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<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...

Sheryl Crow wore a white T-shirt emblazoned with "War Is Not the Answer" when she accepted her American Music Award in January. Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst was received with cheers when he said, "This war has got to go away as soon as possible" during the Grammy telecast. But when Natalie Maines of the country music trio the Dixie Chicks said from a London stage that she was "ashamed" that President Bush was from Texas, the result was quite different. Angry fans flooded radio stations in San Diego, Nashville and Dallas with calls demanding that the Dixie Chicks' music...

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...

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...

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...

<<Back Local Company Creates Dixie Chicks T-Shirt Dixie Chicks' lead singer and Lubbock native Natalie Maines' recent anti-war comments have angered many fans. If you're offended, you can make your feelings known. A T-shirt was created by Lubbock's Advanced Graphix Custom Screening and Printing."President Steve Massengale says current world events call for support "for our troops and our president from all Americans, especially Texans."The shirt warns Maines not to "Mess With Texas" or "George W."The message is noted as a reminder from "Texans Ggainst The Dixie Dorks."   All content © Copyright 2000 - 2003, WorldNow and KAMC. All Rights Reserved.For more information...

The Dixie Chicks controversy has made it all the way to the South Carolina House. Representative Catherine Ceips introduced a resolution Wednesday (March 19) calling for the country music group to perform for South Carolina troops and their families as a way of apologizing for criticizing President George W. Bush. Ceips said she received many angry phone calls from people in her district, which includes the U.S. Naval Hospital, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, and the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort.Ceips told the house, "A free concert for troops would be a good way for Maines...

Check this out and post it for me ... thanks! http://www.rock103.com/crew/showprep/media/chix.jpg

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...

Yesterday, we conducted a strategy session (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/868480/posts) on Free Republic on how to respond to the latest remarks by Simon Renshaw, the Dixie Chicks manager. As the thread unfolded, the strategy has crystallized and I have compiled the suggestions into a document which articulates the goals, message, and action items. But first, a recap. We all know the Dixie Chicks went abroad and insulted the President. They then apologized. But now the Dixie Chicks manager has some harsh words for fans complaining to radio stations, describing them as "radical" "weasels" (his own words) engaged in "conspiracy". Now it's time for...

JUPITER, Fla. -- While some sections of America protest an apparently imminent war with Iraq, a number of the Astros and Florida Marlins support President Bush's desire to remove Iraq President Saddam Hussein from power. "Obviously our thoughts and prayers are going out to all our troops," Craig Biggio said before the Astros beat the Marlins 9-5 on Tuesday at Roger Dean Stadium. "I'm in total support of our president. Obviously, he can't disclose everything Saddam has over there and what he's doing. "Obviously, the president knows that Saddam has something that can do damage to us. The last thing...

A manager for the Country and Western group the Dixie Chicks is blaming the ongoing firestorm of negative reaction to anti-Bush comments by lead singer Natalie Maines last week on a vast right-wing cyber-conspiracy. Dixie Chicks' manager Simon Renshaw has told radio stations currently boycotting the group's music that the uproar has been ginned up by the Web site FreeRepublic.com, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Tuesday. FreeRepublic has nicknamed the group, "The Blixie Chicks," after Saddam-friendly U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix. Several posters to the cyber-forum have urged visitors to contact radio stations about the controversy. "Your company is being...

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>

Are the Dixie Chicks victims of a right-wing conspiracy? That's what their manager, Simon Renshaw, has told country music stations being pressured to drop the Chicks' music after lead singer Natalie Maines criticized President Bush last week. In an e-mail to stations distributed by Sony Music, their label, Renshaw says the protest has been orchestrated by the Free Republic (www.freerepublic.com) , a Web site "for independent, grassroots conservative, " according to founder Jim Robinson of Fresno, Calif. The Web site also alleges that recent anti-war protests are "communist-organized demonstrations." "Your company is being targeted by a radical right-wing online forum,"...

<p>Airplay of the Dixie Chicks' hit single Travelin' Soldier is down 15% in the week after lead singer Natalie Maines' controversial comments about President Bush and could bump the song from No. 1 to No. 3 within a week of the flap.</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...