Not sure whether to consider that a positive or a negative. LOL. he is getting attention anyway. Now if that attention can lead to increased album sales, that would be good.

:twisted: How do you know you can't buy them here? :bleh:
Have you been looking for them? :p :lol:

I was so 'influenced' I had to check ... but I know I definitely can't vote for the the next President of the United States, although given its importance we should get to vote don't you think ? I guess Mitt would have less chance if there was a European influence brought to bear ...

First time for everything - very cool

Very cool - you are my new best friend ! :D

:twisted: I knew it :wink:

Neither can I, but we can support from the sidelines if we so wish. :shrug:

I know where you're coming from, but no, I don't think we should have an active vote in an American political election.
That's too much like having our Prime Minister picked by the French *shudder*

full extended clip of america the beautiful. i for one love how meat and every look like their having a blast :)

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbc-news/49571937/#49571937

Good Lord, that didn't need to be posted again

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

Bravo to Meat!!! I too am a Romney supporter, but that's not the point. Doesn't the man have the same rights as everyone else to state his views? I've seen people state in a few locations that they will no longer be fans and won't listen to his music. Give me a break!!! If I, and other conservatives used the same logic....and refused to watch films starring actors and actresses that always support liberal candidates, the movie industry would go broke! I'm not surprised that Meat did this. He's an honest, standup guy.

[QUOTE=Wario;579114]full extended clip of america the beautiful. i for one love how meat and every look like their having a blast :)

Did you have to ~ really?

Crazy things are being said on facebook. Wow, just wow!

LMAO, Showed the clip to my wife. She watched it, stayed silent for a moment then looked at me and said "Well at least he didn't sing" :lol:

I have been a long time defender of all things Meat, to the point of arguing with half the people on this board, but after hearing that many times today (it's all over the place on US tv) even I have to throw up my hands and just say WTF:??:

Time for me to weigh in.

I don't care who Meat supports, I wouldn't care who he supported if he was in my country and I sure as hell don't care who he supports in the American election, even if my impression is that Obama is better and more intelligent.

I don't care about the vocals as it wasn't a concert and Meat had just done a concert within the last 24 hours anyway so he was knackered.

What I have a bit of a worry about is this:

'So you get out there and you argue with your relatives, you argue with your neighbours, you get in fights over politics and religion, ’cause we need Ohio!'

Now I don't know how people feel about this, but this sort of speech almost sounds like it's encouraging people to kind of, i dunno, bully other people into voting republican. Maybe i've got it wrong and this isn't what Neat meant, maybe he got a bit carried away, i dunno, but this just sounded a bit wrong to me. Apologies if i'm off base.

I apologze for posting the link. it was retitled after I posted it. Its rediculous the massive rape of cruelty online from this :(

I think it's just the excited rhetoric one expects at political rallies Rob.

Okay, just thought it sounded a bit too combative and over the top. But like you say their rallies are like that.

What rape of cruelty? What has been said? :'(

I do believe it's merely the bad performance (by all the guys up there 'singing'). Even Mitt Romney looks a bit awkward on the stage. I wonder how happy he really is with this endorsement, and the atention it gets.

Wow, so many posts I wanted to respond to, I'd be quoting for days, so I'm just going to address several things all in one post.

First off, I think celebrities have just as much right as anyone else to make their political choices known, whether it be posting it on their websites, Facebook, or appearing at campaign rallies. It's no different, IMO, than the dozens of posts that come across my Facebook feed on a daily basis.

However, having said that, I agree that those celebs then open themselves up to whatever criticisms are going to come their way, and it's going to come from all over, including from their own fan bases- the answer to loaferman61's question (I hope he's OK) is a definite yes. And it's not just trolls- lots of otherwise "normal" people can get very heated when it comes to politics.

Personally, I couldn't care less about a musician's politics if I like his/her music. Ted Nugent is about as right-wing conservative as they come, but I'd still go watch him rock out. I agree with Mouse- if you quit being a fan because of their politics, you might be a little too invested in the person over the music. But, it happens.

I think people should use their own judgement rather than vote for a candidate just because some celebrity endorses them. Where I do think celebrities can be helpful is just getting people out to vote, period- for example, getting people to come out for a performance, but have volunteers on hand to do voter registrations, etc.

