The Ultimate Protest Non-Singer

Folk singer Iris DeMint is pioneering a bold new approach to the venerable tradition of protest singing by refusing to sing as a form of protest. Got that?

Reports the AP:

MADISON, Wis. -- Folk singer Iris DeMent stunned 600 people at Madison's Barrymore Theater by taking to the stage and announcing she could not perform while war raged.DeMent said she had struggled over her decision for hours in her dressing room. Opening act Greg Trooper had already performed when she told the audience she could not sing.Some audience members stood and applauded, but a few grumbled in the lobby afterward as they waited for refunds."I think it's kind of a cop-out, really," said George Robertson, 43, who drove 80 miles from Milwaukee to see DeMent. "Her songs deal with a lot of personal things. If she can sing about all that stuff that has happened in her life, she can sing tonight."Promoter Tag Evers said he wished DeMent had made her decision a couple of days earlier.

The beauty of this approach is that it alienates everyone, with the possible exception of Saddam Hussein (reportedly not a big fan of folk). And it starts a slippery slope that can only end with hunger strikers refusing not to eat.