Publicola

Sheryl Crow was asked not to make anti war statements at the Grammy's.
Now I am a little torn by the whole war thing myself. I don't think we're going about it the right way & I think our foreign policy in general has been more than a little screwed up since around 1900. On the other hand Hussein's a tyrant & whether or not he poses a direct threat to us he does pose a direct threat to his people & his neighbors.

With that out of the way I think since it's the Grammy's dime then they can call any shots they want. It would therefore be innappropriate to agree to their terms & then go against their wishes when the mic was on you.
The appropriate response to the Grammy reps would have been to ask them to change their mind & let any speaker speak briefly in any way he/she saw fit. If they refused then politely & very publicly refuse to participate in the Grammy's untill their policy changed.

I don't really agree with Ms. Crow's ideas. I think war sometimes is the only answer even if it's a regrettable one. Peace is something I value, but like most things in the real world it depends on the price. I value freedom more than peace & if it takes war to achieve the former then I'll live without the latter.

With that out of the way I am disappointed in Ms. Crow's decision. If you believe in something you should stand up for it. To be fair though I have never been a fan of the Grammy's. Sure, I'd watch them every now & then but the awards part of the show never really impressed me. I always imagined if I was a nominee I'd politely asked to be dropped on general principles. So perhaps Ms. Crow is feeling a pressure that I am immune to & thus it's a bit unfair of me to be disappointed in her. I don't place the same value on awards that she does & I don't even espouse her political views. But despite the rationizations to the contrary I'm still just a bit disappointed.