OK, so apparently you do bite the hand that feeds
Hey, so it turns out Trent Reznor is a liberal! Good for him. We discover this crucial fact because Nine Inch Nails wanted to perform "The Hand That Feeds" at the MTV Movie Awards in front of an image of George Bush. Given that the Los Angeles Times described the song as "a warning against blind acceptance of authority," MTV said thanks but no thanks.
So now the sparks fly: the band is upset, they're quitting the show, and woe to those who underestimate the online petition. While Trent did get off a good line, "Apparently, the image of our president is as offensive to MTV as it is to me," he's either doing this for publicity or, amusingly enough, he's biting the hand that feeds.
In this politically charged climate, I think it's important to remember that politics is inherently divisive, and pretty much everything else in life seeks to bring us together. The MTV Music Awards are a great example: everyone loves music, everyone loves movies, everyone loves to have a good time. The minute you start telling people they're better or worse for supporting a candidate or ideology, you're splitting up your fanbase. Sorry Trent, you have Republican fans.
You could still argue that it's Nine Inch Nails' performance and they should be allowed to perform how they want anyway, but then again, it's an MTV-produced show on MTV programming. So given that it's a gray area, kudos to MTV for putting its foot down. Nine Inch Nails can attribute its success to a music industry so conditioned to help stars rise, and by attempting a with-us-or-against-us strategy among their own fans, they really are biting the hand that feeds. Didn't they pay attention to their own song? Lest anyone think I'm a closet conservative here, the same thing happened last year when Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon were planning to go up to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown for a 15th-anniversary celebration of Bull Durham. Unfortunately, Hall of Fame president and HoFer at life Dale Petrosky banned the two from showing up on account of how unbelievably liberal they both are. It's a dumb move no matter what party's being attacked. If you're in a public setting for apolitical reasons, give it some real good thought before you force your fans and observers to make unreasonable and unrelated choices if they want to be with you. Does anyone think that's really what America is about?