:twisted: OK, i've got to say, that was a terrible performance.
I don't know if this was thrown together at the last minute, but nobody seemed to know what they were doing.
Nobody seemed to be singing well. The guy on the right looked like he shat himself when Meat started yelling down the mic. He didn't know it was coming. He looked utterly lost. The four singers just joined in when they felt like it, and other parts seemed to drift into places where nobody was really singing.

It's a shame, because I think if they'd had a chance to work on it a little longer they would have come up with a stirring version where they all took center stage at some point and really brought it home with a chorus.

It might have been thrown together last minute as a bit of fun, but as Meat's a singer, the performance won't reflect well on him proffessionally.

I'm sorry, but it looked like 4 blokes got up at a karaoke completly unplanned without any idea who was going to do what.

We all know that Meat is capable of so much more than that performance.

I had stepped out to do some errands and when I came home, my mother very cautiously approached me & asked, "ummm did you actually see the video of Meat performing for Romney" She isn't really a fan because she doesn't like rock music. However she gets what his appeal is to me. I said, yes I have seen it. Then still with caution she asked "well what did you think?" I just shook me head in disappointment. She said sorry to say but the whole thing was pitiful. I reluctantly had to agree. She said he didn't sing, he just screamed & he did not look good. And his band looked they were at a funeral.
I hope he gives an amazing performance at Mohegan Sun in CT on Saturday night.

OMG! Meat is on his fb wall right now. Yikes!

Seems the republicans don't back Meat. John McCain....

:twisted: Ouch :doh:

In all fairness....it is the HuffPo and it is John McCain..... both are questionable when getting information about conservatives and Republicans correct.

That means nothing.

I am fine (thanks for asking) but we are now in the storm zone as it seems Meat is as well. He talked about a storm and I guess he got one, but just like I spent the afternoon doing storm prep, I hope he did some prep for the reaction this would get. I hope he is handling it well. Best wishes to all on the east coast USA for the "perfect storm".

I'm glad to hear you're ok ... and thanks for your concern about those of us on the East Coast ;)
Based on Meat's posts on his FB page, he's handling it very well.

What was said?

Far to much to explain. Insults and mud slinging for the most part. Gross! Go to Facebook and see.

People...

This is the internet. What do you expect?

Just as ML has the right to express his views, so do those who oppose him. They may express their anger in a more vitriolic fashion than I would prefer, but they have that right.

If you don't want to be exposed to that than don't read comment sections on Facebook, CNN, etc... I've learned to not get upset by the internet, or else the internet wins.

I save getting upset for online XBOX games.

Meat prefaced this by commenting that we've all been taught not to argue politics or religion. That made a certain amount of sense in an age when most people read the newspaper, thought for themselves, and formed their own opinions.

Now, we have two trends: lack of good information, and polarization. We live in a time when more people than ever operate strictly on hearsay, or what they read on a Yahoo Answers page. Newspapers had enough problems of their own, but we've gone downhill from there! Network TV news has become more entertainment than news. But even though we are deluged with "lite" info (or maybe because of it) we are more polarized than we've ever been. We have trouble discussing anything without getting angry.

Maybe it's a good time to start talking to our friends and family about these previously off-limits topics. I don't want to put words in Meat's mouth but I doubt that he meant bullying in any way. I think it's time to increase the dialogue, to talk more, and talk freely.
-Kathy

.

Having read this entire thread and watched the videos:

The singing was, well, I'll skip the adjectives this time.

The excuses flying around (he's just done a show so he's tired, it was a youtube clip, etc.) are really starting to sound delusional (and yes, it's painful to have to admit that). I made a post in the Sammy Hagar and Meat thread about this with comparison videos, because the camera phone/youtube thing can't be used to defend a less than great performance.

And as for the argument about HIAB being comparable to this situation because it's a 'politically charged' album - yeah, it's about as far to the left as possible. It's borderline Marxian.

Confused.

Doode.

full performance of break it and stand in the storm:

YouTube Video

Even the flag didn't want to be there.

Seeing Meat Loaf so tired makes me sad. He should have had a rest after the show instead of doing that performance and trying to scream his way out of it in my opinion.

Well it's right at the beginning, for those who don't care to go through a 70minute rally.

