-
The Religion of Peace Strikes London Again
May 22, 2013 | 6 comments
-
Carney Goes Birther on Major Garrett
May 22, 2013 | 7 comments
-
Ray Manzarek, R.I.P.
May 20, 2013 | 1 comment
-
Thoughts on The Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma
May 20, 2013 | 1 comment
-
Alan O’Day, R.I.P.
May 20, 2013 | 3 comments
The Spectacle Blog
Gene Simmons, currently in Israel filming episodes of his A&E reality show Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels, has taken some of his fellow musicians to task for refusing to perform in Israel. The Kiss bassist has called musicians like Elvis Costello “fools” for boycotting the Jewish State. In an interview with the Associated Press, Simmons said, “The countries they should be boycotting are the same countries that the populations are rebelling.”
You could say that Simmons has given them a well-deserved tongue lashing.
View all comments (25) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/03/23/gene-simmons-give-israel-boyco
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Floyd Looney | 3.23.11 @ 1:07PM
He is nuts and he has helped lower the culture into the gutter but even a broken clock can be right.
Grzmlyk| 3.23.11 @ 3:37PM
I don't know - KISS's antics in their hayday seem positively wholesome now.
Simmons is most definitely a couple of frets shy of a 12-string. But he's a pretty bright guy. And he's right.
fmg| 3.23.11 @ 1:13PM
I hate Simmons musically and love Elvis Costello musically but in terms of political/ideaology.......Simmons is right and Costello is, just another Euro-socialist-weenie, who smiled like a court jester playing in the White House for our Muslim Boy in Chief.
Rick V.| 3.23.11 @ 2:01PM
Gene rocks, God bless 'em. He should team up with Nuge, I'd rather watch the two of them perform together in any format - musically, conversationally, whatever - than Beck/O'Reilly any day.
Dixie Pixie| 3.23.11 @ 2:03PM
Next ...Pauly Shore denounces Hamas rocket attacks at Israel .
Hamas flees Gaza for the peace and quiet of Tripoli.
Details in the Jerusalem Post Style section.
Seek| 3.23.11 @ 2:04PM
Kiss rocks!! I've always dug Kiss and so have some more critically praised bands who covered them (e.g., the Replacements' "Black Diamond"). Simmons, of course, is Israeli by birth; his parents brought him to the U.S. when he was a preadolescent. Costello is a fine musician, but I'm glad Gene is giving a piece of his mind. Israelis are isolated enough by world opinion (i.e., anti-Semitism) as it is.
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 3.23.11 @ 2:09PM
Elvis Costello? Seriously, nobody can even name one song this turd sings, although I'm sure he's made it into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame by now, unlike some real Rock Groups who haven't yet (I won't name my list here,.. like say Jethro Tull). Why would the Israelis even care if he came to their Country, I wouldn't go to see him, if you paid the fare there for me, put me up in a hotel, and gave me free tickets too, it would be two hours of my life, I'd never get back. Now about Kiss? I'm sure they're in the R&R Hall of Fame by now too?
BarrytheChimpinChief| 3.23.11 @ 2:19PM
Elvis Costello is a great songwriter my friend and up to the 2008 election, he wisely kept his political views to himself. Since '08 however, he is a Barry boot licker, because he like Barry, want to see a weakened USA.
Ammo Guy| 3.23.11 @ 2:55PM
Au contraire, I heard him live at Wolf Trap in the summer of 2002 and he was already bashing Bush and the Republican Congress in between songs. Had to leave early because it was just too damn loud – pump it up anybody? Alas, young Declan and I share the same surname…sigh, but hardly the same politics.
BarrytheChimpinChief| 3.23.11 @ 3:03PM
Hmm, I have followed him (musically) since the late 70's and never heard him offer anything political beyond typical liberal nonsense ("no nukes", "world peace", yadda, yadda). But Bush bashing in 2002, before the Iraq War? What did Bush do by then? Oh yeah, he got elected, I mean "stole" the election from the brilliant "global warming" profiteer, Albert Gore Jr.
Ammo Guy| 3.23.11 @ 4:16PM
Yeah, my sister gave me his first album in 1977 because of the coincidence in surnames, but I liked his music immediately. Unfortunately, I was unable to catch him live until 2002 and was mostly disappointed since he plays so damn loud that you can barely tell what song he is singing. I later learned from friends that this approach was typical for the lad, but as I enter my sixties as a child of the 60s, I find I can’t handle the volume anymore (my ears are still ringing from a Robin Trower concert I attended in 1975, but I digress). This began a string of rock concerts during the Bush years that always seemed to include the obligatory bashing – so much so that I pretty much stopped going. OTOH, I did venture to see the Police a few years ago and held my breath for the entire concert waiting for the inevitable Bush Bash from Sting – was pleasantly surprised when all he did was sing which raised him in my estimation immensely, but only as an artist. Rock on!
