By Joe Bendel. Initially, the student-driven revolution against Czechoslovakia’s hardline Communist government seemed hopelessly naïve. In a mere eleven days, the humbled regime relinquished their dubious claim to power, clearing the way for democratic elections. Unlike the current Middle Eastern “Days of Rage,” it all transpired without demonstrators committing any sexually, ethnically, or religiously motivated acts of violence. In fact, whether Havel and the Velvet Revolution were too forgiving of their former oppressors is one of the questions raised in Cory Taylor’s documentary, The Power of the Powerless, which opens this Friday in the Los Angeles area. Continue reading What a Revolution Should Look Like: The Power of the Powerless
Day: March 9, 2011
Celebrities Who Perform for The Qaddafis
By David Ross. Celebrity avarice doesn’t get any lower than this. Rolling Stone reports (here and here) that numerous stars have received massive paychecks to perform for the family of Muammar el-Qaddafi.
Over the past few years, Muatassim Qaddafi [the colonel’s playboy son] has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars hiring prominent western performers to provide music for his private events. In 2008, Mariah Carey accepted a $1 million fee, according to WikiLeaks cables and news reports, to sing four songs for a New Year’s Eve party. 50 Cent has performed at Qaddafi functions in the past. Beyoncé was the main attraction at the New Year’s Even party, which took place on at Nikki Beach, on the Caribbean island of St. Bart’s party. Usher, according to reports, also performed there, and Lindsay Lohan, Jay-Z, Jon Bon Jovi and other celebrities were in the audience.
Nelly Furtado, meanwhile, received $1 million to perform a forty-five-minute show in Milan in 2007. What next? Justin Bieber coming soon to an Afghan cave near you!
It’s hard to know which is more deplorable: celebrity greed or Qaddafi taste. In the attempt to shake the desert sand from their robes, rogue dictators seem to have looked no farther than US magazine and Cribs. I suppose it’s helpful intel that our geopolitical adversaries are holed up in their bunkers with the complete Laguna Beach on DVD. Maybe Selena Gomez can pitch in and do some role playing with Hilary Clinton – you know, to give her a feel for what Middle Eastern tyrants are into.
Rolling Stone, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Shepard Fairey Inc., cannot resist a final ludicrous insinuation of moral equivalency:
Artists have long taken money to play private shows for clients whose political agendas might be offensive to their fans, from B.B. King jamming with the late Republican strategist Lee Atwater in the Eighties to Elton John singing at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding last year.
This dig appears in the print edition of the story, but not on-line. Good call. The blogosphere would have fed like piranhas on this.
Posted on March 9th, 2011 at 10:35am.