(CNSNews.com) - Country music star Toby Keith said Tuesday he would not run for public office because being a politician involves saying one thing to one person and another thing to another person and he cannot tolerate that duplicity. He also said there are a lot of pro-military people in Hollywood who keep their patriotism hidden for political and social reasons.
“I couldn't do all the lies” to run for public office, Keith told the audience at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. “I couldn’t shake your hand and walk over there five feet and say something bad about you -- so to me, that’s all politics are.”
“Politicians, they kill me,” he said, adding that being a politician would mean having to “get along” with too many people and “I’m not political, so I couldn’t do that.”
Keith was the featured speaker at the National Press Club's luncheon, following which he departed for ann 11-day USO and Armed Forces Entertainment tour to meet and entertain U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.
Keith surprised many country fans when he publicly endorsed Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election and revealed that he is a Democrat.
“The reason I don’t vote straight ticket; the reason I’ve been a Democrat is because my family was,” he said Tuesday. “You can’t vote straight ticket, you have to vote for somebody that you think can make this country or your surroundings a better place to live and that can advance us to a better spot.”
“And hate, hate, hate – you know, I would be accused with my song of being a hater or war monger, but I don’t hate Americans and I don’t hate, hate, hate,” said Keith. “My agenda is not to hate, it’s – and being a politician would mean to have to get along with too many people, so no [running for office].”
Keith, a long-time supporter of the United Service Organizations (USO) also said “the right bashes Hollywood,” but there are a lot of people in Hollywood who say they support the troops yet cannot say so publicly.
“There’s a lot of people that support the military and you have to be a big name to get the haters out of the – to come get you,” he said. “I mean, I go into Hollywood and I see – working on a movie or a project or something or doing a TV show -- and I’ll run into other entertainers and they’ll pull me aside and, just as much as the right bashes Hollywood, there’s a lot of people in Hollywood who will pull you aside and say, ‘I support the troops too, I just can’t do it vocally. I can’t do it out loud.’”
“So, it’s just the activists and the people who want to stand up and protest that make the noise [and] that give Hollywood a bad name,” he said, “but there’s a lot of people there who support it. There’s a lot of people in my business – in country music -- who won’t speak up against the war because they don’t want that to be pushed on to them like the other side. So, it’s back and forth, back and forth but it’s mainly a big name. My Dad said when you get up the flag pole far enough where everybody can see your rear end, that’s when they come get you.”
Toby Keith received the Distinguished Service Award from the Military Officers Association of America on Apr. 21 in Washington, D.C. Keith will headline a USO and Armed Forces Entertainment tour later this month, performing 17 shows in 11 days for U.S. troops.