Public figures making political statements (in and out of bed)

[Carvill John]

'The U.S. vs. John Lennon': A Man Who Dared to Dream

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/28/AR2006092801919.html

"...Such agitprop, as recorded by the press, made Lennon and Ono fodder for 
ridicule, marginalization and dismissal. (There's a fabulous scene of a 
patronizing New York Times reporter, Gloria Emerson, calling Lennon "my dear 
boy" as his verbal darts sail right over her head.) But "The U.S. vs. John 
Lennon" makes a persuasive case that, far from being trivial, Lennon's 
political performances, protest anthems and talk-show appearances with 
Yippies and Black Panthers were shining examples of a star manipulating his 
own myth and expertly exploiting the fame-obsessed media. And because this 
was Lennon -- unlike so many pop stars with their jeremiads today -- those 
views were always conveyed with an extra satiric wink or understated 
semantic flourish.

Leaf and Scheinfeld have enlisted a crowded cast of commentators -- from 
George McGovern and Mario Cuomo to Bobby Seale and Angela Davis -- who 
recall Lennon's personal and artistic power, as well as the threat that 
power posed to the enemy-obsessed Nixon. (As one observer notes, Lennon's 
was "a frightening voice to people who want to hear 'The Battle Hymn of the 
Republic' over and over again.")

It's chilling to hear those FBI agents reminisce about pursuing Lennon (not 
to mention Liddy actually blaming the student victims at Kent State for 
daring to exercise their First Amendment rights in front of a jittery 
National Guard)...."