Sweet Dream Are Not Made Of These

It's not easy to make a pompous celebrity blowhard like Sting come across as a voice of reason on political matters, but Annie Lennox manages to do just that in this interview with the singers who are touring together:

Sting, your record also had a lot of political commentary after 9/11. There was a lot of uncertainty that you expressed. Any thoughts about the political climate right now? It's an election year in America.

Sting: I think it's an election year in the world. I think with America being the predominant power in the world, it's really that the power in America affects all of us, whether you live there or not. Personally, I think foreign policy at the moment is a complete mess. I'd like to see that dealt with in a much more inclusive way than it has been, and that's being polite.

Polite and reasonable. You may not agree with Sting, but at least sounds like he's dealing with reality. Unlike Annie Lennox:

Annie, how about your political sense? You continue to help out Amnesty International and Greenpeace.

Lennox: We donated our income on our last [Eurythmics] tour to Amnesty and to Greenpeace. These are two incredibly important causes, and it was an opportunity to do that and to bring awareness to them. . . . I was very concerned when I came to America the last time, because I felt that everything was becoming increasingly censorial in the media. And that was very interesting because I thought, "Wow, America is supposed to be the land of the free." But I felt that was no longer the case when certain artists spoke out and gave their views and were absolutely lambasted for it.

Are you talking about the Dixie Chicks, for example?

Lennox: Yes, I am. It was interesting to watch, but it made you realize that it was no longer a place where one can really speak one's mind.

"No longer a place where one can really speak one's mind"? Pssst...Annie. There's a "documentary" movie that came out a couple of weeks. You might have heard about it. The entire movie is really nothing more than a demented rant against the Bush administation and its policies. Can you please explain how this jives with your silly claim that America is "no longer a place where one can really speak one's mind"?

To borrow a phrase from Laura Ingraham, please just shut up and sing.