Posted on 05/30/2006 10:12:40 AM PDT by RadicalSon2
They could have just shut up.
That's what's interesting. The thing had been said, the controversy had flared and faded, bygones were becoming bygones. They could have moved on, left well enough alone. Instead, they declare themselves, ``not ready to make nice . . . not ready to back down . . . still mad as hell.''
That's the refrain of Not Ready To Make Nice, the first single from the newly released first album by the Dixie Chicks in four years. More to the point, the first since that fateful night in March 2003, on the eve of the Iraq invasion, when lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience the Chicks were ''ashamed'' the president of the United States hailed from Maines' native Texas.
Things for the Chicks swiftly went very bad after that. They had been one of the most popular acts in country music. Now there were death threats, vandalism, a radio station boycott of their music and, like something out of Germany circa 1933, mass gatherings where whooping crowds destroyed Dixie Chicks CDs.
Now it all seems quaint, so three years ago. As in, before the WMDs turned up MIA, before the bungling of Hurricane Katrina, before the scandal of Abu Ghraib, before illegal spying on U.S. citizens, before 20,646 U.S. casualties in Iraq, before at least 2,466 U.S. fatalities. These days, between 65 percent and 70 percent of us -- the polls vary -- have reservations about the leadership of President Bush. And Natalie Maines' assessment of this profoundly mediocre man seems almost . . . charitable. Indeed, in a Rolling Stone cover story, Princeton professor Sean Wilentz declares Bush a contender for the title of worst president, ever.
FULL OF FIGHTING WORDS
So yes, the Chicks could have accepted vindication gracefully, taken a demure victory lap and gone quietly back to country. Instead, they release a song full of fighting words and, in interviews, declare their lack of regret and disinterest in rapprochement with the red state musical establishment that made them stars.
What a bracing display of guts. Watching, you wonder when is the last time you saw anyone in the pop culture arena put their careers on the line for matters of principle. Surely, you don't have to go all the way back to Ali in '66 saying ''I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.'' Surely, it only feels that way. Surely, some singer, actor, athlete, has taken a risk for right since then.
But no names come to mind.
Yes, others in the pop culture pantheon have spoken against the current state of affairs -- Martin Sheen, Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Neil Young -- but there was little risk in it. Their liberal fan bases would expect and second their opinions. With all due respect to those individuals, these are not exactly profiles in courage. The pop culture Zeitgeist seems more accurately reflected in what Michael Jordan -- equally beloved in red states and blue ones -- reportedly said when asked why he would not endorse a Democratic senatorial candidate: ``Republicans buy shoes, too.''
WILLING TO TAKE A RISK
You hear that and you realize that it's a long time since John Carlos and Tommie Smith accepted Olympic medals with black power salutes, since Marlon Brando marched for civil rights, since thousands of young people put their lives and livelihoods on the line for peace and justice, since any of us, celebrity or unknown, seemed willing to take a risk to say what we felt was right.
These are, should it need to be said, fearful times. Soldiers in harm's way, terrorism threats looming, government surveiling citizens. There is much cause for trepidation. But courage is only courage when fear is present. It only matters when something is at stake.
For what it's worth, the Chicks' new single bombed on country radio, putting their careers further in question. It's a problem they wouldn't have had if they'd kept silent.
Thankfully, they didn't. There's already too much of that going around.
Pitts(the writer of this sophomoric dribble) is one of the few writers whose last name clearly defines him. This liberal weeny bedwetter is part and parcel of what is wrong with America. He is not only a racist, he is stupid to boot! Hope he loves the dxie twits as they c & b...crash & burn!!
And all that remains are some lefties who will buy a CD or two as some kind of "political statement", but as far as a music career, it's over. I don't know them personally, but a neighbor of mine here in Nashville was part of their organization and she was a self-obsessed bitch, so I figure they can't be much diffferent. It runs downhill, you know.
Yep.. the lights are on but nobody's home.
I really don't see where the risk is here. Sounds like a pure business decision.
They have a scorched earth situation with a large part of their former fan base. So rather than fix that (which is rather unlikely,) they pander to those who were idealistically the opposite of that former section of their fan base.
That's not risky, that's just going after the most likely source of dollar bills. Saying its risky just gains them free press to promote the album and hedges their ego's bet should they fall flat on their face.
When this is the hook you have to use to sell your record you know there is a problem. It is clearly much better to follow the RHCP method and say "this is the best record we have ever done, if you don't like this cd you don't like the Chili Peppers."
From an Air America/Boston messageboard (gotta read once in awhile to laugh at them): "The lead singer of the Dixie Chicks should have been less polite and called Bush what he really is, a Chimp, a liar, and generally a retard. f*** Those s*** kickers at KLB (radio station that won't run their new singles) and that weasel Jon Keller and everyone else who has an ax to grind."--Norm Rosen
To Norm (Norm! They miss you at Cheers): Such nice language. You must be one of those 'tolerant' liberals.
The Dixie Chicks have been reduced to a consolation prize for a political party that cant win elections. DUmmies can hel pthe chimps get a #1 on Billboard, and we will continue to control the White House, House, and Senate. LOL~
So they can depend on Leonard Pitts to buy a few cases for their cause?
No surprise: the Air America/Boston site has a big ad for the Dixie Chicks on its front! (Rotates with other ads, like for a Jimmy Tingle live show)
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