Okay, why is it that Eminem can get away with talking about killing his wife, slashing his mother's throat, and abusing women but when
government officials say one comment out of line,
it's a big deal? The interesting thing is
although many artists claim freedom of speech,
cursing and other types of speech such as slander
are not covered by "freedom of speech". I understand that these are our government leaders but don't you think music artists have a bigger effect on
most people???

Eminem = an entertainer. Entertainers don't make the decisions that politicians do that affect the people. Different jobs, different responsibilities.

And then, there's this semi-valid point:

Some people, ie celebrities like Eminimem don't have to worry about their image, they prefer the controversy.

Others, such as politicians, have to make their image suit the majority so they get elected and have lots of corporate money to spend. Now, imagine if someone started making the comment Snoopy suggested. Do you think that person would get re-elected. Nope. Do you think that person would have any money "donated" to his causes? Probably not.

"the artist is the antennae of the race"- ezra pound

celebrities are here for what purpose? to entertain the world. nowadays it seems that we are all looking for somebody who we can relate with, right? well, most people nowadays also seem to be quite angry. eminem is just a bold fool who gets on stage and raps about his anger in ridiculously profane songs.

if a government official got up to make a speech and instead said, "f*** y'all b****es cause i'm gonna kill you and your f***in' ****!!!!!!" i'd probably be just a tad upset, along with the whole country. like jstar said, they are the people selected to uphold american values and represent our country. now, correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think the world would tolerate america if we started selecting people like eminem as our government officials.
god bless,
snoop

Government officials make the decisions that shape our country. They are chosen by America's people to represent us and to make decisions for us.

Rappers are celebrities and no more. They might seem to have more of an effect on us then the government...but that is only because we are flooded by attention on celebrities, and so we are not truly aware of how much of an effect officials have on our lives.

It is one thing for an angry boy to sing a song about his anger, but it is an entirely different thing for a government official, who is expected to uphold "American values," to vent his anger to the public.