Do celebrity political opinions count?

Question

Is Toby Keith's opinion more important than the Natalie Maines'?
Is Sean Penn's opinion more valid than Charton Heston's?

If they don't matter, why is there so much angst over what they say?

Answer 1

The fear is that celebrity comments may just wake people up to the truth .
Richard Dreyfuss was on a show on HBO not to long ago and held not only the panel but audience spell bound as he explained that we are cheating our Kids buy not educating them about our system of government .
Civics and its importance to who and what we are as Americans and how we got here .
How our system works is important to what and who we allow to speak for all of us .
The fact that actual debate and real facts are blurred beyond recognition is a shame in a so called educated and free society .
That so many of us have lost interest in controlling our future and rolling along fat and happy ignoring the plight of so many in America is a symptom of the disease we suffer from .
The rights and privileges Granted by our constitution make us unique and responsible for our own futures and those around us .
Capitalism my be the economic system we have but the constitution is our freedoms and rights in America and they are being eroded at a rate faster then I care to look at .
We have become a police state . And this was never intended by the framers of our constitution . The government was to have little control over the people . IN 1880 you could kill a black man or Indian and no charges would be filed .In 1980 the police can kill and beat blacks and no charges are filed .
We have allowed the police to pick up where the people left off 100 years ago .
Our constitution grants all people freedom and rights not some .
Until 1990 some community's in this country still did not allow blacks and you laugh at me for saying this .
Read sundown towns by Dr. James Loewen and see for yourself .During the civil rights movement and after brown VS board of education some towns removed all the blacks forcing them to leave . Amazed me but to much evidence and documentation exists to deny it .
White people of conscience have stepped up to support these charges .Producing county records that show in just two months every black resident picking up and moving out .
Guess they all decided to leave to go to a better place all in a couple of months .
Our history is one of many false stories told and authored by rich white people .
Who would celebrate Columbus day if you knew he never step foot in America and he slaughtered hundreds of thousands of natives in the Caribbean Islands .
Our history is bloody and our future looks to be the same war war war and murder is tolerated by the people . Our freedom is almost gone and the police state is taking over .
What has become of the dream of freedom and equality and justice .
If more celebrity's where educated and spoke out about America things might change and that would destroy capitalism as we know it and that is what the rich are protecting at the expense of every American .
Fear and the truth never make good companions ,for the truth will set you free and fear and lies will place you in a prison of your own creation .

Answer 2

Both sides are important but no more so than your view. Somewhere between Natalie's passive view and Toby's aggressive view there is a middle ground of assertiveness that may be of use. I generally side with the Rep. point of view but the Dems help to add balance to our laws. I think that being passive and trying to appease everyone will cause the fall of a nation and the Dems do that well. I also think that the tough guy act (like GWB) leads to problems with other nations so in order to find a proper balance both sides are important.
The reason celebs draw such a response is because many people idolize them and that is dumb.

Answer 3

Because they truly believe that we should care about what they think. They pretend to be other people for a living, command HUGE salaries, have no true grasp on reality beyond what their "artist souls" tell them, are completely blinded by what goes on in the world around them past their hooking up and breaking up and hooking up again...yet we should all bow to the greatness that is Pam freaking Anderson (from Canada) and Sean Penn (jail) and Alec Baldwin (don't get me started). While they can be respected for their ability to entertain (some of them anyway) I don't give a flying rat's A** what they say about politics. I'm not a 40 year old house frau who will blindly follow Oprah to the polls. Nor am I in a rush to stand behind John McCain because he chose a pretty little thing as his running mate.

Answer 4

In general, they seem to be at least listened to although I question your intelligence if you listen to someone as`vacuous as Britney Spears. I only take their opinion into account if I know it is a subject they seem to have experience in. For example if Audie Murphy was still alive and he spoke about war,I'd listen! You don't win a Medal Of Honor for typing reports in the Pentagon!!:) I think there is angst because sometimes you cannot believe these people ever made it! They are some of the biggest, most misguided fools on the planet!!

Answer 5

Look celebrities don't live in the real world. Its very easy to have insane extreme ideologies when you don't have to worry about things like paying the mortgage, car payments, college funds, downsizing, and everything the average joe has to think about every day. They tend to live in these fantasy worlds were they actually think everyone's life is as simple as theirs. As an example, how does a 2% increase in taxes to pay for social programs affect these people, it doesn't they have business managers with accountants who do their taxes for them and pay all their bills. You think Sean Penn sits down and balances his checkbook, and writes out the monthly bills. How does losing 2% of your income to pay for a baby factory on welfare affect your life, vastly different. They don't understand the world WE live in, they are completely out of touch with reality. Their danger is the average American is brain-dead idiot who actually listens to these people. More people vote for the American Idol than for their local government. Unfortunately, what these people spout out of their holes, people listen to. That is why there is so much angst, there is a lot at stake.

As for Natalie Maines, I dont hold her in the same class as these others. Denegrading your president on American soil is a constitutional right, doing it on foreign soil is tantemount to treason. But how can anyone listen to what she says, shes the dumbest of them all. Her audience and followers are predominantly, white southern consevaties, its Country music for good sake. How can you take political advice from someone that isn't smart enough to realize that when she says some things she is going to alienate her audience. Thats moronic. Toby Keith just fed into this, although not near as intelligent as natalie maines, he's a hell of a lot smarter, he built a career off the little incident. Took the audiences distain for her and funneled it into selling records.

Answer 6

No, celebrities' opinions do not matter. No more than mine, yours, or Rush's. Determine for yourself, aside from Political affiliation, what is Truth, what is Right and Correct.

The people you mention are singled out as a result of their comments which are over the top, often drawing more offended reactions than positive reaffirmation.

Lastly, angst?? I do not see their opinions as angst;
rather, abject surprise.

Thoughtful question you pose!!

Answer 7

Beat's me? I couldn't care less, unless they get very unpatriotic. Their opinions are no more valuable than anyone else's and they have free will. The thing that some of the celebrities don't seem to understand is that the product they sell is their personalities. If they say damaging things like that loopy comment Mains made about being ashamed that the President comes from Texas, then she shouldn't be upset when people who take offense at those types of statements tell her to cram her product where the Sun don't shine. You see, customers have free will also. Remember, it wasn't all that long ago that they destroyed the artwork that Adolph Hitler created. It wasn't because it was bad artwork, it was because of who created it.

Answer 8

Because of their visibility, they get more notice. How much they count should be based upon how logical, informed and well-thought out they are.

Should they be discounted because they are celebrities? No. They are as qualified (or unqualified) as many of the political pundits.

We should weigh the message, moreso than the messenger. The celebrity is a delivery method.

Answer 9

Their opinions matter to only one person - them. Most people are capable of forming their own opinions without the help of celebrities (this includes people like Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh).

The problem arises when people start taking those opinions as fact.

Answer 10

Each opinion is one vote,no more no less.

People love picking on celebrities,hence the angst.