Too bad Break It only shows the people in the crowd and not the performance

BTW, is this 'version' of America the Beautiful up there with Roseanne's National Anthem performance? This weighs heavier being 'sung' at a political rally...

So very true. Last night Meat's comments and responses were thoughtful, informed, intelligent and expressed with civility. I'd say he knew to expect flak and fallout from publicly supporting the candidate he has chosen, and dealt with it calmly and with friendly dignity. No-one deserves the torrent of foul-mouthed abuse and hysterical statements and angry threats some are searching out his FB page to post. That isn't "freedom of speech" imo, it's simply ignorant mob behaviour, and shames the democratic process.

I'm the first to admit I don't know enough about the issues to form an opinion on whether I would make the same choice as Meat were I in a position to vote in this election. Like Meat, I have not always voted for the same party (although I am by inclination left of centre), and I have not always endorsed all the views of the candidate I voted for. But right or left, I would be ashamed to be associated with the abusive comments, threats, disgusting words and phrases I have seen posted on his FB page, sometimes from both sides. The sheer torrent of hatred being aimed at a decent man, who has lived a decent life and spent 40 years proving himself to be a wonderful performer, who gives his all on stage, and is unfailingly gracious and kind to his fans, simply horrifies me. In a decent society that is not imo reasonable or acceptable.

His responses have earned more of my respect than ever.

Caryl

A different angle about this endorsement: do you think all members of the band who were onstage agreed with Meat statements?
I think he should have done this thing alone...

I don't know and it's not up to me to speculate. They may have viewed it as a gig .. may agree. I doubt they were dragged under force to the rally;) It's a matter for them, not me

I hope you're right. Anyway, he put it on a very personal level and the speech was all about his story and the way he feels about politics right now. But the stage was crowded. I don't know, Springsteen never brought the E Street band to an Obama rally...

It's about time someone came up with a better political system. I wouldn't give you two shits for Romney or Obama. Or Cameron, Clegg or Milliband for that matter.

The trouble is that will never happen. It took hundreds of years for things to change in this country (UK) to get to where we are now. First we had factions and no political system, then we had kings and queens ruling with no parliment, then kings and queens with parliment, and then finally we had parliment become the main power, and that is the best system because the poeple couldn't pick and choose who they wanted as king or queen, but we can vote for who we want to run the government. If you don't like someones ideas, vote for someone else. And noone can tell me it doesn't work because people either don't vote or only vote for one of the two main parties. That's a problem with the people, not with the system. The UK system is fine as it is, we just need more competition, which we can't get because people aren't brave enough to vote for someone different. So like I said the people are the problem.

If you read Meat's responses to the hysteria being thrown at his FB page I think it's clear that he is informed, is very concerned about the situation the USA is in economically, has thought the issues through very carefully, and his decision is very personal, as it should be. He is, of course, not Bruce Springsteen. I'm sure I've seen a post on FB from one of the band suggesting he was pumped to be at the rally. They are adults, know Meat well, and I cannot believe any would have been there unwillingly.

Caryl

You either work with it, opt out in passive acceptance, just criticize it, or work to change it. Change takes involvement, commitment and effort, as would devoting yourself to becoming an alternative candidate.

Can someone please post Meat's response here or point me in the right direction? I've scanned his FB page and I can't find it! Thanks.

What if just one member of the band didn't agree with the endorsement. If he/she didn't show up, we'd have speculation about his/her absence. So he/she could have decided for the lesser of two evils. Hope none of them was in that uncomfortable position. Keep thinking that Meat should have done it by himself.

I don't believe that would be appropriate. You need to check the thread he started with "Like we didn't all know this already!!". He started posting about 14 hours ago, and you will need to pull up responses c102 onwards. They re still there if anyone is interested to invest time in finding and reading them because they want to know Meat's position

Caryl

CarylB forget the political part. Do you think Meat Loaf's performance was good or bad. A bad or good would be good!:!::-)

:( listening to any of those songs and they are bad I am sorry to say, Meats voice sounds very tired, hopefully soon he is going to get some rest

Not at all... As an American, The Star Spangled Banner holds a dear place in my heart. This song is not that song. Further, this was a bunch of people really in the mood and having fun with a song...not a crazed comedienne attempting to create a Andy Kauffman moment. Different song.... Hell, I have even criticized Meat Loaf's much lauded performance of The Star Spangled Banner on this very forum. But this is not that song and does not hold as much importance to me, as an American.

