Drudge Sirens: TEARS ON TV: DIXIE CHICKS EXPLAIN BUSH BASHING

In a candid and emotional exclusive interview, Diane Sawyer talks with the Dixie Chicks -- Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire -- who finally speak out about controversial comments regarding President Bush and the war with Iraq, made last month overseas -- during a London concert.

MORE The on-stage remarks, which many say were unpatriotic, have resulted in a flood of criticism and a backlash that has included a boycott of their music.

The interview will air on “PRIMETIME THURSDAY," THURSDAY, APRIL 24 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network, but the DRUDGE REPORT can now reveal some highlights:

NATALIE MAINES ON WHETHER SHE IS TRULY SORRY FOR HER ON-STAGE COMMENT ABOUT PRESIDENT BUSH:

MAINES: I think it came down to, it was ... that it was in a foreign country and it was that it was an off-the-cuff statement…And I think the way I said it was disrespectful. The wording I used, the way I said it, that was disrespectful…

SAWYER: ... when you talk about apologizing for what you said about the President.

MAINES: ….It's not because it's not genuine. It's because I'm on guard now…I feel regret for, you know, the choice of words. Or the non-choice…Am I sorry that I asked questions and that I don't just follow? No.

MAGUIRE: …I also believe that yes, some of our fans were upset by it, but… does the punishment fit the crime? How far are you going to go? I think it's rational and totally acceptable for people to write a letter... and say "You know, I was really offended by what you said about the President."… we know some of our fans were shocked and ... and upset, and we are compassionate to that. I totally understand it. My problem is, when does it cross the line? When is trashing Emily's property okay? When is writing a threatening letter okay?...

SAWYER: When was the first sign you had that there was sort of a seismic tremor from this?

MAINES: We were going into this hotel…and he [the Dixie Chicks' manager] got a call … he's pacing back and forth. "Oh, no!" You know, we're automatically going "What? What happened?" And then he says, you know, he gets off the phone and I was like, "What? What happened?" "Well, the AP picked up what was said the other night... But don't worry, it's going to blow over in three days." And I looked at him and I go, "No, it's not." He goes "Yes, it is, yes. Don't worry about it." You know, giving the old manager spiel. And I said, "Oh, I don't think so."

MAGUIRE: …We are pretty tough and we have each other and we stand by each other through thick and thin and we know we're going to make mistakes…But this was colossal. This felt so colossal.

NATALIE MAINES: …we support the troops. We support the troops l00 percent. We have said that from day one. People have quoted we don’t support the troops, which is the opposite of anything we have ever said. There is not a correlation between not wanting a war and not supporting the troops who are doing their job…

EMILY ROBISON: Martie and I have family in the military. But it’s nothing more than that we want to do than have our troops be safe, successful…you know we’re very patriotic…

DIANE SAWYER: ...But there are those who say to support them is to understand how much they believe in what they're doing. And it does matter to them that you believe in what they're putting their lives on the line for.

MAINES: …as passionate as they are about their cause, I love that about them, but accept that I am passionate about mine as well…

MAINES: Out of frustration. At that moment, on the eve of war, I had a lot of questions that I felt were unanswered….

MAINES: You know we didn't walk off that stage going, oh my God, oh my God, I can't believe I said that.

Well I must be part of that small group (your words, not mine) that enjoyed their music, bought their CD's and would see them in concert if I could talk my wife into going. Not now. I no longer listen to their CD's (although I haven't thrown them out) and change the radio station whenever their music is played. I listen to many styles of music and run into them on both country and pop stations. I have emailed the stations I listen to most frequently and told them that I turn the dial whenever a song of theirs comes on. I don't demand that they not play them...they have the right to play anything (well most anything) they'd like but I also have the right to listen or not listen. Maybe someday this feeling will go away but it hasn't yet.

I also agree that there's not much they could say to make it better at this point. The most damaging part to me was the hypocrisy of saying something like she said in a foreign country while I believe she would have never said it at a concert in Texas or most other parts of the USA. If it's truly what she believes she should be willing to say it anywhere and accept the consequences.

That's fair enough, as long as every other entertainer is held to the same standard I guess.

I think they should out of common decency. Republicans buy shoes.

So, you check out the personal opinions, politics and past of every entertainer before you buy their music?

