ENTERTAINMENT NEWS – AT 11:05 P.M. ET:  We alluded to this in the post below.  Our president was serenaded in San Francisco by a very fine musical group today.  It is our pleasure to bring you a report of this culturally uplifting moment:

A crowd of half a dozen protesters concerned with the Wikileaks story disrupted the Obama event at the St. Regis Hotel, with Oakland activist Naomi Pitcairn organizing the event for the group which calls itself freshjuiceparty.com; she personally paid $76,000 total for tickets for the group to gain entry to the high priced fundraiser, she told us.

The progressive group protested what they called the inhumane treatment of Pvt. Bradley Manning in the Wikileaks case. Their protest song — which included lyrics: “We paid our dues..where’s our change?” — was sung in its entirety for Obama, who thanked them at the end of the a capella performance.

Outside, the group said that they were progressives who had worked for Obama and voted for him in 2008, but who were disappointed not only with Manning's treatment, but with Obama's policies on war as well.

The protest began when Pitcairn stood up about 5 minutes into the president’s speech and said, “We wrote a song for you, Mr. President.” When he tried to suggest she wait, the group launched into the ditty, and kept singing for several minutes.

COMMENT:  Readers can e-mail various record companies and radio stations, and demand that the song be recorded and played.  We should also insist that the lyrics be printed in a variety of languages, of course including those of African, Pacific Islander, and rain forest peoples. 

However, and we don't wish to be rude, but we wonder whether there was a better use for that $76,000.  You think?

April 21, 2011