Why would I forget the political part? That was the purpose, and I believe I've already said his vocals coming right at the end in the short clip of ATB were strained .. I also said why in my view this was. You think it would be good for me to say "bad". Why? Schadenfreude?

I don't consider the entire performance "bad", no. Not Meat's best by any means, but this was at a time when he's normally on vocal rest. It doesn't make it a "good" performance. It makes me understand.

The most important thing in my view, given the title of this thread, is that Meat is informed, researched, thoughtful, and genuinely believes this candidate is the one to effect the changes required to get the US back on its feet economically. He does not agree with all Romney's views, but is exercising his democratic right to back the candidate he considers the US needs right now.

Caryl

yeah his star spangled banner performance is that of shear perfection. :D

No, it is not....it is inspiring, but it is not perfection. The Star Spangled Banner is a march and Meat Loaf performed the song much slower than it should be performed. Whitney Houston's performance is by far the most emotional and inspiring version I have ever heard, but it is still technically not correct either. But...back on topic please.

I really woke up to a Facebook message from PFLAG chapter that is not even local to me informing me that I should cancel my Rocky Horror Picture Show screening tonight, get rid of all of my Meat Loaf collection, and letting me know that Meat Loaf's appearance at the GLAAD Awards was a sham to comfort people before they found out the reality that Meat Loaf is a "homophobic redneck" with some sort of agenda. I immediately sent them a screen shot of Meat Loaf's comments about gay people and was told outright that Meat Loaf is a liar. Personally, I am going to take Meat Loaf at his word when he says he supports the GLBT community and women's rights. I refuse to call him a liar.

Please no posts from other sites here, sorry but it's against forum rules

I read a few comments about Meat being homophobic too. I think its absolute rubbish. Being a Republican doesn't mean you hate gay people. Being gay, I know first hand about the hate that is thrown out, and I certainly wouldn't consider Meat to be that sort of person. I saw his facebook comments about the LGBT community on Facebook and take that to be the truth.

I don't like Romney whatsoever, but Meat can support whoever he chooses. This will all blow over soon enough as people will get bored and find something else to talk about :-) x

Correct but Republican policies in general are mostly homophobic.

My understanding is that "homophobic" means fear or hatred towards gays or lesbians.
I do not think most republicans think like that.

I don't have anything against gays or lesbians and would be voting democratic if I was an American however;

Do I agree with gays or lesbians getting married as in the same way as a man or woman: hmmm I'm not quite sure really and if I had to choose probably not, not in a Christian religious ceremony anyway. I doesn't quite make sense to me.
Do I agree with gay couples adopting children? Probably not, certainly not since it is damn hard for a hetero sexual couple to even be considered for adoption. It's almost akin to positive discrimination allowing people such as Elton John such an easy route to doing that. All celebrities I think seem to be able to almost "buy" children in fact. But I certainly don't think gay couples raising children is the most natural thing in the world.

I doubt this really makes me a complete homophobe more balanced I would have thought, but I'm sure many people will disagree. :shrug:

Wrong... Most of the Tea Party policies are homophobic. They are as closely aligned to The Republicans as the Klu Klux Klan are with The Democrats. The GOP has been taken hostage.

DOMA

Wow!

:twisted: This level of reaction baffles me, it honestly does.
I think evert taxi in America needs to be spray painted either red of blue, depending on the political leanings of the driver.
God forbid that a democrat rides in a taxi driven by someone who wants to vote for Romney :panic:
Paint the shops too, because it would be terrible to put money into a till owned by someone who doesn't share the same presidential candidate as you :yikes:

Because how is that different from someone saying they don't want to buy any more of Meat's albums?

I agree that just as Meat has the right to express his opinion, others have the right to disagree with him. But I don't see Meat calling anyone a "fat f*ck".

It's important to remember that every party has assholes among it's supporters, not just the democrates.
I say that because the actions and words of these people are more likely to increase support for the Republican party.

