever, and I would get the blame].
No, it wasn't anything of that nature. It appears that Ms. Streisand's 'offense' as far as this patron was concerned was a humorous skit featuring an actor playing President Bush. It hasn't been the first time Streisand has been heckled over the skit, but it is apparently the first time liquids have been involved. (It has been reported that she got so incensed by the heckling at her Madison Square Garden concert last month that she 'dropped the F bomb' in her response and later apologized to the audience).
The reported incidents involving Ms. Streisand haven't received as prominent coverage as the recent attacks by Rush Limbaugh on actor Michael J. Fox. Limbaugh suggested that Mr. Fox, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and is a tireless campaigner for stem-cell research, was either acting or had not taken his medication. And, let's face it, if there is anyone who would know about problems with pills, it's probably Rush.
Although Ms. Streisand is a self-identified liberal, Mr. Fox's support for stem-cell research is decidedly above partisan politics, since he has supported both Democrats and Republicans who have endorsed this research.
These disconnected incidents caused me to think about why there have been an increasing number of attacks on show business personalities who reflect political positions at odds with the ultra-right. After all, the opposition that Ms. Streisand and Mr. Fox experienced was visited upon the Dixie Chicks not all that long ago.
Although the attacks on Ms. Streisand, Mr. Fox and the Dixie Chicks made news, they're not 'new.' Because our society promotes celebrity, and show business personalities are highly visible, they are easy targets for harassment.
Some six decades ago, this harassment was widespread. It was called the blacklist; the communist witch-hunts. Lillian Hellman gave one of her books an apt title that sums up the environment of that period: Scoundrel Time.
When the House Committee on Un-American Activities descended upon Hollywood in the middle of the last century like a swarm of reactionary locusts, they sought to question anyone they and the FBI had identified as holding left-of-center political views. Many actors were named as communists, including Lucille Ball, leading then husband Desi Arnaz to quip that the only thing red about Lucy was her hair and even that was not legitimate. Many other actors, writers, directors were blacklisted and forced to work under pseudonyms, if they were able to work at all.
In the 1970's, the US government launched an all-out effort to deprive former Beatles guitarist John Lennon from getting a Green Card. Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, were outspoken opponents of the Vietnam war, and Lennon had written a song in support of Angela Davis that appeared on his 'Sometime In New York' record.
What the Bush administration has in common with the McCarthy era and the abuses of the Nixon administration -- and Bush's abuse of the constitution exceeds the documented crimes of Nixon and company -- is that Bush, Rove and their minions are quick to push the hate button. In fact, they are completely reliant on hate. It is the one constant in their increasingly impotent arsenal.
In the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001 the Bush administration was quick to identify Osama bin Laden as their scoundrel, and this was broadly embraced both within and outside of the US. This is completely understandable, as the nature of those attacks and horrendous loss of life was a tremendous blow that horrified all people of good will.
It was hate, as well as a quest for non-existent 'weapons of mass destruction' that fueled our invasion of Iraq. And make no mistake, it is hate that propels the ultra-right to label union members, Democrats and progressives as terrorists or 'soft' on terrorists.
Hate is a strong emotion. It is easy to acquire and difficult to cast aside. And it is, by and large, completely irrational. If one agrees that the policies of the ultra-right and Bush administration are almost entirely dependent on hate, then we must list reason as a casualty of 9/11. It isn't dead, but the ultra-right has maimed it.
The most charitable explanation that can be ascribed to the person who threw a drink at Barbra Streisand is that this person is a victim of 9/11 also, as is every person who has surrendered their ability for critical thinking in unstintingly supporting the Bush administration's ultra-right perspectives. Many Germans did the same thing in 1933, embracing fear and hate and plunging their nation into barbarism for twelve years.
In the months leading up to November 7, progressives have actively performed triage. The diagnosis has been established and, at this moment, the prognosis is good. The outcome will be known next Tuesday.
