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Is all this brew-ha-ha over the Chicks' single statement, a couple years ago, that they didn't like the Prez', or was there more to their dissent?

Do I still have a right not to buy one of their CDs or not to go to one of their concerts?

It appears the chicks have bitten the hand that feeds them. While they no doubt have made new fans (mostly in the northeast and left coast) apparently they are struggling and having a hard go of it because they have decided not to 'dance with the ones that brung em' and apparently Ms. Zealy doesn't like this fact.

"I only hope the Chicks continue to make music and speak freely".

I hope they do too. That will more than guarantee their quick demise...

• "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," Voltaire, 1694-1778.

• "If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking," General George Patton, 1885-1945.

• "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear," George Orwell, 1903-1950.

• "Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us," Justice William O. Douglas, 1898-1980.

I fail to see what any of the above statements has to do with the fact that there are millions of Americans that never liked Dixie Chicks music, have never been to one of their concerts nor purchased one of their CD's.

There are lots of bands one likes that another may not like - that's not the point.

I repeat my question: Is all this brew-ha-ha because they said they didn't like GWB?

If that's the whole of it, don't you find it scary that public figures (with no more status than being a pretty singers), have caused such a ruckus by simply stating they don't support a controversy decision?

If that's the NOT whole of it, then help me understand.

The Chicks seem to think I have some OBLIGATION to patronize them and give them money regardless of what they say against our country or our President. It's almost as if the anti-war apologists want the right to demonize anyone who DOESN'T support the Chicks. The liberals position is that if you DON'T support the Chicks (with your money) then you're a rabid pro-American! The horror!
They can kiss my a$$.

Ms. Zealy's letter is indicative of how some people think rights extend only to certain people. I'd like to see her explain how the right of the Chicks to speak freely differs from the consumer's right to buy music.

The word "hypocritical" comes to mind.

jcackbar - you have it exactly backwards.

The NEOCON position is that if you DON'T support themthen you're a rabid anti-American. You want proof? Look in a mirror.

I view the "Dixie Chicks" situation like I view my relationship with my fellow bloggers on this site; I may disagree philosophically, yet bet cordial. Does that mean that I am rude, crude, speak unkindly, etc and seek to cause harm/dimise to those people; NO!

While I have NEVER purchased any of the "Chicks" music and have in all likelihood not heard any of their music (would not know it if I heard it); that does not mean that I disapprove of their right to speak their feelings/thoughts/conscience. I recall several prominent film and tv people having a strong stand/belief in political matters; yet I do not not of any who adamantly refuse to view their programs and/or movies.

I believe some factions of people have taken the "Dixie Chicks" situation and blown it completely out of perspective and proportion. Live and let live!

Shalom

Carol,
Your quotes are just what those who want to restrict freedom needed to see. Amazing that those who buy into the "freedom for Iraqis" propaganda, do not see themselves buying into the freedom limits being proffered by the current administration.
The Dixie Chicks are being attacked, not on thier talent, but on their political opinions. It's still a free country until the right wingers have their way---so I sit back and enjoy watching the right feel threatend by three female musicians.

Bunny:

I don't disagree that right of the Chicks to speak freely is the same as the consumer's right to buy music.

Furthermore, I don't disagree that right of the Clear Channel to boycott the Chicks music - but do find a couple things to be concerning:

1 -- Clear Channel owns 10% by count of all the nation's radio stations, and about 30% of the market. To explain that disparity, remember a single radio station in Gotham has more share than several stations around Mayberry RFD.

2 -- Clear Channel is deep in bed with the Bush family. As an example: He bought the Rangers from the GWB - right after a new stadium was built, using Tax Payer Money, and that new stadium was built on land usurped at below market values using the Eminent Domain clause.

We agree on this too: The word "hypocritical" comes to mind.

btw - this is a strong word, but have you ever looked up "Fascism"?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fascism

Another dead horse.

Sorry that ticket sales are slow but the Dixie Chicks made their bed and must sleep in it. It is possible that ticket sales may be slow because they just haven't retained their fans. It's been a while since their last decent release. I don't think anyone has polled all music lovers to find out why they don't want to attend a Dixie Chick concert.

That being said, I'm like Darryl. Don't listen to that kind of music. I agree that anyone has a right to say anything they like. I have a right to disagree.

As for JDR's question, the Dixie Chicks went a lot further than saying they "didn't like GWB".

