[puroresu]

Actually, the Dixie Chicks have been hurt by the boycott. Their album had been hovering in the top 10 on the pop chart for many weeks. After Natalie shot her mouth off, it plunged to (I think) #33.

What's happening now is a lot of lefties are buying their album as a counter-boycott. It's boosted them back up some, though not nearly to where they were before Natalie shot her mouth off. The Billboard charts are accurate, and are not cooked, as you noted.

The thing is, those lefties are eventually going to move on to something else. They listen to alternative rock (R.E.M., etc.), Streisand-type pop, or Jazz. They could care less about three bimbos with fiddles. They won't be lining up to buy the Dixie Chicks' next CD. Neither will a lot of country fans.

The Chicks lost a lot of fans, and some of that loss was alleviated by lefties rushing to purchase their current CD for political reasons. Those political purchases will fade.

For the record, I don't think this will destroy the Chicks' career completely. They won't be playing the lounge at a Holiday Inn this time next year. But they will never hit #1 again or routinely sell-out tours again. They'll always be thought of by many country fans as those stupid bimbos with the big mouth.

Just my opinion!

[FITZ]

The Chicks lost a lot of fans, and some of that loss was alleviated by lefties rushing to purchase their current CD for political reasons. Those political purchases will fade.

I'm sure they lost a lot of their fans --- country music has plenty of more patriotic types to replace them with better voices and better songs. They probably are getting a number of liberals running out buying their music but unless they find a way to keep attracting liberal buyers then they'll fade away ----like you said ---they can find bars to sing in but they won't be big stars.