Yes, I’ve Lost My Bananas
That pioneer of the awe-inspiring calypso movement, Harry Belafonte, is sharing some more wisdom with us:
Entertainer Harry Belafonte, one of the Bush administration’s harshest critics, compared the Homeland Security Department to the Nazi Gestapo on Saturday and attacked the president as a liar.
“We’ve come to this dark time in which the new Gestapo of Homeland Security lurks here, where citizens are having their rights suspended,” Belafonte said in a speech to the annual meeting of the Arts Presenters Members Conference.
“You can be arrested and not charged. You can be arrested and have no right to counsel,” said Belafonte.
Belafonte’s remarks on Saturday — part of a 45-minute speech on the role of the arts in a politically changing world — were greeted with a roaring standing ovation from an audience which included singer Peter Yarrow of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, and members of the arts community from several dozen countries.
Oh, yes, the great Peter Yarrow, of the group best known for taking the work of Bob Dylan and turning it into muzak…
Hey, remind me, someone: how many times did people get up in public and denounce Hitler? It bears repeating: the mere fact that people within a state can call it fascist and totalitarian is the best proof that it is no such thing…
Exactly how many of those in the audience where ever upset with the KGB (in any of its various forms) arresting and working to death any of Stalin’s real or imagined enemies?
Belafonte is utterly repulsive–and what’s really appalling about the events of the last few weeks is that he’s not gaining his microphone and soapbox at something like a concert where people have come to see him–he’s being handed his venue by outfits like Duke University and the Childrens Defense Fund and the Arts Presenters Members Conference, who then to my mind at least tacitly if not overtly condone the statements he makes. At this point, you know what he’s going to say and when you invite him to your campus or your annual meeting, you’re asking for it because you agree with it and it’s what you want to hear.
Guess they forgot to mention that Mr. Yarrow was convicted of child molestation awhile ago – quite a role model for them, eh?
Harry Belafonte…
I see you have some nice information about music and entertainment….