Paul Bashes Bush (WARNING: HIGH POLITICAL CONTENT)

[Mike]

Paul obviously has made a grave error as he has upset basically 50% of his fan

Mike- with all respect-

Paul has probably pissed off 15% of his fans, not 50.

Simple stat: 14% of people believe Obama was not born in the U.S.
http://world-news.newsvine.com/_news/20 ... orn-abroad

Thems your hard core teabagger crowd.

Bush's final approval rating was 22%.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/ ... 8399.shtml

Now, some of them teabaggers (maybe most) are included in that group.

I'd also venture that a solid percentage of the aforementioned group are not big Beatle/Rock Music fans-- probably close to 50 to be generous.

I'd also venture that a majority of Paul fans are closer to him on political issues than not. Does it surprise anyone where Paul stands politically? John certainly could have said something like that. Didn't he tell the royals to "rattle their jewelry?"

So really, claiming Paul pissed of 50% of his fans is not accurate.

You should use approval ratings of Bush as a benchmark at all. Many non-Bush supporters and voters of Obama are also against what Paul said. Remember that almost half (50%) did vote for Obama and what is forgotten is that almost half, did not. From the public reaction in the news, on sites and in blogs, I think it is very safe to say the number is much closer if not higher than my 50% than it is to your 15%.

[bonovox66]

OK. I've tried staying out of this, but all this is just ridiculous. People need to worry about real problems and not what some musician said. No disrespect to Paul, I love the man his music and have listened to his statements and taken them to heart when they pertain to me. But this was a joke, perhaps in bad taste, but a joke none-the-less. And should it be any surprise Paul has aligned himself with Obama? We all know Paul was a big supporter of the civil rights movement and for people of his generation Obama is the culmination of that. I know a lot of us (especially people not from America) and most of these Tea Partiers forget that. You have to remember most of the people getting all bent out of shape are too young to remember this fact.

Now, I am not saying that the whole "fulfilling the dreams of the Civil Rights Movement" makes everything Obama touches gold. In fact a lot he has touched has turned to a big fat turd.

But lets get it together people, it was a joke and Paul is not the first to make fun of GW. Heck if you really want to get mad at someone lets take a look at Oliver Stone and his film W or Michael Moore or Green Day or (insert celebrity here). I think these people have been much more disrespectful.

I would also like to clarify that while I never voted for Bush I am not one of those Bush haters, as there were a few things I think he deserves a lot of credit for, such as aid to Africa. And while I voted for Obama, I have not had a good word to say about him since the first month of his presidency.

So what I'm trying to say is lets move on. I didn't hear Georgie saying he was upset by this comment. If he's not upset why should anyone else be? And lets loose sight of the really important things like starving children, political prisoners, war, the supreme courts ruling on campaign contributions that guarantees the average citizen no longer has a fair say in elections (like it ever existed), the oil spill, and I'm sure each person on this board could add at least a dozen other issues. Why aren't people complaining about these? No we are too worried about what a former Beatle said! People really need to put their priorities in order...

[jjs]

Paul obviously has made a grave error as he has upset basically 50% of his fan

Mike- with all respect-

Paul has probably pissed off 15% of his fans, not 50.

Simple stat: 14% of people believe Obama was not born in the U.S.
http://world-news.newsvine.com/_news/20 ... orn-abroad

Thems your hard core teabagger crowd.

Bush's final approval rating was 22%.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/ ... 8399.shtml

Now, some of them teabaggers (maybe most) are included in that group.

I'd also venture that a solid percentage of the aforementioned group are not big Beatle/Rock Music fans-- probably close to 50 to be generous.

I'd also venture that a majority of Paul fans are closer to him on political issues than not. Does it surprise anyone where Paul stands politically? John certainly could have said something like that. Didn't he tell the royals to "rattle their jewelry?"

So really, claiming Paul pissed of 50% of his fans is not accurate.

He pisses me off every time he releases an album.

[jjs]

Paul obviously has made a grave error as he has upset basically 50% of his fan

Mike- with all respect-

Paul has probably pissed off 15% of his fans, not 50.

Simple stat: 14% of people believe Obama was not born in the U.S.
http://world-news.newsvine.com/_news/20 ... orn-abroad

Thems your hard core teabagger crowd.

Bush's final approval rating was 22%.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/ ... 8399.shtml

Now, some of them teabaggers (maybe most) are included in that group.

I'd also venture that a solid percentage of the aforementioned group are not big Beatle/Rock Music fans-- probably close to 50 to be generous.

I'd also venture that a majority of Paul fans are closer to him on political issues than not. Does it surprise anyone where Paul stands politically? John certainly could have said something like that. Didn't he tell the royals to "rattle their jewelry?"

So really, claiming Paul pissed of 50% of his fans is not accurate.

You should use approval ratings of Bush as a benchmark at all. Many non-Bush supporters and voters of Obama are also against what Paul said. Remember that almost half (50%) did vote for Obama and what is forgotten is that almost half, did not. From the public reaction in the news, on sites and in blogs, I think it is very safe to say the number is much closer if not higher than my 50% than it is to your 15%.

You're right Mike. And I suspect the percentage of Americans who feel the same way is even higher. Because we'll say what we want about our own, but we ain't going to take no crap from some airhead foreigner.