I think it's actual a bit silly to NOT vote for a certain party based on a single issue. There are plenty of things Obama has done I completely disagree with. He has supported Wall Street to the brim, whereas many expected him to do something about it instead. In that light he has been very disappointing but I do favour his mostly liberal policies. Flaming down Meat Loaf for being homophobic and against women's rights is rather ridiculous actually.

If you were to say in your opinion most Republicans are homophobic, I would probably disagree, but accept you have that view.

But stating that "policies in general are homophobic"? How can policies on taxation, environmental issues, national defence, healthcare , economic regeneration etc etc be "homophobic"? Will policies on these issues be applied differently depending on people's sexual orientation?

They certainly aren't where I live, and I really cannot see this being the case in the USA

Wow what? Am I not allowed to think conservatively about certain issues? What kind of democracy do you want?

A democracy where everyone is equal.

Freedom of speech....the 1st amendment to the US Constitution...wonderful things! They allow us to speak freely and express our views. It allows Meat Loaf, and any of us, to make choices. Like Meat, you can choose to never support a presidential candidate until this year, or choose to support one if you desire. Freedom of speech also gives those who disagree with someones choice, the right to call them names and boycott concerts, merchandise, and movies in which they may appear. It has always AMAZED me that those who say they support freedom of speech, get so upset when someone else exercises that right.....when it doesn't agree with theirs. Freedom of speech also gives you the right to be a hypocrite. Since Meat made his endorsement, I've seen plenty of hypocrites exercising that right.

Bravo Meat!!! He has ALWAYS been a standup guy.....and I'm betting he will continue to be so.

Just a few. Gay couples can't file taxes together, gays can not be on partners heath care plans, gays can be fire for being gay still in many states, & gays can't abopt kidsin many states. Should go on?

I agree with your first statement. I have never found a party or politician whose entire platform I agree with, and will vote for the one I feel most likely to tackle the most pressing issues in a way that might resolve them effectively.

I really am not sufficiently informed to say whether Obama has performed well or badly. I too agree with his liberal aims, and that he has been trying to implement them in a huge economic downturn hasn't helped, but I can understand some people's disappointment in his term of office.

I agree absolutely that flaming Meat as homophobic and against women is complete nonsense. It would be laughable were it less ridiculous and offensive.

Caryl

No, because most of these all come back to one issue, which is based on legal partnerships/marriages between same sex couples. I still think that most of what is contained in most policies which are aimed at tackling the broad range of issues are not based on an anti-gay platform. Leave out joint filing and everything else about taxation is not based on homophobic beliefs. And this election is based on federal government, not state government .. though I'd say that imo more needs to be made nationwide law .. eg your employment legislation

Oops, sorry. :oops:

To say Meat is homophobic isn't exactly going to be a huge leap in people's minds when Meat says he endorses Romney and Romney says gay people shouldn't be allowed to marry and shouldn't have the same rights as straight couples.

I don't think there's anything ridiculous in the least about presuming to ascribe Mitt Romney's views to Meat, given that Meat has voluntarily endorsed him. If someone endorsed Nick Griffin, would you assume he was racist? If someone endorsed the Lib Dems, would you assume he shared liberal values?

Fine, he qualified his comments on Facebook. He didn't qualify them when he gave his endorsement at the rally. Which do you think reached more people?

If you endorse a politician, people will assume you endorse that politician's views and proposed policies.

If you DON'T endorse many of the key policies, hot button issues and values that a candidate is running behind, how about you....don't endorse them? If you merely think they're the slightly better of two candidates, how about using your vote instead of your bluster?

I said earlier in the thread, to a lot of people - and the facts stand - a vote for Romney is a vote against gay rights. Ergo, to a lot of people Meat saying 'I endorse Romney' is no different than Meat going to a rally and saying 'I'm against gay marriage'.

He said 'I endorse Mitt Romney', that Mitt Romney was the candidate for a brighter future for America, that people should argue with their friends and families and persuade them that Romney is the way to go.

He did not say 'I kind of endorse Mitt Romney, but think he's wrong about this, this and this'.

Standing behind Romney and his divisive policies, causing his fans to turn on him, and being mocked for a poor performance all over the internet. Was it worth it? Has something being achieved, other than damage?

