I for one, don’t understand why people are STILL “dissing” the Dixie Chicks. Since Natalie Maines made a personal proclamation about the president, an opinion that I in fact share, people have even gone so far as to send them death threats. My problem with this, is that first of all, it shows that free speech gets you in big trouble in parts of this country. But probably the biggest problem I have with this, is that there are a group of people out there (let’s call them country fans) that are still pissed off because someone dissed a shitty president. That goes hand in hand with my state of awe that I go into when I see people with W stickers still on their cars, and people that still say that they support this president. It just blows my mind that someone can continually fuck up, lie, cheat, steal, and break the law, and people still stand behind him. Gives new meaning to the word sheep. Either way, I don’t think that one statement should make or break someone, especially when those someones are as talented as the Dixie Chicks. I for one, will be picking up their album tomorrow. Not ready to make nice girls? I don’t blame you.
Now, I have to say something about the Britney Spears “baby blunders” that have been splashed all over the news lately. First of all, almost all of this stuff is so minuscule and insignificant, it isn’t even funny. This stuff happens to other kids all of the time; especially when the parents are first time parents and are so young. People make mistakes and learn from trial and error during parenting sometimes. That is what Britney is doing, and I honestly don’t see why it is such a big deal. Second, these type of things happen to kids all of the time, and no one even looks twice. For one, the car seat thing, it was recommended he face backwards. Recommended doesn’t mean required. I’m just saying. There are people out there that legitimately beat and abuse their kids all of the time, why not focus on finding them, instead of criticizing Britney, right? Which is more important? Lastly, I just want to say that Britney, sweetie, now is a good time to leave K-Fed, and make a kick ass comeback album. Push that baby out, and let’s get back to being the Britney we are all struggling to remember!
Yeah, I really don’t care what the Dixie Chicks say. But just as they have the right to say what they want about the Prez, everyone else has the right to say what they think about them. Death threats are a little extreme though… I agree.
Anyways, the fact that so many people did speak out against them just goes to show that there still are masses of people out there that support or stand behind the W. I’m not saying I’m one of them. Note: No W sticker on my car. If you’re surprised that anyone would still support him after he
then maybe you should examine exactly why you don’t lke him? Fuck up… can’t argue there. He’s made mistakes and admitted them. Lie… Uhm… If you’re referring to the WMDs in Iraq, then it’s unfounded. Everyone that voted on going over there had the same info that he did. Steal… Seriously? Where? I must have missed that one. Break the law… No where has it been found (yet) that Bushy broke the law. He did the same thing several other Presidents did so nyah.
Hmm… so, why is it that you hate him? Except for the whole marriage amendmant thing?
I will be purchasing the Dixie Chicks album ASAP tomorrow.
I’m going to try and go pick up a copy of the album tomorrow as well. I was not down with their last album but I’m loving the first single and I want to show a little support!!
I think the Dixie Chicks are hugely talented; I love a lot of their music, especially the really country stuff. I didn’t like what Natalie Mains said on stage that caused all the trouble, but, free speech, etc.
I’m no Bush fan (anymore), but I don’t agree with some of the specific criticisms you list. I don’t buy that any election was stolen, I don’t think the man is a liar, I think he can be faulted for other more concrete reasons.
But anyway, your post was about the Dixie Chicks and their right to say what they like… as one of your other commenters pointed out, of course it’s also free speech when people disagree with them and refuse to buy their albums.
Since I tilt more conservatively on the political spectrum (a libertarian at heart), I’ve had to learn to separate the talents and the politics of most of the musicians and actors I like. I can enjoy a Susan Sarandon movie without voting like her.
Ah well. I think I’ll go download the Dixie Chicks’ “Tonight The Heartache’s on Me” just to prove how tolerant I am. =0) Great song, too.
(emphasis added)
Really now?
I will for sure be purchasing the Dixie Chicks new album, I love them!
Poor Brit Brit, I missy slutty pop Brtiney, I’m totes over white trash doritos poppin Britney.
Kill K-Fed!
I have a different term for the folks that have the black “W The President” stickers. They are cultists. They go beyond supporting a political viewpoint. And, living in Ohio and being here and seeing firsthand the goings-on in 2004, I will NEVER believe that Ohio wasn’t stolen in that election. Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. And we’re talking Mt. St. Helen’s.
Their album will be higher on the pop charts than any other country album, but lower on the country charts than most. Sales in SF, Atlanta, Minneapolis, NY, Seattle, and other more tolerant large cities will dwarf its struggles in OK City, Tulsa, Wichita, El Paso, Cheyenne, and Lubbock.