They said that they were "embarrassed" that GWB was our president in a foreign country during wartime. The fallout could have been a lot worse given the circumstances.

Free speech for all.

YD:

The Dixie Chicks new album is #1 on one of the Billboard Charts.

I don't see it's "a lot further" to say "embarrassed that GWB was from Texas ", than saying "they don't like the guy".

If you're in an oppressed third world country, then yea, put 'em in jail for publicly stating Stalin is a Pig ... but this is a different country, and the rabid attacks on those that dare to question ... well I find it quite alarming, and patently un-American.

MOOO say the cows, walking to the slaughter house.

YD,
I too, am concerned that so many would be upset at criticism of the government. That IS what separates us from the rest of the world. The morning team on FOXNews last week even discussed their belief that the government have censor in place for keeping networks and newspapers from openly criticizing the war! I am alarmed that someone, who seems level headed on so many areas, would join the right wingers on this one. Take a look at the definition of Fascism that JDR put above. It is scary where the right is driving this country.
God Bless the Dixie Chicks!

DD:

True, the Chicks are being attacked for their political views and not for their talent, however it is their talent that gave them the "stage" from which to launch their political views. Without such stage and visibility, their opinons would have been just one of many. So, have they misused their "stage" and are now paying the price?

I would be the last to condemn the Chicks for their right to express their political views but I will be the FIRST to defend the right of consumers not to purchase their music REGARDLESS of the reason!

James D:

Nice job of veering off on a tangent. Clear Channel may have those controls as you say but they have no control over how the consumer spends his/her money.

When one small group of very powerful people control what you see and hear ... be concerned.

JDR, 7-3-06

The fact that our government issues licenses to clear channel, etc, is another reason we should be afraid of the media being part of the government. We'd all be listening to comedian, Rush Limbaugh! Note that during the period of Bush II, we have had the FCC gutted and replaced by right wingers in all levels, including career positions, not just patronage appointments.
Newton Minnow, once said, "Television is a vast wasteland". Judging from today's programming, I think he was WAY ahead of his time!

I guess I must be really shallow. I didn't buy a ticket because I thought they were too expensive.

JDR:
Humm, if Clear Channel controls as you say, why is it I hear Chicks songs every day on the radio?

6strings:
I didn't buy one for the same reason, but I just hated to rain on their (i.e. Chicks supporters) parade like that.

Item Charge
Eric Clapton
Full price ticket US $65.00 x 2
Convenience Charge US $11.00 x 2

Delivery (Standard Mail) No Charge
Order Processing Fee US $3.65

Total Charges US $155.65

"Out of respect for our troops, our city and our listeners, [we] have taken the Dixie Chicks off our playlists," said Gail Austin, Clear Channel's director of programming for the two Jacksonville stations.

http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2003/03/17/daily14.html

"We've got them off the air for right now," said Jeff Garrison, program director at KILT, which is owned by Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting Corp. "People are shocked. They cannot believe Texas' own have attacked the state and the president," Garrison said.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/14/dixie.chicks.reut/

It started with Georgia-based Cumulus Media, America's second-largest broadcasting company, publicly bulldozing Dixie Chicks CDs ... In a decision cited in international media reports, MTV-Europe nixed all B-52's videos to avoid invoking thoughts of war and planes.
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/04.24.03/censorship-0317.html

Officially, Clear Channel denys it .. others say is was "simply a strong suggestion on the part of Clear Channel headquarters."
http://pixelgrain.org/photos/70/

Other sites:
http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/04/03/far04009.html
http://proxyinformation.com/clear_channel/clearchannelissue.html
http://pandagon.net/2006/05/26/the-dixie-chicks-and-the-tension-between-country-and-country/

==

Now let's talk Media controversy.

Are all the above links accurate? NO
Are most of the above links biased? YES

... but if there's smoke, there's often fire. Consider the Katrina coverage:

Was it a pretty desperate situation in the superdome? YES
Were the initial reports about rapes in the superdome wrong? YES
Were the initial reports about rapes proven wrong fairly quicky? YES

Bottom-lines:

The main-stream-media gets is right and wrong, but in short order the wrongs are fixed.

The reason the main-stream-media gets it fixed is because there are lots of different ones - all looking from a different view, and all trying to add credibility as a higher priority then getting a bogus scoop.

