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Madman Across The Water
When Elton John provided the musical entertainment for Rush Limbaugh's 44th wedding, I reserved judgment (nice of me, since I know both were holding their collective breath). While it seemed odd from a distance, a closer look revealed that Limbaugh -- conservative nutcase that he is -- does not join some of his brethren in gay-bashing. Moreover, Sir Elton took the funds from the gig and flipped them straight into his AIDS Foundation.
Elton John, my favorite performer in my pre-Springsteen period, has again made headlines -- and defied pretzel logic -- by refusing to pull the plug on a scheduled concert in Tel Aviv.
As the rest of the world goes with the flow of following its natural instinct to hate on Israel (code word for Jews), with the rationale being the misunderstood but regrettable flotilla raid on a humanitarian ship carrying aid to the Gaza strip, John refused to follow the path of Elvis Costello and The Pixies and boycott the scheduled concert that drew 50,000 fans (many of whom may not even agree with the policies of its right-leaning, hard-line government).
According to the Jerusalem Post, he performed in Tel Aviv on Thursday despite "pressure" from human rights groups.
"Shalom, we are so happy to be back here! Ain't nothing gonna stop us from coming, baby," John said during his performance.
He added: "Musicians spread love and peace, and bring people together. That's what we do. We don't cherry-pick our conscience."
Elton John, my favorite performer in my pre-Springsteen period, has again made headlines -- and defied pretzel logic -- by refusing to pull the plug on a scheduled concert in Tel Aviv.
As the rest of the world goes with the flow of following its natural instinct to hate on Israel (code word for Jews), with the rationale being the misunderstood but regrettable flotilla raid on a humanitarian ship carrying aid to the Gaza strip, John refused to follow the path of Elvis Costello and The Pixies and boycott the scheduled concert that drew 50,000 fans (many of whom may not even agree with the policies of its right-leaning, hard-line government).
According to the Jerusalem Post, he performed in Tel Aviv on Thursday despite "pressure" from human rights groups.
"Shalom, we are so happy to be back here! Ain't nothing gonna stop us from coming, baby," John said during his performance.
He added: "Musicians spread love and peace, and bring people together. That's what we do. We don't cherry-pick our conscience."
posted by Gordon Glantz at
1:13 PM
4 Comments:
Gordon Glantz and Elton John, talk about two nutcases! At least one has some writing talent.
Each artist has to follow his or her own conscience. Elton John did what he thought was right and played this concert. That's fine but who is he to judge others? Maybe if we had less of that in the world, the world would be a more peaceful place.
A few years back, Elton John took some flak from the gay community for performing at some awards show with Eminem. John's gay critics read into his collaboration as condoning Eminems's homophobic lyrics; if I recall, Elton John's reaction to that was something to the effect that he was about building bridges, not walls.
Building bridges takes a lot more courage than building walls. In today's political climate, it takes no courage whatsoever to boycott Israel; on the other hand, to thumb one's nose at the boycott that is being carried out by all of the "correct" people with the "correct" sensitivities and follow your own conscience takes real chutzpah.
There are those in this world, and they are becoming more bold and numerous with each passing day, who would blame Israel for the intolerance and hatred directed at her by her enemies. Kudos to Elton John for standing up for what he (and I) believes is the right thing to do: Standing up for Israel.
Elton you got a lot of class. Good call. Finally an entertainer with guts. The rest of those left-leaning musician Schmucks can learn a lesson.
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