<BR>>I was criticing the president of the <BR>>United States, not simply 'becos he <BR>>is the president', but becos of <BR>>the stuff he's done so far, <BR>>or better : what he hasn't <BR>>yet. <P>seriously, waiting for any president to actually serve the interests of ALL the peoples represented in this country (black and white, rich and poor, jewish and christian). and not to defend Clinton totally, he has put a lot of minorities in executive branch positions-more than any other president.<P>>There's a huge difference between what I <BR>>said and claiming '?uest shouldn't perform <BR>>for any politician'. ?uest, this <BR>>has nothing to do with getting <BR>>roasted for working with someone white <BR>>(Scott Storch), handicapped (any person wearing <BR>>glasses) <P>i take HUGE offense to that...i wear glasses! (and i'm nearly legally blind, so watch out! <img src="http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/Images/happy.gif">)(but for real, i hope you didn't mean that)<P>>or gay (we all know <BR>>gay people, so you probably already <BR>>have at one point or another, <BR>>be it an engineer, producer, choreographer, <BR>>whatever). That was not what <BR>>I'm saying. <P>that isnt what you are saying, but i think ?uest is addressing a lot of the flack in general. granted, its kind of hard to compare Clinton to working with Scott Storch, because of that whole Leader of the Free World thing. but still, if the roots did a nike commercial, a lot of us would be up in arms. There isnt anything wrong with that, but i realize now, that we can't expect someone to stand up for every single belief we hold. I don't see it as ?uest compromising his beliefs for his music, I see it as the president totally being hypocrital (OH NO!!! THATS A FIRST!!) There are police organizations all over the country who are encouraging boycotts of blackstar, rage against the machine, and the roots, because of their stance on mumia abu jamal, and their expression of that through their music. To have one of these people invited to the white house (even if it wasn't Clinton's doing, I'm sure he doesn't/didn't have to okay it...and I'm sure someone is not going to be happy)is surprising, to me at least. and for ?uest to turn this down will not make much of a statement (in terms of any kind of reaction from those whom we want to affect)<P><BR>>I feel your credibility as an artist <BR>>and your integrity as a person <BR>>is being abused to promote Clinton. <P>once again, clinton wasn't like "get me ?uestlove on the phone". this is will smith's thing. I don't feel ?uest is compomising his integrity or his credibility. i'd rather him make his statement through his music, to those who are listening (us), rather than some old white dudes--they KNOW what's wrong with this country, this has been going on for centuries! its not up to ?uest to cause a stir amongst them--he's just a musician(you know i dont mean it like that, im proving a point, damnit). if you want to place that social and political responsibility on him, make sure its in his motivating his fans, eff a president. its up to US, the youth, to make a change. ?uest playing drums for will smith is not going to set anything back anymore than it is by our own actions (killing each other, discriminating against each other, not helping each other), so ?uest, i officially exempt you from this responsibility, if most of us (including myself, i know i am guilty) aren't willing to step up to the plate ourselves, so i really wouldnt expect ?uest to do the same, though he has. <P><P>>Of course, and I'm glad we can <BR>>have this discussion, cos reality is <BR>>much more than a choice between <BR>>'he's selling out by doing that' <BR>>or 'back off, you should be <BR>>happy for ?uest'. <BR>>But I wouldn't put time in posting <BR>>this if I didn't love what <BR>>you do. <BR>>And I sincerely hope you have the <BR>>time of your life and a <BR>>great New Year's Eve. <BR>>take care, krewcial <BR>no doubt, i agree. i know you got much love, as do i.<P>as for ?uest, if you got a response like this from this post, i would call up spike and tell him to ix-nay the ovie-may <img src="http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/Images/happy.gif"><P><P>Fate is moving you toward your destiny--Delavega<P>Peace and Love <img src="http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/Images/happy.gif">