The conductor of the New York Philharmonic, Lorin Maazel, defended his orchestra's commie concerto in the Wall Street Journal last week:

I have always believed that the arts, per se, and their exponents, artists, have a broader role to play in the public arena. But it must be totally apolitical, nonpartisan and free of issue-specific agendas. It is a role of the highest possible order: bringing peoples and their cultures together on common ground, where the roots of peaceful interchange can imperceptibly but irrevocably take hold. If all goes well, the presence of the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang might gently influence the perception of our country there.

One could be forgiven for thinking that Maazel intended to improve the perception of Americans in North Korea and keep his political opinions to himself. No such luck. The maestro spoke to reporters in Los Angeles just before his departure:

Philharmonic music director Lorin Maazel caused more controversy with remarks suggesting that the United States shouldn't criticize North Korea's human rights record because of its own treatment of prisoners at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw bricks, should they? Is our standing as a country -- the United States -- is our reputation all that clean when it comes to prisoners and the way they are treated?"

Political, partisan, and issue-specific. He's just on the other side.

HT: FP Passport