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    Annie Lennox: 'Obama Is More Bill Cosby Than Malcolm X'

    • Posted on Jan 29th 2009 12:00PM by David Chiu
    • Comments (16)
    Print |  Email More
    President Barack Obama isn't wanting for any musician fans. But he's got another one, anyway, in Annie Lennox, who saw Obama's election to the nation's highest office long overdue.

    "I'm thrilled of Barack's entry into presidential life has broken the glass ceiling for people of color," Lennox tells Spinner. "For African-Americans living in a society that so long has barred them from being in real positions of power, it's a huge relief."

    "Of course you could say that Barack is more Bill Cosby than he is Malcolm X," she continues. "But hey guys, at least it's a step in the right direction. He is a balanced point right in the middle as far as I can see, and I think that's a great thing."

    Lennox acknowledges that the newly-elected president faces some tremendous challenges, but she also emphasizes that people should give him the benefit of a doubt. "I'm hopeful, and I very much hope that he will be able to deliver some of the things he said he'll do," she says.

    The singer, who is set to release a compilation of her solo music next month, has been vocal about various social issues, including AIDS. Most recently she protested the Israeli military action in Gaza, a view that drew a critical response from Yoram Dori, an adviser to Israel's president Shimon Peres, in a letter to the Jerusalem Post newspaper. As Lennox explains it, she was asking for a ceasefire to the conflict.

    "I could understand very well that this is an incredibly complex issue," she says. "My children are half-Israeli. To say that I'm anti-Semitic in any way is an absolute insult to me and my family. I am absolutely pro-civilians in Israel and pro-civilians of Palestine. I want the new future generations to be brought up peacefully, [and] with peaceful coexistence. There has to be a better solution than a militaristic one."

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    • Filed under: News, Exclusive, Politics as Usual
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    Reader Comments(1 of 1)

    vote downvote upReportLowest Ranked

    Hi! Michaelat 1-30-2009

    Isn't Annie Lennox a british citizen? Or is she living in the U.S. to avoid paying high British taxes? Who cares what she thinks about politics? Why do celebrities, most of whom never graduated from any school, think that what they say about politics makes any difference to anyone just because they are "celebrities"?

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    Kevinat 2-14-2009

    and while we're at it, michael, why don't we restrict voting to those who are educated, since, according to your definition, uneducated views are invalid?
    It's not just because they are celebrities that we want to hear what they have to say....I'd much rather hear Annie Lennox's view of politics than Britney's view....get the difference? Annie has a reputation for writing/performing art that requires a bit more upstairs than the fluff Britney brings....give us some credit for judging validity of the celebrity's opinion depending on who they are

    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    acummings2002at 5-02-2009

    WANKER

    vote downvote upReportLow Ranked

    Hi! Michaelat 1-30-2009

    To go easy on Annie Lennox, who I like, maybe its the media that interviews the celebrities that think we need to listen to and adhere to the celebrities wisdom? Ha Ha fat chance.

    Reply
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    rudybaxterat 1-30-2009

    Wow nice ego High Michael. You sound pleasant. Did your mother have any kids with the personality of a slug?

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    Daddy Dearat 2-21-2009

    Barack is a balanced point right in the middle??? He had the most liberal voting record in the US Senate. It's amazing how people think. Liberals think Obama, CNN, and MSNBC are centrist and Fox News is far right wing. Conservatives thing that Fox News is fair and balanced and Obama, CNN, and MSNBC are left wing lunatics.

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportLow Ranked

    hashetenat 2-25-2009

    To Daddy Dear: it amazes me how many people think Obama is a liberal. newsflash, Obama is a centrist; he doesn't want any significant changes to be made to the republic, now does he? so how is he a liberal? he seems to be a man standing on a very fine line, in a blatant attempt at maximizing his already commercial appeal into the stratosphere. it's a sad, sad day when corporate whores like Obama are viewed as liberal.

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    hashetenat 2-25-2009

    and it would be very nice if Mr. Obama would release Obama Toilet Paper in conjunction with every possible product he has out right now. with all the money he makes off of pimping himself out like Miley Cyrus, it would be nice if 10 percent of his profits are put directly into the deficit, give the government back some of the money he's frivolously spending.

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    Wandaat 3-09-2009

    Are you on drugs? What "products" does President Obama have out? Are you really so ignorant that you believe that the stuff manufactured (probably in China) with his likeness on it is his? Get an education and stop trying to be clever when you haven't got the brain to do it!

    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    Steveat 2-26-2009

    "He is a balanced point right in the middle as far as I can see, and I think that's a great thing."

    OMG HELLO?????

    He's as Liberal Left and Socialist as there has ever been.

    Another idiot "star" who is clueless.

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportHigh Ranked

    stilleto9at 3-04-2009

    ignorance is bliss...Obama does not make money from any thing that other people are making off of him....he is a
    public figure and so anyone can make big bucks off of him..do your homework....Stilleto9

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    jeaneneprattat 3-05-2009

    Nothing wrong with being "left" or "right" as such -- it all depends on what particular policy we're talking about --, but it's ridiculous to call Barack Obama "far left" or call him "the most liberal" of our Senators.

    Bernie Sanders, Ind. of Vermont, identifies himself as a "democratic socialist" (a la several Scandinavian and European democracies) and is much more "liberal" than Obama. I'd say Russ Feingold is also more liberal. And, of course, Ted Kennedy. Probably a few others (including Ron Wyden of Oregon and others).

    Before you draw any conclusions about a politician because some interest group has labeled him/her as "liberal" or "conservative," you need to ask them to DEFINE their TERMS and then cite their evidence that the particular politician meets those criteria.

    Barack Obama has taken a number of non-liberal, non-populist positions on various issues. In many ways he seems to be more a centrist a la Bill Clinton than a true liberal.

    It may be that that's just practical politics. He truly does want to go beyond partisan politics and bring together liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats. We'll see if that works.

    But those who call Obama an extreme liberal are either ignorant of what those terms mean or simply trying to paint the center as "far left" to make it easier for the public to be pulled to the extreme right.

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportHigh Ranked

    Joyfull14Himat 3-28-2009

    I'm sorry why should I care what Annie, Cheryl, Sean, or anyone else in the entertainment industry thinks about politics? Honestly, the ego's on these people are ridiculous. Just because one entertains for a living doesn't entitle them to wax political. Give me a break, stick to singing Annie, that you can have authority on.

    BTW Jeanepratt,
    Take a look at Obama's voting record. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he is quite a leftist. Gosh.

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    argylesweater3at 4-22-2009

    Annie Lennox is choosing the weirdest manner to revive her ailing and now dead 1980's carreer. She needs to dye her hair and go back to being a man.

    Reply
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    Assholeat 5-03-2009

    Who's Annie Lennox? Didn't she have a candle factory somewhere, or was it an air conditioner?

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    Damienat 5-03-2009

    I tend to agree that celebrities can lean towards being blowhards now and again. I care more about what my best friend thinks about politics and social issues than Annie Lennox or any other celebrity, for that matter. Granted, it gives us all something to talk (read: gossip) about, but listening to what some overpaid entertainer has to say about world issues is not my idea of an intelligent discourse. William Buffet talking about economics - I listen. Annie Lennox (who is Scottish, by the way) opining on our American president? I'll take a pass, thanks.

    Reply

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