I do not 'check out' their personal opinions and if they keep them off the damn stage..... I buy. Those that open their mouths I stay away from. I do not rent Tim Robbins Films, easy enough. He disrespected me by using the position that I and the other fans gave him. His voice is only LOUD because we pay him to do something outside policy statements and opinion comments.!

I have a right to my opinion but I do not use the position my company or clients place me in to pound my opinion into thier heads. That is not what I am paid to do or given the power to do.

Other Court Jesters are to had.

I did like them myself in the beginning. I know their main songwriter and followed them out of interest in his work.

My antennae first went up with the "Earl" song and video...straight out of "women's studies" and only slighty funny...

Then there was all the crossover talk and more BS from Natalie's gator about "changing the face" of country music ..with CMT's help.....didn't much care for that either.

Then last fall, once again Nat's gator flops open to disparage Toby Keith's wonderful patriotic song as "rednecky" etc..that Bruce Springsteen's smarmy number was better for post 9-11..that steamed me but she actually got thru that unscathed.

The the big shoe dropped in London...nuff said on that already.

Then she continued to be defiant and tried to attack her critics (with her manager's help) and even went further and started on Toby Keith again...who has been more gracious to her than I would have been.

I think her track record is pretty solidly FUBAR don't you? And the fact that her compadres haven't uttered a peep except that one's husband said Nat doesn't speak for him...tells us where they stand as well.

They dug their own career grave and took a lot of folks down with them. The fellow I know will probably lose at least high 6 figures in lifetime royalties personally from her bigass mouth.

You're right....can't put the genie back in the bottle.

The stupid ass things these people would likely blow over pretty quickly if they simply said something like "We are expressing our opinion and feel that is protected speech." ...

Why does this "protected speech" issue always get mentioned? The Federal and/or State governments nor their officials have taken any notice of the "Dixie Chicks" matter. Who cares if the idiot in question "feels" that it is "protected speech". That's not the issue; the consequences for Maines stupid remarks is the issue. The red herring which is always brought up by imbeciles like the Dixie Chicks is that "I have a right under the Constitution to say whatever I want", when what they really mean is that "I think that the First Amendment to the Constitution says that no one anywhere, anytime can criticize what I say, or hold me accountable because I just KNOW that my speech is protected!"

Just like Tim Robbins in his National Press Club speech the other day, the fact that many in the entertainment business did not or barely make it out of our dumbed-down high school system in the last 25 years accounts for their confusion on "rights", "consequences" and their "feelings" on the way the world should work...

dvwjr

"As far as 'class envy' goes I only envy the fact that a Natalie Maines gets to trumpet her political views to the world with a fame megaphone while the rest of us, the not-famous folks that support these actors and singers, cannot have the same opportunity and then, when we are angered by a Dixie Chick remark, we are said to be 'mean' and other such self-serving nonsense by the same pampered people who seem to believe they have some special right to pontificate that no one may disagree with. Sorry, not in the real world, Natalie."

Worth repeating. As a conservative, I believe in being responsible for one's actions. This is why I am enjoying seeing the Dixie Chicks reap what they have sown. I was a big fan before the statement (I have all three of their CDs, and Home was one of only 3 CDs I have bought this year), and since then, when I hear their songs, I am reminded of what a hateful person Maines is. I am also reminded of Bill Clinton when she keeps trying to change her explanation. Maybe some of their defenders like Bill Clinton. Who knows? All I know is my main radio station here in Kansas City (and the number 1 country station in KC) still isn't playing their music, and their morning guys are real skeptical of forgiveness after seeing the Diane Sawyer clips.

One more time: Conservatives = taking responsibility, not playing the victim, not making excuses, not blaming the VRWC (which I am sure is next).

"Over-simplification don't you think? Fox, other media outlets, Sean, Rush, Savage, others have all picked up on this. Think about the exposure they all have."

Maybe an oversimplification but the fact is, as you pointed out, the album still moved up the country chart. For that to happen, people have to continue to buy it and I was trying to point out why I think that happened. I think you overestimate the power of Freepers and the talking radio heads on something like this. A huge percentage of people stop listening only if the music sucks. They don't care that Rush thinks they should stop buying it.

She stepped in it again. In this "apology", she manages to label country music fans as "backwards and conservative and closed minded."

