Free Republic

The Academy of Country Music Awards took place in Las Vegas, but the biggest fashion statement of the night was made 1,500 miles away. And given the way things have been going for the past three months, maybe it's not so surprising that the statement was made by Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks. Maines sported a shirt emblazoned with the letters "F.U.T.K." while the trio performed "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)" via satellite from a concert in Austin, Texas. The special segment was part of the ACM Awards show televised live from Las Vegas. Later in the show, Vince Gill opened...

First Night of Sweeps Goes to NBCFri, Apr 25, 2003 10:01 AM PDT LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Fast National ratings for Thursday, April 24, 2003In a battle of dueling pop stars on the first night of sweeps, Madonna was a clear winner over Michael Jackson, helping NBC win Thursday's ratings race. NBC averaged a 12.9 rating/20 share in primetime to score a narrow win over CBS, 12.1/19. ABC was third at 5.7/9, with FOX, 5.0/8, in fourth. In the metered markets, UPN averaged 3.9/6 and The WB 2.7/4.Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 9.6 rating. CBS finished second at...

(4/4/03, 7 a.m. ET) -- The Dixie Chicks are expressing concern for their personal safety since singer Natalie Maines uttered the now infamous anti-Bush statement, "We're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas," to a London audience. "We've gotten a lot of hate mail, a lot of threatening mail," Martie Maguire told reporters in Australia. "Emily (Robison) had the front gate of her ranch smashed in. We have to have security when we get back to the States. It puts my well-being in jeopardy." Maines, however, has reacted more flippantly to the situation, according to reports. The...

Dixie Chick Natalie Maines told a New Zealand TV reporter last week that her now-infamous slam at President George W. Bush was a joke. Maines admitted that she told a London concert audience that the group was ashamed that the President is from their home state of Texas, but added, "It was a joke and it wasn't planned. And it was really funny at the time. It got lots of cheers, and that's what it was meant for. You see the trouble that you can get into if you speak religion or politics. It gets people very upset." Maines issued...

<p>MURFREESBORO - With fewer companies owning more media outlets, the lack of tolerance for opposing views increases, former Vice President Al Gore told a college audience here last night.</p> <p>Using recent attacks on the Dixie Chicks that followed anti-war comments by one group member as an example, Gore said big corporations threaten the true meaning of democracy because representatives - through various media outlets - try to stamp out opposing views with financial retaliation.</p>

CLEARLY KRUGMANI'm not going to write a National Review Online piece on Paul Krugman's column today -- this particular fly didn't rise to the level of annoyance to justify a full swat. I've already exposed the conflict of interest implicit in a New York Times columnist using op-ed ink to accuse a Times Company competitor, Clear Channel Communications, of political corruption due to its alleged sponsorship of pro-war rallies. And I will quote extensively from several smart takes from around the web today, taking on Krugman from other angles. There's good stuff here. Reader Paul Philp of Radical Results writes,...

NBCSandiego.comManager: No More Apologies From Dixie Chicks Fallout Continues From Controversial Bush Comment POSTED: 9:39 a.m. EST March 26, 2003 The manager of the Dixie Chicks says singer Natalie Maines is through with her apologies for a controversial comment she made in a London concert about President George W. Bush. Texas-native Maines (pictured, far right) told the audience earlier this month, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Simon Renshaw told the trade paper Radio and Records that Maines has already issued two strongly worded statements for making the comments, and right...

NASHVILLE SKYLINE: Shut Up and Sing? Chet Flippo 03/20/2003 (NASHVILLE SKYLINE is a column by CMT/CMT.com Editorial Director Chet Flippo.) So, what to make of the Natalie Maines mess? Because that's just exactly what it is, a big mess. Maines seems afflicted with chronic foot-in-mouth disease. In her latest lecture, on March 10 at a Dixie Chicks concert in London, Maines felt compelled to tell the audience, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." She could not have made a stupider mistake. First of all, if she really has strong convictions about...

March 25, 2003 Channels of InfluenceBy PAUL KRUGMAN y and large, recent pro-war rallies haven't drawn nearly as many people as antiwar rallies, but they have certainly been vehement. One of the most striking took place after Natalie Maines, lead singer for the Dixie Chicks, criticized President Bush: a crowd gathered in Louisiana to watch a 33,000-pound tractor smash a collection of Dixie Chicks CD's, tapes and other paraphernalia. To those familiar with 20th-century European history it seemed eerily reminiscent of. . . . But as Sinclair Lewis said, it can't happen here. Who has been organizing those pro-war...

The Backlash Grows Against Celebrity Activists By WARREN ST. JOHN OR a few days after the Dixie Chicks' lead singer, Natalie Maines, told a London audience, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas," there was not a ripple about the remark. The American ambassador to Britain, William S. Farish, was at the show on March 10, and made it a point to greet the Texas trio at a reception afterward. Though six critics reviewed the concert, only one mentioned the comment in print. Four days later, all that had changed. Reports of...