As for Britney, if all parent had cameras on our every move, we’d all be arrested for imperfect parenting. But it’s not the imperfect among us that I worry about, it’s the ‘perfect’ ones!
I once thought of creating a website where I would supposedly accept copies of Dixie Chicks CDs, publicizing that I was going to have a huge destruction party (so please send them in in good condition), but instead, donate them to schools’ music programs and then publish a list of the names and addresses I got, so you could find the intolerant ones among us. If anyone wants to do this, I’d be all for it.
I dislike W becuase he represents and pushes everything that I find disgusting and abhorrent about modern American conservatism - narrow-mindedness, anti-intellectualism, homophobia, punishing the poor, assisting with the destruction of women’s rights, oh, and there are also all of those signing statements, a great big “fuck you” to the process through which laws are made if I ever saw one. There’s the entire fucking Iraq War, which is a huge mistake that he went into with his beady eyes wide open, along with our national wallet. There’s the godawful mess of NCLB. He’s completely unaccountable for his mistakes and he doesn’t even do anything worthwhile to make up for them, like being a decent human being. He’s an ideologue of the worst sort.
Is that concrete enough? I say hella good on the Dixie Chicks. Natalie, Martie, and Emily are saying things that need to be said. No one should have to apologize for their exercise of free speech, and certainly one should be free of death threats when one chooses to speak one’s mind.
Hate to break it to you guys, but the Dixie Chicks suck.
From what I’ve heard of the new album, it sounds pretty good. I’m going to get it.
As for ms. Britney, I think shes in over her head. I feel bad for her, and the baby (come on, it’s dad is Kevin Federline).
I got the last copy of Dixie Chicks at Target!
We did too Shan! The guy at the store said he was surprised how fast it was selling. Here’s hoping they have a #1 debut! That would be awesome!!!!!
Freedom of speech is most tolerable when we agree with what is being spoken. It’s the “other guy’s” freedom that makes it tricky. Thus, to many commenters here, Natalie Mains is a brave soul, expressing her individuality and freedom.
As far as I’m aware, death threats are criminal acts and should be prosecuted accordingly. All of the other Mains-inspired reactions (boycotts, angry calls to radio stations) carry the exact same moral weight as Mains’ onstage remarks.
Why is someone who disagrees with our politics automaticaly an indecent human being?
I agree, but death threats are WAY too far. They have the right to not like what she says, but her life shouldn’t be in danger for saying it, otherwise, what are the troops fighting for?
And I agree with that… anytime different sides of political arguments are taken as personal belief, it makes one unsavory to at least someone. I say live and let live. And their new CD is great.
it is my personal opinion that we should all suck it up and support the one in office. when bill had monica under the desk, he was still our leader. we are at war people, there is never an excuse for anyone in a public role to go to another country and badmouth our president, let alone our country. lets show our support of our country by taking pride. not bashing the pres..she had no right to say what she did. i have to agree with what so many reporters have already said…when you are in the spotlight, you need to play neutral on political views unless you want to pay the consequence. Natalie and her entire group are paying the price. I say GO TOBY KEITH!!!! His is the album I will buy TODAY!
A blow job is NOT 2000 dead troops and a battle against an insurgency. A blow job is not AT ALL equivalent to 1/98459739857 of what Bush has/is done/doing.
Um, she is an American, and so not only does she have the right to say what she did, so does every American. That’s what the troops are fighting for, to protect our freedoms by warding off terrorism. To say otherwise is an insult to the men and women that have fought and died. Freedom of speech is important, and she definitely has it.
Uh, death threats are not an acceptable consequence, period. And she isn’t the only one that has those views, btw.
Now HE is a bigot. Stand behind bigotry and hatred; what a great alternative. In case you didn’t sense it, that was sarcasm.
Yes! I love it when a liberal gets defensive and tells me how wrong my views are just because I am different! Would there even be liberalism if we all agreed? No? Then, why not accept that others have DIFFERENT Opinions. I am trying to broaden my views and be open to yours by being at this blog in the first place.
and btw…”That’s what the troops are fighting for, to protect our freedoms by warding off terrorism.” That said, do you still hate Bush taking us to war? Unfortunately, war equals casualties. It is very unfortunate but a price paid by those who chose to put their life on the line for to protect Natalie’s freedom of speech.
Anybody who says “our president” should be socked in the face with a whiffle bat filled with concrete. Fuck that guy. Seriously.
OUR PRESIDENT!
I think you’re a paid plant. Nobody could be that stupid.
OUR PRESIDENT!
