A Phenomenal Career Suicide

National Review Online (The Corner feature) ^ | 3/15/03 | Rod Dreher

[WarrenC]

A PHENOMENAL CAREER SUICIDE [Rod Dreher]

This Dixie Chicks thing is getting very, very serious for the group. Mind you, I'm not a big one for boycotts; if I threw away CDs of artists whose politics I couldn't stand off my shelf, there'd be very little left to listen to (a reader wrote to say she'd taken her child to hear the great kids' musician Dan Zanes play recently, and he shared his anti-war politics with preschoolers. Asinine!). However, I completely understand country fans wanting to rebuke severely the Dixie Chicks for that disgraceful comment Natalie Maines made on foreign soil. This thing is turning into something huge. Read what reader Dave in Georgia wrote to me this morning:

Here in the Red Zone, the imminent demise of the Dixie Chicks is a topic of everyday discussion, not just a Internet thing. And every country radio DJ is being forced to take a stand. I came home yesterday, and my wife asked me if she was supposed to take her CDs to the radio station, or if I knew where she was supposed to mail them. Radio call-ins range for tearful pleas to pray for the Chicks, to heavily bleeped suggestion for new names for the group.

This thing is turning into a phenomenal case of career suicide. What on earth could Natalie Maines have been thinking, saying such an idiotic thing, given her fan base? Can anybody think of a similar case of a popular performer collapsing professionally virtually overnight because of something he or she said?

[kaylar]

He was a real sweet guy,obviously...I read a little article on him in my true crime encyclopedia written by his widow or ex wife. They met when they were on a cruise together, she was playing around with the piano and he gave her a few piano pointers. She got very flustered when she realized her new friend was a world-famous pianist and the scheduled entertainer for the ship! They married very soon thereafter, IIRC. He sounds like he was a sweet, down-to-earth guy.

[Paul Atreides]

Though it wasn't political, Arthur Godfrey.

[FreedomPoster]

Me at today's Atlanta Rally for America. Note the second item on my front-side poster.

[Illbay]

Not at all, but USUALLY they are accurate as to what is "popular" and "relevant."

They make the rules.

[Paul Atreides]

Oh I know. I predict that The Hours will win BIG this year. It has everything that Hollywood considers sacred: self-centered feminism, the glorification of homosexuality, the noble AIDS victim. I haven't heard one person say he/she has seen that movie.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

These girls are having their career destroyed because they made a remark about the President. What are you going to do if one of them commits suicide as a result? Will it weigh on your conscience?

They're not your typical stupid actors/liberals. These girls are just singers/non-activists, one of whom happened to make an unpopular remark. Are you going to crucify them and ruin their career because of it? I wish you people would reconsider.

[Illbay]

I REALLY like "Remember the Anschluss"! That's worthy of "Wilson Wilson" on "Home Improvement."

[Illbay]

Or how about The Pianist?

[Beck_isright]

"Kurt Cobain's career came to a screeching halt when he shot his mouth off."

That post was tasteless, without regard to humanity and personal feeling. And I loved it. Sorry Vichy Chicks, you've been one upped already by a dead man.

[Illbay]

They have the right to speak out, and others have a right to react.

You have to take responsibility for your actions, and the bigger you are the harder you fall.

[FreedomPoster]

>>I almost told her about the Vichy chicks auction on Ebay but decided not to in case she tried to have it pulled.

LOL!

Vichy Chicks on eBay

[Paul Atreides]

So, are we to give up our rights of free speech so that she can enjoy hers? No one forced her to say what she said. There is a little thing called personal responsibility.

[NittanyLion]

These girls are just singers/non-activists, one of whom happened to make an unpopular remark.

Clearly the remark was a calculated case of activism; the ensuing silence from the DC's has erased any doubt about that.

[SolutionsOnly]

Walk into Annual Stockholders Meeting, shoot off your mouth about the CEO in a similar fashion, and see how long you keep your job. Why should Natalie be any less accountable for her actions than you or I would be?

[Illbay]

How can you say they have been "silent"? They have made several statements, including the one on Maines' website (see the link on one of the replies above).

[TC Rider]

So would you say that any rock phenom that lasts long enough to be parodied by Weird Al has 'jumped the shark'?

[Paul Atreides]

I was thinking about that one. If anything keeps Polanski from getting it, it might be Hollywood not wanting to appear pro-rapist as well as anti-American. It will be a tough call, but my money would be on The Hours.

[RummyChick]

AN EMPHATIC NO

I believe she should stand up for what she believes in and I will stand up and oppose her.


She has the platform. She had to take responsibility for her comments. She couldn't even give a decent apology.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

Can anybody think of a similar case of a popular performer collapsing professionally virtually overnight because of something he or she said?

The Beatles, after John Lennon said "we're bigger than Christianity" (or words to that effect). After that, people lit bonfires and burned their records. Fortunately, their careers didn't die after that. In fact, as of this date, Paul McCartney is the #1 highest paid performer in the world. This is decades after the Beatles. And I'm sure that the Beatles records are STILL selling.

[rundy]

What on earth could Natalie Maines have been thinking, saying such an idiotic thing...

That is precisely the point, she wasn't thinking, and she is an idiot.

Who wants to hear these self-appointed experts of international diplomacy and policy anyway? They should sing and shut up. Naw, they should just shut up.

John Lennon once said women should be obscene and not heard. These twits are already obscene (certainly in a patriotic sense if not in other ways). Now they should just not be heard. We'll help by not buying their music or supporting thier concerts.

Let's see how many new names we can come up with for this passe group.

Ditzy Chicks
Dizzy Chicks
Blitz (as in Hans) Chicks
Blitzed Chicks
More anyone???