Las Vegas casino boots Ronstadt for lauding Moore’s
‘Fahrenheit 9/11’
“It was a very ugly scene,” Aladdin President Bill Timmins said.
Timmins, who was watching the show, said
he didn’t allow Ronstadt back in her luxury suite and she was escorted off the property.
Hotel spokeswoman Tyri Squyres said it
wasn’t Ronstadt’s message per se that management objected to, but, “She wanted to incite the audience, and she incited them to the
point where they were very upset. . . . She was hired to entertain, not to preach.”
Ronstadt Will Continue Praising Moore Rapid
City Journal:
“This is an election year,” she told the Los Angeles Times Tuesday. “I want people to get their head up out of their
mashed potatoes and learn something about the issues and go and vote. … I’m not telling them how to vote. I’m saying, get information
about the issues.” …
Ronstadt, 58, told the Times her remarks were “modest,” adding: “They didn’t throw me out.”
“I
didn’t even know there was trouble,” she said. “Those places operate like little city-states. They are all-powerful. And I had already
said I never want to come back.”
Our Opinion: Real desperado Tucson Citizen
The hotel-casino is a private entity; its managers
can hire or remove whomever they choose.
The booting of Ronstadt did not violate her right to free speech. But it did constitute
one of the worst public relations moves imaginable. People love or hate Moore, but almost everyone savors Ronstadt’s music. A
more circumspect reaction would have been wise.
”Circumspect” sounds suspiciously French to the Radical Right.
mjh
The Corner on National Review Online
My wife & I were at the Linda Ronstadt performance in question, at
the Aladdin in Las Vegas, and quite frankly, Aladdin President Bill Timmins’ account of what happened is complete crap. There was mixed
booing and cheering at Ronstadt’s pro-Michael Moore comment, and that was about the extent of the “bedlam” that supposedly broke out.
… Frankly, my suspicion is that Timmins is way overdramatizing what happened, in order to justify giving Ronstadt the boot. It simply
wasn’t that big a deal. [mjh: Thanks, NewMexiKen]
Of course, we should trust the
corporate stooges. After all, Lush Limbaugh calls Ronstadt ”the 50-year-old hippie relic” (she’s 58 — Lush doesn’t care about
accuracy) and a kook.
It is interesting to note that this casino is in bankruptcy. If you’re looking for a buyer, it makes sense to
appeal to the people with money. Probably a lot of government regulators involved in such things, as well. mjh
mjh’s Weblog Entry – 03/19/2003: Dixie Chicks – who is being disloyal?
Dissent is NOT disloyalty.