@badbeef: Thanks for the thoughtful post. I will try to respond point by point.
Artists are public figures. When they beat their spouses, take drugs, get arrested, join crazy political movements, rip off their band mates, etc., it often goes public in one way or another. While I agree that it would be nice to be able tune out all that noise and just enjoy their music, sometimes you cannot help hearing something about an artist that sticks with you in a negative way (e.g., Elk’s visceral reaction to anyone saying anything positive about Ginger Baker’s music right after he died).
So Roger Waters and Brian Eno can boycott the State of Israel in an overtly public manner, including trying to get other artists to cancel performances there, but we should not speak out publicly if we disagree with them?
So do I, but doing so is not mutually exclusive to being conscious of an artist’s bad behavior.
Maybe not; I think it depends where one stands. If someone cared passionately about, say, preventing domestic violence, he/she might have an issue with Miles Davis (as but one example).
It was just a figure of speech, but since you asked, I would say, ‘I hope not.’
Everyone has to make their own decisions about their customer/clients/patients. I do not believe in guilt by association, so I have no problem with Gus working for Roger. But if Roger asked me to do work for him, I would decline.
Run like hell. 
No doubt. Witness the white power music phenomenon.
I hadn’t heard that one before … that’s a good one.
I do not take any joy or comfort in learning that a musician whose art I appreciate is an asshat. But that does not mean that I am going to ignore it, either.
Yes, they are. And we are entitled to respond. For example, Brian Eno tried to get Nick Cave to cancel a Bad Seeds performance in Israel. Read Nick Cave’s open letter in response to Eno.
Not sure what you mean by ‘took the side.’ My overarching point at the time was that Ginger Baker had just died and that people should be permitted to remember his music fondly in the ‘RIP Ginger’ tribute thread without constant posts about Ginger’s personal failings, all of which I acknowledged as serious.
You say that like it’s a bad thing. 
Seriously, this thread has already generated several very interesting posts, including yours. So why worry about any supposed motivations on my part for starting the thread?
The stated premise of this thread is how we deal with the potential dilemma of liking music by a musician whom we find distasteful personally. Apparently, you deal with it by not worrying about it. At some level, I am envious of your ability to compartmentalize in that way.