I had that same thought. I know a couple of them are Obama supporters. This is part of what gets to me about the whole thing; By having it be a BAND appearance to support a political candidate, he was in fact, forcing his own political choice on the rest of them which I don't think is very fair. He should have appeared by himself. Granted, maybe they did have the chance to decline if they wished. What would have been the repercussions of that choice though, I wonder Even my mother said that some of the band members looked absolutely miserable.
I realize my opinion might be controversial. Politics is full of controversy.

I don't know much about all this, being in the UK! I do however really don't like Mitt Romney at all, and think he's wrong going forward for the USA - That my views. Obama all the way - He endorses gay marriage which is good.
We should all be equal, and I know not many folk agree with that. I personally don't care, we're all different - thats whats makes us, us! I'm gay, so Without a doubt I think Romney is a tit! My views -OBAMA ALL THE WAY!
Meat can vote for who he likes, as I and you all can. Fair enough!
I still love my ML, and as previous people have said, this will all blow over.

YAY Its SATURDAY NIGHT!!! Time to dress up (halloween):D

Could not agree more, and having met and spoken to some of the band members, I'd be extremely surprised if they shared Meat's views. Even if all but one or two of them did, making it a band performance would still be out of line in my opinion.

If you're performing at a rally for a political party, the implication is that you are for the party.

I understand your point that Republicans don't think they are homophobic regarding broader local and national issues. But I believe the institutionalized homophobia is a compelling example of the elitism of Republican policies that unabashedly show preference to those with inherent powers in American society: white, male, wealthy, at the expense of the minority: people of color, lgbt, women, immigrants, non-christians, poor. And each of their policies, whether it be taxation, foreign relations, environment, predictably favor white, male, corporate, wealthy, over those who are historically oppressed and marginalized. I'm saying I stand with gays, womens, physically disabled, immigrants, foreign born, and the 99%, against the policies that unfairly tilt the game in favor of the elite.

:twisted: Where were the band?
I didn't see them. All I saw were the four singers and Romney.

In the short performance they did before Meat spoke and before the final clip. Paul posted he was tickled to be on the Presidential candidates bus, so I doubt he was frogmarched against his will ;)

Caryl

It really baffles me the idea that Meat's endorsement would carry any clout at this point (other than in harming his own career, alienating large chunks of his fanbase, pissing off people who don't like celebrities telling them who to vote for etc.).

"Hey everyone - he's rich, quite old, Southern, white and male....and he's voting for Romney! Wow, just the kind of people we're short of!" :twisted: ;)

I'm curious - did they play the L'il Jon bit during Stand In The Storm?

I understand what you're saying Michael, but as I have said, I have never voted for a party or politician whose every policy I endorse. Sometimes it's the lesser of two weevils .. more often I choose depending on who/what I think is most likely to provide the answer to the most pressing issues. So before searching out Meat's page to accuse him of being a "homophobic fat ~~~~" I would like to find out if he DID support those particular views. Before, for eg, writing to David telling him he should abandon his RHPS screening and burn his albums, I would perhaps ask him if he thought Meat was anti-gay. If I were a fan who knew anything of Meat I would find it hard to believe he DID support that view .. and if I posted on his page would simply ask him how he reconciled this, because I had never seen anything to suggest he was anti-gay.

In the case of the former Griffith's central platform IS being racist. In the case of the latter I wouldn't assume he shared every policy and value of the Liberal party .. I have voted Liberal and I don't.

No, I have never seen anyone at a rally do this

Assumptions are dangerous. Making assumptions and screaming profanities and threats on the basis of them is wholly unjustified in my view. I abhor Nick Griffith's platform, but would NEVER post the vile and ignorantly angry rhetoric and threats on any web page he had.

Meat is a concerned, intelligent, well researched and thoughtful man. I doubt he failed to expect what transpired, and presumably considered it important enough to make a stand. As to his fans turning on him .. I have grave doubts that all those who have rushed to post abuse are all fans. In my view some are angry Obama supporters who have searched to find his page. Anyone can write that they are an angry fan .. most should know a little more about him than to jump to assumptions, and few of them have any references to Meat's music on their pages.

And nothing excuses profanity, threats, abuse in my view. That's not freedom of speech, it's abuse of it .. again in my view.

Caryl

Yup. They didn't have a screen up, so only the vocal tape was played. But when that part came up people were allowed on the stage with Romney signs.

