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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Matter of Opinion

Question: Was Army Right to Ban Baez from Singing?


AP Photo/CTK, Marta Myskova

Folk singer and anti-war activist Joan Baez (shown above performing in Prague in April) says she doesn't know why she was not allowed to perform for recovering soldiers recently at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as she planned. In a letter to The Washington Post published Wednesday, she said rocker John Mellencamp had asked her to perform with him last Friday and that she accepted his invitation. "I have always been an advocate for nonviolence and I have stood as firmly against the Iraq war as I did the Vietnam War 40 years ago," she wrote. "I realize now that I might have contributed to a better welcome home for those soldiers fresh from Vietnam. Maybe that's why I didn't hesitate to accept the invitation to sing for those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In the end, four days before the concert, I was not 'approved' by the Army to take part. Strange irony" -- Yahoo! News.

Full story here

DFO: I don't agree with Joan Baez on many things politically ... now. But I love her voice. It's beautiful. It reminds me of my youth. And Walter Reed has bigger problems than an old war protester welcoming injured soldiers back to the states. I'd let her sing.

Question: Was the Army right in banning Joan Baez from singing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center?



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