Not my president, therefore it’s gramatically impossible for him to be “our president.” It’s like saying “Everybody Loves Raymond.” I fucking hate Raymond, so that’s not true either.
Rusty are you an illegal alien? He is the Pres of the US. If you are a US citizen, you can’t deny him, sorry.
Anne, watch me deny him. Just watch me.
Is that a threat? I thought threats were so wrong?!
Jesus panty-sniffing Christ you’re an idiot.
No no no… that is exactly what YOU DID!!! I love when people call us “liberals” like that means something bad. Shut the fuck up. Oh wait, you can say whatever you want, seriously, because it’s a free country; but you can go on sounding like a hypocritical, condescending idiot it if you want.
Do you actually know what liberalism means? Because it sounds like you don’t. From dictionary.com: A political theory founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual and favoring civil and political liberties, government by law with the consent of the governed, and protection from arbitrary authority.
It sounds like liberalism ACTUALLY means respecting people and wanting the best for them, doesn’t it? And not what you said.
Um, yeah I still do, only because the reason I listed was the reason THEY said we were there, and we obviously had to stretch a little to believe that one. I put that reason as the reason that I HOPE explains WHY we are STILL there. Or do you seriously think that we went SOLELY for the war on terrorism and to protect our freedom? Or maybe, just maybe, it had a little something to do with what we wanted, and who was standing in our way.
And I am sure that every single person that is in the military did it because of choice. Or do you not think about the many Americans that don’t have a choice other than to go into the military? Sure, many do choose to serve, and I am so fucking proud of them, and I can’t even imagine the sacrifice that must take, but it is reality that some people don’t really have much of a choice. Think about that. No one should have to put their lives on the line in a war over oil and power; which is probably more of a focus right now than free speech.
Duane, I got your voice mail…. LOL.
I thought we were talking about the Chicks and Britney. But if you must quibble over “our president,” he IS as long as we’re US citizens. Conservatives put up with Clinton, and Libs must live with W. That’s life.
Bush sucks. The Dixie Chicks suck. Everybody happy now?
P.S. Natalie looks like she just needs to get laid. She has that mad puppy look all the time. Not that I’m volunteering … ew.
I know, and it was soooo tough for conservatives to “put up” with Clinton. You know, I think I’m going to have to unpack my tiny violin again. I may be a little rusty, but I’m sure I’ll get back into the swing of it in no time.
Amber, if you get good enough, you can play with the Dixie Chicks!! It’s perfect!
Paul,
I must’nt do anything. I say he’s not the president of me, and I defy him or you to make me acknowledge him. Go ahead. Try it.
In a little thing we live in (some more than others) called reality, circumstances exist independent of our opinion.
For example, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chuck Schumer are, in fact, “my senators”, whether or not I voted for them and whether or not I like it. It’s a legal and a linguistic point.
The sky is blue, whether or not blog-commenters can make me acknowledge the blueness.
Just sayin.
Well said PJS. Acknowledgement and fact are indeed separate, and as long as Duane continues to pay his federal taxes and obey other federal laws, he is in fact, acknowledging his citizenship through adherence, dare I say obedience.
Duane- I hate to break your bubble, but your defiance could only be justified by illegal activity, of which at this point you have not publicly stated any. And how would one make you “acknowledge” him? Noogies and titty twisters until you say uncle?
Sorry,
I meant Rusty, not Duane the comments are sometimes hard to glance and see who said what.
I was going to say! Hmpf!
Well, Paul, your president has said on many occasions the law doesn’t apply to him. So, if the law doesn’t apply to him, I declare it doesn’t apply to me either. We both have equal legal justification to make such a declaration, which is to say none.
The dixie chicks are certainly free to espress opinions at political rallys, meetings, . The rub is that the comments were made in a concert- and in a foreign country- where people had paid to hear music. Willie Nelson- George Strait-any number of performers and actors have antiwar sentiments- however- even a rabid Alec Baldwin doesn’t interrupt a movie to state his views.
They are too young and too inexperienced in world politics to have an opinion. They can sing- and thats what people want to hear– not half baked opinions or insults. GO ON TALK shows and rant. Musical talent is what brought fame- not intelligence.
Too young? I think it is the young people that are the only hope we have for this country; given how the “adults” are doing. And, I have to say, as an artist it is their obligation to use their fame to be heard. That takes balls, and would rather see more people doing it; Toby Keith is… just in the opposite direction. People don’t seem to have a problem with his borderline bigotry, well, at least not the people that have a problem with the Chicks speaking up and saying something that millions of us feel.
The fat one should keep her mouth shut… except when she sings!
rustytrombone: that’s interesting… there isn’t a fat one!