Paul is in fact only one member of the band. There are 6 more people that make up the Neverland Express

Unless he had L'il Jon's personal permission to use his performance at that rally, I find that absolutely beyond the pale.

By the way, little trivia: Romney is still running an ad featuring, and refusing to condemn supporter & contributor Mourdock who said last week that a child born from rape is a 'gift from God'. Romney apparently still accepts endorsement from Mourdock. Meat Loaf endorses Romney to the point that he thinks we should argue with our own family and friends about why they should vote for him. Meat feels so strongly in favor of Romney, after all, that after 40 years of never endorsing a candidate, he feels this is the one.

I would be very, very interested to hear how Meat would 'argue' with a gay friend or a female friend on these matters. I doubt 'Oh, but I don't agree with him on that... but here's why you should vote for him' would go over too well. In fact if I tried to argue with a gay person about why they should vote for someone who considers their relationship 'less-than', I wouldn't expect them to be my friend for much longer.

It's a shame that Meat Loaf has chosen to embroil himself in all of this when as far as I can see, it has done no good for Romney or for himself. If you endorse someone to the degree that he has, this will happen. It's a shame when Meat was able to convey his views so eloquently on HIAH, alienating nobody in the process, that he felt the need to do this.

Personally I think it's the single worst move of his career, and using his fame to attempt to sway people's votes (albeit seemingly unsuccessfully) goes against much of what I have admired about him for most of my life.

I have never read or heard anything about Meat being anti-gay. I don't beleive he is. Last night on fb I tried to calm people down but there was so much mud slinging I couldn't keep up with it. :( I will say the endorsement might be a hard pill to swallow for many.

If you were friends with a gay couple and were going to a casual dinner with them last week, would you show up in a Meat Loaf shirt? Would you do now?

If you're an Obama supporter, if you were vacationing in Ohio, would you wear a Meat Loaf shirt out?

If you worked as a secretary at a woman's health clinic and they had a casual day, would you wear a Meat Loaf t-shirt?

He's made the name, the brand, stand for something his fans may very well not stand by, where previously it only stood for great music and a man who sings his heart out.

Some probably think that's completely ridiculous, and fair enough.

What I don't understand -and I wonder if Meat can explain himself on this- when you never ever before endorsed a candidate, but you do it now. Doesn't that mean you stand behind that candidate and his ideas for 100%? So why is Meat defending his thoughts being oposite to Romney's?

If there are fundamental differences in their believes, what value does the endorsement have?

He never ever, ever did this before, but now he felt it was needed to go ahead and endorse a candidate. To disagree with him the day after on Facebook. Don't pussy out and say "I suport this anti-gay candidate so much I endorse him' and then claim that you have done so much for gay people and you will always defend their rights. I find that weird, unbelievable and not very convincing...

I really don't care who he votes for or who will be the President of the US for the next term. But if you make a statement, that you never dared to take before, then you got to show that you have a backbone yourself and either come out and say I SUPORT ROMNEY FOR THE FULL 100% or take back your endorsement...

Yes to all, and I would assure them that Meat doesn't have a homophobic bone in his body

I know. Did I suggest there weren't? I merely pointed out there was ONE member who didn't seem to be there against his will. I make no assumptions abut the others .. nor speculation either way. They are adults.

I shall repeat what some have already said, I will always love Meat as an artist to the same extend that I will continue to enjoy Clint Eastwood films. The Romney thing however, scary. If he wins then I honestly feel sorry for america. It might sound stupid but I cant help but feel disappointed about meat endorsing a guy who in my view is so morally inept. :?

Meat HAS said why. He has said he really believes that Romney is best placed to deal with the economic issues the US is facing, and that although he voted for Obama he does not believe any more that he can do this.

Whether he chooses to post that here is up to him.

