Shut up, Ben Affleck!

I'm going to have to ask you all to dig in deep now. Close your eyes, take a gigantic deep breath and look deep into the corners of your soul. You have to reach in and ask yourself: do you truly, honestly care how Bruce Springsteen or anyone from the E Street Band votes this Nov. 2?\nOr Dave Matthews, or anyone in his band? Or Pearl Jam? Or R.E.M., the Dixie Chicks, John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Moby, James Taylor, Ben Affleck, Ben Harper, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bright Eyes or something apparently called Death Cab for Cutie? These folks are head-over-heels for the Democrats this year.\nOr how about Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn? The country duo will perform, along with country singers LeeAnn Womack and the Gatlin Brothers, rock band Dexter Freebish and Christian rock band Third Day, at the Republican National Convention this week. Wayne Newton, Stephen Baldwin (they couldn't even get the famous Baldwin) and Bo Derek will also attend on behalf of the GOP.\nIf you care about the politics of any of these people, it's time to take a step back and ask yourself what the hell is up. \nThis includes Dr. Marilyn O'Grady, the o'crazy candidate for the Conservative Party for the U.S. Senate in New York. She's running commercials urging her potential constituents to boycott Springsteen because of his participation in the "Vote For Change" tour sponsored by www.MoveOn.org.\nBoycott the Boss over his politics? Come on.\nIf you like a song, you like a song. If you like a movie, you like a movie. Does the politics of the particular artist or actor really play that much into your opinion of it?\nAnd if it does, you need to ask yourself "Why?" And if it does, how do you keep track of what every celebrity thinks?\nNaturally, I don't want to stand in your way. If you really hate the fact that Moby says he doesn't want "to wake up on Nov. 3 with George Bush still president and ask myself if there was anything more I could have done," (although I hate Moby for a number of reasons, his particular political viewpoints don't factor into my intense dislike for him), then, please, boycott away.\nBut don't be surprised if the rest of us decide to belittle you for limiting your cultural exposure to people whose views are exactly the same as yours. Besides, you'll never really find someone who agrees with you 100 percent -- unless you're looking in the mirror.\nUnderstandably, a lot of people get their politics from various places: where they were born and how they were raised, incidents that affected them through school, what their friends or parents believe, personal preferences. But celebrities?\nCelebrities, like everyone else, of course have a right to espouse their political viewpoints. But their political opinions are really irrelevant when it comes to whether or not you enjoy their art.\nCelebrities are all over the place this election cycle. "This is by far the most active time I've ever seen," John A. Marino, a managing director at Dan Klores Communications, told The New York Times.\n"To get entertainers to come to events 20 years ago was next to impossible," he said.\nIt almost sounds foreign to our generation, now used to famous faces sucking up all the oxygen in the room. But right now, with celebrities gracing every talk show in the nation telling us what they're doing to make sure someone stays in the White House or gets forced out of the White House, "next to impossible" sounds like a lovely break.