[lorraine]

[quote="Teacup"]Macca needs to butt out of US politics and go strum his guitar or something ...... As a lifelong fan - I am done with him. I am selling most of collectibles and will not support his music anymore. He comes to our country -- takes our money fans and is living a life of luxury with that money .... and then he bashes Bush ................????? Who the He** does he think he is? I am so hot and mad at him right now. PM if you are interested in buying a boatload of McCartney collectibles .... no I am not giving them away, but I will discount them 10% of eBay or going rate.

I will always love the music, but things will never be the same again. It all started with his political video of Obama in background of Sing the Changes during '09 tour. That was bad enough. Now he is butting in where he has no dog in the fight. He needs to work on getting his US citizenship and leave the politics to his socialite gf Nancy. I am sure she is influencing him wholeheartedly. I can't blame Paul completely ... BUT he was wrong, wrong to Bash Bush. And to top it off I am a Texan so I am quadruple mad at him.


Pfffffft Macca -- bad bad boy!


Speaking of Nancy, if Paul dislikes Bush so gosh darn bad, why is he with a woman who is/was a republican and donated money to Bush's campaign? I think Paul's comment was in poor taste and should not have been made at the White House. It does not surprise me that he dislikes Bush but what surprises me is that I thought Paul would be savy enough to know when and where you you should say certain things and when and where you shouldn't. I will still love Paul's music but his opinions are irrelevant to me.

[lorraine]

Paul surely is free to say anything he wants but he has always been so careful in doing so not to alienate his fans. I have received emails from some very irate fans that just can't believe what Paul has done. I will not cut and paste any content but what some have said, putting it mildly: they disagree very strongly with the outright political alignment with Obama and in particular with his insults to a two term Harvard educated (MBA) former President.

Sure it was a joke but Paul obviously has made a grave error as he has upset basically 50% of his fans at a time where he's also announced a bunch of new concert dates in the US and Canada. A can of worms has been open and hopefully his PR team can put a lid on it and successfully steer clear of the likely political heat that will be directed his way during this tour.

This topic has of course stirred up a lot of emotions on both sides of the political spectrum and I have been asked privately to lock this thread to end discussion. Even Paul can put his own foot in his mouth or cut his nose of to spite his feet. Nobody should be shocked that people are upset, nobody should be surprised that people are polarized on this. If I keep this topic open, I honestly think it will do a lot of harm as some people will simply stop visiting or even stop listening to Paul's music. I don't for one minute think that Paul wants to clean house of conservatively thinking fans, but he's on his way of doing just that.

This is a forum discussing Paul and The Beatles and Paul certainly is the key topic here and by locking this down I would end this discussion. Fans seem to want to be able to want to be critical of what Paul has done and at this time I'll keep it open at the risk of loosing some long time fans of site. However, I reserve the right to lock this up at anytime without warning.

I agree with you that Paul is entitled to his opinion. Over the past three days I have considered the possibility that this comment was a calculated PR stunt. Has this possibility occurred to anyone else? If it was a PR stunt, I am concerned like you Mike that it could end up backfiring on him and alienating 50% of his fans.

[Awesoman]

Sure it was a joke but Paul obviously has made a grave error as he has upset basically 50% of his fans at a time where he's also announced a bunch of new concert dates in the US and Canada. A can of worms has been open and hopefully his PR team can put a lid on it and successfully steer clear of the likely political heat that will be directed his way during this tour.

Somehow I really doubt Paul's (lame) joke will really hurt him that much in the long run. Springsteen was practically on board Obama's Kool-Aid campaign and he still packs the arenas. Nobody goes to Paul for their political insight. Paul praises Obama for doing a "great job" while at the same press conference labels the oil spill as a big disgrace. It is the most basic rule in Celebrity 101: Bash the slimey Republican while showering the Democrat with undeserved, masturbatory acclaim. Now, let's go plug that oil spill with a heapin' helpin' of "Yes we caaaaaaaaaaannnn"!!!!

[Mike]

I really don't want to keep this going as it is getting out of hand, but I'm still getting emails from people who have never posted in the forums here. Even Paul's own website is allowing this topic to continue. The fact that a few threads were locked, a main thread on the topic is still open. So, if it's open game on Paul's own website, I do feel obligated to keep it open here as well. Fans are stating their views and some fans are angrily attacking other fans because of their views. I'm sure the Paul-hatters are taking this opportunity to take digs into Paul and that's sad.

I do think because the thread is purposely being left open, at some point in time soon, this will be addressed by the website and/or Paul. He certainly did not intend to alienate fans but he did. I'm sure this will be cleared up and go away, hopefully very soon.

[Mark Rink]

ohh the British are so witty,lol WHO GIVES A FUC8

[jgkojak]

You do realize that the negative comments are being driven by the rightwing talk machine-- and that they have a disproportionate impact on things like online (i.e. unscientific) surveys and/or forums?

I live in a very conservative part of the country- and have heard nothing on any of the local radio stations-- everything has been national in origin-- methinks its much ado about nothing and that most people don't really care one way or another.

Springsteen is a good example- he is far more outspoken politically than Paul ever will be, and it has not cost him support or ticket sales.