Political Opinions from Celebities

 A frequent complaint: "I don't watch sports or award shows or talk shows to hear players or actors or singers comment on politics. Keep your political opinions to yourself."

Of course, most of the time, this is only said when the celebrity has expressed an opinion the speaker doesn't agree with. And, I have to say, it more often comes from the conservative side of the political aisle. And, of course, you didn't hear that when Charlton Heston was spouting about prying his gun from his "cold, dead hand" or Ted Nugent is talking about hunting down liberals. Then what you get is a full-throated defense of the First Amendment right to free speech.

There's an equally frequent complaint about political speech on college campuses--that right-wing opinions are regularly shut down and left-wing opinions welcomed and celebrated. It has seemed to me that the real difference is between those (of any political stripe) who respect diversity and those who see any deviation from long-standing practice as heresy. Or between those who see the opposition as principled people with differing viewpoints and those who see it as simply "the enemy." And if you view your opposition as "the enemy," it's hard to fault them when they react in kind.

I don't have political enemies; I have people who I disagree with, for the most part. They only become my foes when they seek to silence me or ridicule me or slander me.