When you take diversity away from main-stream-media, i.e., when you concentrate the power, you're more likely to get bogus reporting.

AMEN, JDR!

If you don't want to listen to clear channel, then turn the friggin' radio dial! No one is "controlling" what you listen to. To listen to the pissin' and moanin' from the liberals in here you'd think W has control of the airways along with the weather and everything else.

Not buying CDs or concert tickets does not equate to "attacking" the dixie chicks. They are free to express their opinions as I am mine.

And world traveler, do you have an audio link to the fox news segment where they were advocating censorship for critics of the war??? I'd like to see/hear that. Or is this another one of your 'citadel' stories. I watch fox news almost every morning and I don't recall anyone suggesting censoring critics of the war. Thanks in advance. I'll be looking forward to seeing/hearing that.

"Not buying CDs or concert tickets does not equate to 'attacking' the dixie chicks."

Only as part of the convoluted thinking that passes for logic among the Usual Suspects, neo

I concede to being "over the top" on this issue - but here's a letter I just wrote to a Church Mate who shared this:

"I received this from a friend today. (InGodWe StillTrust.wmv - by Diamond Rio.)

"Please download and look at and listen to this

"In March, 2005, this song was performed at a Diamond Rio concert. They received an immediate standing ovation, and continue to do so every time they perform it! Sadly, major radio stations wouldn't play it because it was considered politically incorrect. Consequently, the song was never released to the public. If this song speaks to your heart and you feel to share it with friends and loved ones, please do. Let us cease being the silent majority and join together. Not as a particular political party, but as Americans!"

First, I said "uhhhh ... not to sound like a Commie ... but I have my doubts. It ain't no conspiracy that I can see - if you have other evidence, let's hear it - but to me, it just some Rabid Fans stirring the pot - kinda like the Paul Is Dead controversy: record sales!"

She wrote back and wanted to know if I liked it - here's what I just wrote her, being already on the band wagon (so to speak):

You want a sincere critique?

Really pretty but totally stock photos
Inspiring "patriotic" &/or "religious" lyrics (unclear what they are promoting), but certainly no deep thoughts
Formula music that won't be remembered in a couple years.

Sorry to burst the bubble; gimme Ray Charles' version of America the Beautiful..


Ya know, I consider myself to be a pretty solid American. I've seen enough of the Big World to know this is where I want to live, and am informed enough to have a steady ear for jaundice; no human - or group of humans - holds all the answers.

America is a country invented out of thin air by Agrarians yet to experience the Industrial Revolution - and that's an important detail. If any were inspired by Divine intervention, they were the ones: rebelling for individual freedom that was not to be at the expense of others - rebelling against Big Government, against those that would take without a sense of fairness. The Founders are now rolling in their graves.

Where is America headed? No one knows, but we've survived the first Industrial Revolution. We held together after a crippling Civil War, several severe financial crisis', two whole world wars (none on our soil - another important detail) .. and in the past 50 years: at least two other wars started under false pretenses, and we're two decades into another war - globalization - nvolving financial revolution and powerful corporations. On top of that, add the current Religious War, the so-called war on terrorism featuring religoius zealots of all colors, and it's a complex situation. See above about holding all the answers, and know there are several human groups, each wanting to tell you they have all the answers. From what I can tell, God must live in Switzerland, because He is maintaining a neutral stance.

Is America important? Hell yea, and I Love it. I cry with the National Anthem - and I'm one of the few that still sings it out loud. Folks around me give weird looks - as they stand in silence - but I'm also not gonna wimper for gratuitous flag wavers.

Sorry, but this tripe over the Dixie Chicks has me worked up. It's symptomatic of a great danger facing America: too much power held by too few. I may get weird looks for singing, but many who have dissented or simply questioned the omnipotent wisdom of the few (small "o" in omnipotent) - get the much nastier wrath of retaliatory politics, or long-term shackles, or a simple IED. What did the Dixie Chicks do? They said that they weren't proud of GWB. Ya know what? Neither am I and in great detail I can tell you why, but it starts with a severe lack of trust for a group that thinks they hold all the answers, and took the Full Faith of the World, post 9-11, and squandered it on the interests of a few.

