Now, many years after the comments of the Dixie Chicks concerning their shame that Bush is from their home state, hate still brews for them in the American South.
Since the Dixie Chicks spoke their mind about President Bush just days before the United States’ invasion of Iraq, the country trio has all but disappeared from Southwest Florida country radio stations.
As a fan of country music and a fan of many of the Dixie Chicks’ older songs, I realized that I wasn’t hearing their famous tunes anymore. Hits like “Cowboy Take Me Away,” “Travelin’ Soldier,” “Wide Open Spaces” and the hilarious “Goodbye Earl” – all gone, absent, AWOL from the country airwaves.
It is sad that this is our America – even as we celebrate the accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr., hate still seems to be a family value. Even after all this time and now as most of America abhor Bush and his policies, the Dixie Chicks are still considered traitors.
It’s not that the remark itself was shocking or even terribly provocative. But the backlash from the country music industry, from the South, from the core of the Chicks’ fan base was just stunning in its vitriol and hypocrisy. The same people who are so proud to live in a country where freedom of speech is an inalienable right wanted to silence these women – and worse.
Hypocrisy, the right is choked with it. Here is America the freedom of speech is fundamental, yet the right, especially the religious right – America’s evangelicals, hate it. Whether they are banning sex education, Harry Potter or the Dixie Chicks, they don’t give a damn about the Bill of Rights.
They also don’t care about this list of soldiers that all died on January 7, 2007.
Spc. Eric T. Caldwell, 22, of Salisbury, Md., died Jan 7 in Iraq of wounds sustained when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
Cpl. Stephen J. Raderstorf, 21, of Peoria, Ariz., died Jan. 7 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds sustained during combat operations. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
Tech. Sgt. Timothy R. Weiner, 35, of Tamarac, Fla. killed Jan. 7 by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while performing duties in the Baghdad area supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Weiner was assigned to the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
Senior Airman Elizabeth A. Loncki, 23, of New Castle, Del. killed Jan. 7 by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while performing duties in the Baghdad area supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Loncki was assigned to the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
Senior Airman Daniel B. Miller Jr., 24, Galesburg, Ill. killed Jan. 7 by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while performing duties in the Baghdad area supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Miller was assigned to the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
Is banning the Dixie Chicks any way to honor their deaths?
[...] I have blogged about the Dixie Chicks before (here) and maybe this will be the final chapter in the long story of the Dixie Chicks going up against George W. Bush. I doubt it though. Bush still has plenty of stupid left in him and shows no sign of slowing down the expression of it. [...]
I haven’t purchased a Dixie Chicks album since the comments were made. I am a flag-waving, bleed red white and blue American who cherishes the right to free speech and the right of the Dixie Chicks to say whatever they want. I also cherish my freedom to never contribute financially to them again, as do the rest of us who have chosen to excercise our right. Just because you have the right to say something doesn’t mean you won’t suffer any repercussions. They excercised very poor judgement when they chose to shoot their mouths off on foreign soil, during wartime, to an audience of our allies. The fact that they named their latest album “Not ready to make nice” just goes to show that they have thumbed their noses at anyone who disagrees with them. They will never regain those fans. I have no sympathy for them whatsoever.
You are just mad that they were right to begin with.
You know, maybe you could make your own album, “Not Ready To Be Smart.”
Wow, you’re really rude…
Wow, Kelly…..saying you believe in free speech but also backing death threats from your other True Believer buddies completes the circle of hypocrisy. It’s no secret that the Chicks have made it known with more compassion than you deserve that they don’t want “fans” burning with feverish nationalistic Germanic (circa 1938) zeal. Reckon ya have more craving for male-approval than you do critical thought. Good luck with that.