I get your point. And NO, I wouldn't take the chance on wearing a Meat shirt in those instances. As fans of his we know that he has said that he supports gay rights. The person who isn't a fan and heard he endorsed Romney may have the perception that Meat was anti-gay. Out of respect for them, I wouldn't wear it in order to avoid the controversy. In all honesty I also wouldn't do it because i couldn't fully defend Meat's position as being supportive of gays. He says it, however he says he fully supports Romney as President. Romney has said that he is not for gay rights. Now Meat is trying to back-pedal (in my opinion) on his position and say well no, I don't really support his view on this issue but I still want him to be President. Has my head spinning and saying WTF???? You either support the candidate or you stay out of the political fray if you can't support that candidate completely. You can't have it both ways. The thing is that most people won't' see what Meat posts on Facebook attempting to clarify his position which only has me even more baffled. All they hear is that Meat Loaf endorsed Mitt Romney as President and performed (badly) at an event with him. The perception is again, that he supports ALL of Romney's policies. Meat's words are saying one thing - not just on the gay issue, with other issues as well. - his action of publicly supporting Romney is saying another thing. In my mind actions speak louder than words.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had this thought. And even if I am a rookie here, I dare to encourage you all to think about the really questionable part of Meat's behavior. Which in my opinion is not the endorsement itself, but the fact that he pulled the whole band along.

I was just on fb and there are tons of people "liking" just because of Romney. I knew it was going to happen but it's still a drag.

:wtf: Is that the big announcement people on this forum have been speculating about?

Meat Loaf can vote for and support whoever he likes - as long as he doesn't try to impose his political views on me. As for his appearance at that event: I'm sorry but it made me cringe. If he had at least delivered a good show... The skilled actor and experienced stage artist Meat Loaf appeared to be absent. Instead there was a strange speech and bad singing. In fact it sounded more like screaming to me and it even seemed as if he was trying to drown out everybody else during America The Beautiful. That's "endorsement"? The videos I saw appeared kind of bizarre to me, like some satire on politics and showbiz. :twisted:

In my opinion, there is one important thing missing (aside from convincing words and impressive vocals) - it's credibility. It's not that long ago that Meat Loaf claimed that he was "independent", appeared at the GLAAD Awards and said things like this:

(http://expressmilwaukee.com/article-...meat-loaf.html)

Now he's campaigning for that presidential candidate all of a sudden, go figure... :??::??::??:

I'm not in favor of artists publicly supporting politicians or telling you who to vote for but at least other artists have managed to take a firm stand most of the time - no matter if it's Springsteen or Nugent, "left" or "right". Compared to those people, Meat Loaf appears to be more like a swaying, erratically roaming ship of which you don't really know what its home port is and that's apparently steered by a captain who can't make up his mind. That's one of the reasons why I can't take his "political" statements seriously.

I'd never argue with friends and relatives and sacrifice my personal relationships to damn politics just because some "celebrity" tells me to. The Berlin Wall came down because people were sick and tired of being told what to think, what to say and what kind of "politics" to support. I'm sceptical of people who try to railroad their "political" beliefs in the way that Meat Loaf obviously encourages.

Politics is a dirty nasty controversial subject. If you can't stand the heat & the backlash from whatever position you choose, don't jump into the game! We all knew that all the Romney haters would be LIKING Meat's page. He had to know it would happen too as soon as he appeared on stage with Romney and made his endorsement public. I think it is unfortunate that he and whoever works on his FAcebook page seemed ill-prepared & even suprised by it. He is breaking one of the major rules of social media: DON"T FEED THE TROLLS!!! Feeding the trolls only makes them bigger & stronger. Responding to them and atempting to rationalize with them only makes them worse. Starve them by not responding, then they will weaken and go away.
It is a drag, however that is how social media works, even if you don't agree. Meat's own actions were what caused it - deal with it.

I was also speaking of the Romney fans. Instead of wall being about Meat and his music it's turning into his endorsement. I know it will blow over.

I think this is finely worded. Endorsements are dangerous especially when you are unfamiliar with the persons personal ideology. (We know what to expect from Springsteen for example)

Lets just put it this way, if I was a gay Meat Loaf fan- or if I was a women that was a victim of rape. Or if I fell into the 47% of Americans that Romney doesn't worry about no matter how he tries to spin in the other way when he is caught. If I was a fan that fell into these categories can you honestly say you wouldn't feel dissapointed and divided by Meats sudden public views, its stupid and ignorant that WILL turn people away. Meat should have left it alone, he might as well call his next tour the Tea Party tour because they might be the only folks that will go. It would be foolish to think that endorsements do not matter to people especially when you are a devoted fan.

I can't lie. I'm struggling right now.