JohnD| 3.23.11 @ 2:11PM
Gene Simmons birth name was Chaim Witz, and he was born in Israel to a Holocaust survivor mother after the war. He is a great patriot, and appreciates what the USA stands for.
Here is a quote from Gene froma few years ago:
"I wasn't born here. But I have a love for this country and its people that knows no bounds. I will forever be grateful to America for going into World War II, when it had nothing to gain, in a country that was far away... and rescued my mother from the Nazi German concentration camps. She is alive and I am alive because of America. And, if you have a problem with America, you have a problem with me".
Mick Lee| 3.23.11 @ 2:20PM
One only has to listen to Mr. Simmons spill his joyful tears at the memory of coming to Ameica to know he is an American patriot. He has little patience with the fashionable "enlightened" politics of his fellow rockers. Likewise, he has no sympathy for those who claim America dealt them a bad hand.
Occam's Tool| 3.23.11 @ 3:00PM
I'm sorry, KISS rocks. And Gene does great movie villians, too. I think I'm going to buy the Best of KISS this week, I truly do.
tonypal| 3.23.11 @ 4:25PM
I want to back the others here who sing the praises of Gene Simmons. Like many people not native to this country, he seems to have a greater appreciation for America than many born here. Unlike the ungrateful bastards who were born here and like to whine and moan about life's pressures and the shortcomings of this great nation - let's call them liberals, just for the hell of it - those who choose to come here understand all too well the sacrifices of the Founders and everyone else who fought for liberty and freedom. Gene Simmons gets it and for that he should be applauded and respected. Now if we could just teach him how to write a decent song.
Mike Campbell| 3.23.11 @ 5:34PM
Rick V.: Get all FOUR of them together!!!
Clint| 3.23.11 @ 5:38PM
Simmons stated that he regrets voting for Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential election.
FastJohnny| 3.23.11 @ 6:05PM
Does anyone really care what these 'entertainers' think about current events and world politics?I chuckle and shake my head anytime someone from pop culture thinks what they say matters and has one iota of insight into anything beyond the false reality that they call life.
Michael L. Hauschild| 3.23.11 @ 7:21PM
Sorry FastJohnny,
Anyone that is living the "reality" of boinking Shannon Tweed when ever he wants is Aces in my deck.
Richard Baker| 3.23.11 @ 7:47PM
Sounds like KISS should cover Merle Haggard's song "Fighting Side of Me." Good on ya, Gene!
Clint| 3.23.11 @ 8:08PM
“I prefer John Kerry’s environment policy. I support his policies on women. I prefer the separation of church and state. I don’t like a lot of these ethical points of view that George Bush has,” Simmons said. “But do I want Kerry as President of the United States? No. Bush is a mongrel. He is a cowboy. He can’t even pronounce the word ‘nuclear’. But this is the worst enemy terrorists have. And that is precisely the guy you want in charge. When the world is going nuts you want a guy who is nuttier than them. I want a rabid hawk. I want a warlord. Wait until a guy walks down the street with a suitcase with a dirty bomb. Then you won’t think your Prime Minister is such a bad guy. As soon as everything is back to normal and we’ve got peace I want to get George Bush out and get someone who is reasonable.”
Simmons is just another Israel Firster Agendist.
Occam's Tool| 3.24.11 @ 8:40PM
He is an Israeli Jew, who is a hell of a lot more successful than you, and is just smarter and better than you, Clint. Just another antisemitic barely literate drooling cretin to deal with, is all you are, Clint. Scumbag. Terrorist. Catamite.
Richard Baker| 3.23.11 @ 8:24PM
Clint:
As he was born there and has changed his mind regarding many issues as he's gotten older, give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Your comment seems to find his support of Israel disturbing to you. Wonder why? Read the Bible and you'll understand, as he does, why there has been so much support for the State of Israel by citizens in the US.
Clint| 3.23.11 @ 10:12PM
Richard, your comment seems to find my refusal to support Simmons, a guy who voted for Obama & praises John Kerry,while ssing Bush to carry out Simmons' Agenda, disturbing.
Wonder Why?
I've read The Bible,Sport. I'm A Catholic & I understand that United States National Interests & Foreign Policy aren't centered around a broken covenant that has been superseded.
" Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “God, according to the Prophet, will replace the broken Sinai covenant with a New Covenant that cannot be broken . . . . The conditional covenant, which depended on man’s faithful observance of the Law, is replaced by the unconditional covenant in which God binds himself irrevocably."
Occam's Tool| 3.24.11 @ 8:38PM
Nice to see Clint the NAZI is back. "Sandmonkeys, Clint." Nice to see Clint, the supporter of 3 month old babies being beheaded, is back.
But of course, you can't help it, Clint, as your father screwed around with a sheep and produced YOU!