But the worst I've heard, I think, is where they had "Trash the Chicks" day, and certain radio stations in the South asked listeners to put their Dixie Chicks paraphernalia into a trash can, and they'd light it all on fire. And then some people would drive over it with tractors. Now that is Third Reich stuff. It's the worst of human nature, and it's unfortunately being stoked by talk of war.

But dissenters are going to face even tougher criticism now that we're at war. You know that we will see mothers of G.I.s on television, talking about how much the protests upset them. How will you respond?

Garofalo: I would say, again, that it's proof positive that there is no liberal media. If we had truly liberal media, if we truly lived in a functioning democracy, that kind of knee-jerk, reactionary, pseudo-patriotic, sycophantic bullshit would not be a part of any newscast.

Beyond that, I would say to the person that I completely understood, but that the peace movement seeks to keep your son or daughter alive and bring them home soon. I would say, if you want to get angry, you should talk to Mr. Wolfowitz and Mr. Perle and Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Bush, who seem to me to have absolutely no respect for your son and daughter. They are extremely cavalier with your children's lives in that they've put them in Iraq, on the ground, in a war we don't have to be fighting.

But there was a moment, Feb. 15., when the protests were really ...

Garofalo: Eight million people.

... able to force a response from the White House. A forced, condescending response, but ...

Garofalo: We forced condescension from him. I think that made those gentlemen more determined to go. Fuck the masses. They're not doing this for us, anyway. It's not like public opinion factors into this at all. This plan has been set in motion for years.

But if that's how you feel, why bother to protest?

Garofalo: Because you never know where the change will come from. My self-esteem is way too high not to resist. You absolutely have to make it known that you will not be rolled over, and that you will not let history roll right over you. I mean, I was always advocating diplomacy. It's not like I was a person living in a tree [saying], "No war ever!" or "Guns are wrong!" I could never have been more reasonable advocating diplomacy, and trying to get information from my news. That's all I was always after. Trying to push the news to be custodians of fact and watchdogs of government, which they have absolutely seemed to deny. And secondly, I was always pushing diplomacy, and to let the weapons inspections work.

But I can see some people saying, look, you're upset about protests against the Dixie Chicks, why can't I be upset about your protests?

Garofalo: Oh, you can be upset about it. You can obviously say so. That's actually fine. I think everybody's First Amendment rights are not in question here. Although there are people who seek to overturn actors' First Amendment rights. [laughs]

There's actually this woman in North Carolina who is seeking to overturn the First Amendment rights of actors who oppose the war. Honestly. I'm not kidding.

Is that what she's saying?

Garofalo: No, I'm actually being much, much more articulate than she is.

What is she doing?

Garofalo: She has a Web site, where you can go on and sign a petition. And she's raising money to air a commercial to stop celebrity pundits. Of course the celebrities who support the war, like Bruce Willis, are fine. She's also been on Fox News a number of times. So what does that tell you?

OK, before you go. The Oscars ...

Garofalo: Typically, those type of functions are not the sort I usually participate in. But if I was nominated or presenting and it was this week then I would definitely not go.

You wouldn't be tempted to use it to make a statement?

Garofalo: I feel like it would be mocked, dismantled. It would be treated as if it was treason. And they would actually waste valuable news time with it, you know? I wouldn't want to give news organizations that kind of ammunition. But it's just not a way I would want to spend the first week of war. It wouldn't feel right to me, but I wouldn't condemn anyone for doing it.

I do think it was wrong at the Grammies, and what they're doing at the Oscars, which is applying this gag rule. It's such a shame we can't discuss this.

Even though you say you wouldn't say anything if you went ...

Yeah, I wouldn't want to, but the fact that we can't? What are they saying, that we're living in a post-democratic era? I guess they are. I guess we live in a post-democratic time.

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