Being an American is more than waving the flag.

neoCon,
I have tried to avoid deep sixing you (metaphorically) here, but your ignorance is sometimes just too much to take. You don't support Bush, as you are too shallow to formulate a cogent sentence, much less an argument on behalf of something or someone. You just hate anything you don't agree with. As the old southern saying goes, "You can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh_t!" Your posts indicate possibly a GED or less, in terms of education. I gave you several chances with nothing but softball questions--you could not even formulate what you believe! As they say in Texas, "You're a mile wide and inch deep".

cRock-o-feller, if I don't buy into your view are you gonna accuse me of "attacking" YOU?

Once again if you don't like what's on the dial.... CHANGE IT!!!

World traveler, still waiting on that fox news link...

Still waiting on that link, world traveler...

I think this was an extension of the citadel spoof.

neoCON,
I'll go ahead and thank you in advance for your apology about FOXNews advocating an Office of Censorship!
You are either stupid, or I'm attacking a mentally challenged, housebound, pre teen with an IQ of 25! Which is it?

http://mediamatters.org/items/200606290009

neoCON,
You just got spanked, but I feel guilty---like laughing at the retarded boy. We are still waiting on you to just string together what you admire in the current administration, but YOU CANNOT DO IT. Why is that? Daddy hasn't told you "WHY" you should support Bush? It's Okay. From now on, we will ignore you.

JDR, Carol and others:
Here is a link to what should concern us all.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200606290009

Check it out, and check out the Wikipedia on Fox News Channel. JDR, you are so right, and don't apologize for being over the top on the Chicks!

I saw this world traveler, this is not about censoring critics of the war as you charged. lol lol Are you that lame? Or just too damn stupid to comprehend what they are talking about? This is about charging the ny slimes and other terrorist friendly media outlets with treason for publishing info useful to the terrorists.

Show me where they advocate censorship for those who are "openly criticizing the war" as you charged. I'll be watching for THAT link. But not holding my breath.

This is looking more and more like the citadel spoof. I was trying to be civil and not call you a liar, but I think I'll just go ahead and call it like I see it. I think you are lying to try and boost your stature with the other liberals in here who just read the tripe you post and nod... Duh, yeah, that's right, DD, go get 'em DD, duh... lol lol lol

"We will ignore you"... In other words you just got caught in a lie and got upset when I called you on it... Either that or sweet pea has has had a man to ....[man?] chat with you about responding to me. lol lol lol

JDR

I will AGAIN say that Clear Channel does NOT regulate all stations and the DC songs are heard daily of several stations that I listen to.

btw, congrats! The veering off on tangent ploy has worked again, hasn't it?

Bunny,
Every Clear Channel station may not uphold the unspoken ban, but judging from history, Clear Channel is not known for being truthful:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Clear_Channel_Communications

There was a great "Twilight Zone" on television just now that gave credence to JDR's worries. Some channel is running a "Twilight Zone" marathon for the 4th, and those great black and whites are back!

It doesn't matter whether clear channel regulates all channels or not, if they have a manager who knows Bush, this translates into being "deep in bed with the Bush family". Gotta keep those conspiracy theory fires a burnin' and an eye out for those black helicopters.

Anytime you want the scoop on anything Bush and clear channel just visit the left wing websites where Paul Krugman of the NY slimes is offered as "proof". As we all know he is an objective chap that has no bias against Bush. lmao.

DD:

Again (and this time slower)
Clear....Channel... does... not...block...all...radio...stations.

Again, your bringing Clear Channel into the thread is moot and is solely a diversionary tactic. Dixie Chicks songs are STILL heard on the radio! I hear them every day! If the station you're listening to doesn't play DC songs, then there's this nifty little knob you can turn to change the station to a non-Clear Channel station.

Bunny, just be thankful you weren't subjected to a quarter chapter of the new book on Chernobyl or the lyrics to a pointless song. *smile*

Bunny,
Happy Fourth of July! Hope you have had a good one so far. Gonna settle in for a Capital Fourth on television and stay cool.

There was an Earl and Barbara Hare who owned the Ranch House Motel in Myrtle Beach many years ago. That was a great family place, and will always hold a special place in my heart. Are you any relation to them? Just wondered.

Happy 4th of July!

DD:

Happy day after the 4th to you! We headed to Friendly Center to watch the fireworks from Grimsley until some lady riding around told everyone they were cancelled when, in fact, they were only delayed. Hope she enjoyed ruining people's evening!

We watched the Capital Fourth too. Great show!

No, no relation to those Hares that I know of, but you know how rabbits are, right? *wink* Glad you had a good holiday.