In case you still don't believe that the Dixie Chicks are in big, BIG trouble...I just got the following email:Dear eBay Community Member,The bid that you entered for the item http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2164923684 has been cancelled.You can view the reason provided for the cancellation by selecting the (bid history) link from the individual item page.Regards,eBaySo I go to the page and click on "bid history." Here's what it says: eBayBid History for DIXIE CHICKS TICKETS DENVER LOWER 130 3RD ROW (Item # 2164923684) Currently $0.01 First bid $0.01 Quantity 1 # of bids 0 Time left Auction has ended. Started Mar-13-03 18:45:00...

Chicks Boycott OverblownCountry trio still ruling the roost on radio Safe at home While rock acts like Pearl Jam have gone relatively unchallenged when protesting the war on Iraq, the Dixie Chicks found out the hard way that such sentiments didn't fly as well with the flag-waving country set. After Lubbock, Texas, born singer Natalie Maines' remarked at a March 10th London show that she was "ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas," reports of boycotts abounded. But Jaye Albright, a consultant to fifty country radio stations in the U.S. and Canada, calls the controversy "a...

House resolution asks Dixie Chicks for free show for troops A South Carolina House member is calling on the Dixie Chicks to perform a free concert for troops. Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, is sponsoring a resolution calling for the country music group to perform for South Carolina troops and their families. The Dixie Chicks are scheduled to perform their first concert on their U.S. tour in Greenville this May. Lead singer Natalie Maines reportedly told a London audience last week, in reference to President George W. Bush's push for military action against Iraq, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the...

<p>Natalie Maines' comments about President Bush cost the Dixie Chicks the top spot on the Billboard country singles chart this week.</p> <p>Natalie Maines, center, apologized for her anti-Bush remarks, but that hasn't stopped a Dixie Chicks backlash.</p> <p>Airplay for Travelin' Soldier, which had hit No. 1 the previous week, dropped 15% last week. Nearly all the decline came late in the week after reports that Maines told a London concert audience, "We're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."</p>

Dixie Chicken Out (Houston, TX) Spend just a few hours at the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and you realize how moronic the Dixie Chicks were to trash President George Bush in London last week. The 70,000+ people who showed up for the final day of this 23-day extravaganza at the new Reliant Stadium are the Chicks’ fan base—or, I should say, were their fan base. All I had to do was mention the name of the Grammy Award-winning country trio to elicit immediate disgust and anger from housewives, business executives, and event staff and volunteers. “Who do they...

Imagine: You're country music's hottest band, you just sold $49 million in tickets in a single day, and you hauled away enough Grammys to fill a long-bed pickup. Then your wild-child lead singer up and shouts that she's ashamed of President Bush. If the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines had to holler something really stupid in London, why couldn't it have been, "Thank you, Detroit?" Now the Erwin sisters -- founders and fearless leaders of what began as a Dallas teen-agers' fiddle band -- will never get away. Maybe it was simple grandstanding that inspired Maines, 28, a Lubbock native, to...

Statement from Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks March 14, 2003 "As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect. We are currently in Europe and witnessing a huge anti-American sentiment as a result of the perceived rush to war. While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers' lives are lost. I love my country. I am a proud American."

After reading this post: "San Antonio DJ Pulls The Plug On The Dixie Chicks(Clear Channel FM Flagship--It's Over, Folks)", I thought I should post this email I just got from my local CC . It's NOT over. Clear Channel is NOT issuing any orders regarding the Saddam Sluts. Sounds like KJ 97 in Dallas is just pulling a gimmick, and the Vichy Chicks will be back on the air in days.Hi [Timesink]:Thank you very much for taking the time to write to WTCR - we appreciateyour input and thank you very much for your continued listenership.Regarding the Dixie Chicks and...

San Antonio DJ Pulls The Plug On The Dixie ChicksA popular country music group has some San Antonians turning off their radios. A KJ 97 DJ pulled the plug on the trio's songs after lead singer Natalie Maines made a negative comment about President Bush. The trio is on tour overseas, but they're causing quite a stir back here at home. "Natalie Maines before a concert audience in London, England said, and I quote, ‘Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,’" said Keith Montgomery with KJ 97. The comments prompted Montgomery to...

To: Friends From: Gary L. Bauer President American Values Date: Friday, March 14, 2003 Blix And The Dixie Chicks In the long run, who most harms the United States? Is it clueless U.N. bureaucrats like Hans Blix, feckless French leaders like Jacques Chirac, or radical Islamic terrorists? They all make a contribution, but at the end of the day I believe we have more to fear from the anti-American crowd right here at home. The latest members of the "hall of shame" are the Dixie Chicks, one of whom, Natalie Maines, began a recent London concert with these words, "Just...