Exactly. It's hard to hide your true feelings forever. They're frauds, and they know it.

These are the words that speak the loudest to me:
MAGUIRE: …I just remember listening to country music as a young girl and knowing that I wanted to play the fiddle and that's all I ever wanted to do, knowing that I'd get into country music and trying to convert people over to country music and hearing them always say oh, but it's ... no, that's redneck music, no, those people are so backwards and conservative and closed minded and this and that. And I'm always saying to these people, no, just give it a chance, give it a chance…

Give "it" a chance? Not, give the "conservatives" a chance. Just, give the music a chance. Strange dichotomy.

as passionate as they are about their cause, I love that about them, but accept that I am passionate about mine as well…

So she is passionate about trashing our President on foreign soil on the eve of war.

I am just as passionate about never buying another CD of hers. I will turn off any television or radio show that has her. She has freedom of speech. I have the freedom to ignore her.

So, you check out the personal opinions, politics and past of every entertainer before you buy their music?

No, just the ones that make public statements while at war. Contrast them with someone like Bob Hope. I have no idea what Bob Hope's beliefs about each war he went to. I imagine he didn't support all of them. But its very clear he supported the troops. He put the troops first. Unlike the Chicks who put and continue to put their own finances and fame first.

The liberals have essentially robbed this nation of people like Bob Hope and have instead delivered us self centered scum.

BTW, your not Ash are you ? He had a similar holier-than-thou method of debating using a logical fallacy that constructed false choice debates. Unfortunately, most freepers still fall for it. Ash used to cut and run like you do when he ran into someone who called him on it by using the methods of pointing out the false dillema or asking him for his defintions. Ash apparently didn't want to play the game when he couldn't use his fallacies. Are you him ? Your styles are the same.

Here is how Natalie Maines can fix it or at least help get out of the hole she keeps digging...

Maines: "Im sorry. I was wrong in what I said. I am not in a position to use my platform to make suggestions on international policy. I will always be supportive of the 1st ammendment but I must also recognize that I may be held responsible for my words the 1st ammendment grants me the right to say. I want to publically apoligize to all the fans who are supporters of President Bush. I hope the fans accept this apology because although I may not agree with our President, I must be sensitive to the fact that our fans do support him."

Or, she could say:

"I suck... Im wrong and I will now never vote democrat again. I will join Pro-life organizations and support 2nd ammendment rights across this land and fight for these causes!"

Its 99% of the people on this thread who are angry at those who want to express their opinion.

Who here is against Maines stating her opinion in the proper time and place? I am pretty sure Freerepublic - where we are now - is a good time and place.

Where have all the Cowboys gone? Nobody paid Maines to say those things and still she did it 'on the clock'. That is disrespectful and mean spirited and many take issue with that. But I do not care if she states her own opinion on her time.

MAINES: We were going into this hotel…and he [the Dixie Chicks' manager] got a call … he's pacing back and forth. "Oh, no!" You know, we're automatically going "What? What happened?" And then he says, you know, he gets off the phone and I was like, "What? What happened?" "Well, the AP picked up what was said the other night... But don't worry, it's going to blow over in three days." And I looked at him and I go, "No, it's not." He goes "Yes, it is, yes. Don't worry about it." You know, giving the old manager spiel. And I said, "Oh, I don't think so."

Poor Natalie. Please go to her concerts. She needs the money to pay her speech tutor.

The Raaaaaain in Spaaaaaain Says Natalie is a Paaaaaaain

One more time: Conservatives = taking responsibility, not playing the victim, not making excuses, not blaming the VRWC (which I am sure is next).

Exactly.

Here's a quote from today's Federalist along the same line:
"Here in a nutshell is the classic modern-day misunderstanding of freedom: Freedom means not just the right to be free from government sanction, but also to be free from consequences." --David Hogberg

This modern misunderstanding has led a whole generation of people to think that there should be no consequences for actions. I think it's time to remind these people that there are always consequences.

Will any of you ever be ready to forgive them and start buying and listening to their music again?

I don't like their pop music anyhow so I didn't listen to them before but I still won't forget them. There are much better singers ---like Johnny Cash and the Judds if you like country music. Plus there are millions of unheard of singers that aren't hateful morons who deserve a chance at stardom.

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