I don't share your view that he does not find aid or comfort in the words and actions of the Dixie Chicks.
I rather think that if I were to see a popular Iraqi entertainer speaking out about Saddam I'd view it about the same as he views this instance. I'd be damn glad.
It's a curious thing, isn't it, that the Dixie Chicks only spoke about George Bush and the US and had nothing to say about Saddam's role in this. Any ideas about that?
I'm no constitutional scholar (a good thing when you think of all the trouble they've caused), but I don't think the courts are the place for this in any case-- although I think it would be useful to test the notion. That being said, if the courts were the precise arbiter of right and wrong, OJ would have been convicted and executed, and Clinton... well, I hope I live long enough to water the flowers at his memorial.
We as a people owe it to ourselves and to history to be clear about what is and isn't the truth in our time, and what is and isn't right and wrong. I don't share your charitable view of the Dixie Chicks. I think this would be a better country if they were met at the airport and imprisoned. There's no place for seditious behavior, and theirs is the worst kind: it is unprincipled and pandering.
The troubles this country faces are, in my estimation, part and parcel due to some of us not being able to recognize, speak, or acknowledge the truth-- and worse when faced with untruth-- turning our backs.
Truth is not rocket science. It only looks that way when we allow people who do not have our interests in mind to tell us what the truth is.
In my post #80 I outlined what will and should be punishment for the Dixie Chicks. They'll take it in the shorts. Yay for our side.
But there's an aspect to this that your post brings up that is disturbing.
We and our point of view have been taking our lumps exactly because we haven't spoken up. Lately I've heard reference to a 'silent majority'. We can no longer afford to be silent. Our very survival depends on it... and in the middle of the night sometimes I am convinced we're too late. I think our enemies are within, and have the means to destroy us.
We haven't had the courage to call treasonous speech treasonous (as clearly in this case it is ), because we've been cowed into thinking that people have a right to do things like the Dixie Chicks have done. That's what Clintonspeak has wrought. In another era they'd have pelted with tomatoes or worse. More's the pity that they are celebrated today.
Freerepublic is as close to a groundswell of grassroots conservative thought as you will find, and we ought to compel each other to use it. Read what I wrote back in post 80, consider it, and at least send an email to their sponsors.
Yeah, they are morons.
I don't share your charitable view of the Dixie Chicks. I think this would be a better country if they were met at the airport and imprisoned.
On what charge?
In my post #80 I outlined what will and should be punishment for the Dixie Chicks. They'll take it in the shorts. Yay for our side.
I could not agree more.
we've been cowed into thinking that people have a right to do things like the Dixie Chicks have done. That's what Clintonspeak has wrought. In another era they'd have pelted with tomatoes or worse. More's the pity that they are celebrated today.
They are not being Celebrated. They are potentially in danger of loosing their careers. At my last count they had already clarified their statement once and, later, apologized to the President. While the motives for this apology are questionable it was an apology.
Read what I wrote back in post 80, consider it
I have read it, and economic retaliation is the best strategy.
The Dixie Chicks, or more accurately, Natalie Maines, made a stupid statement; it probably had little or no thought behind it. While this is frustrating, aggravating, and even infuriating it is not treasonous, or even criminal, action. Remember, this country is strong, and has been strengthened by dissent. In the past – although not this time – the dissenters have been right. If we ban unpopular or even stupid speech we run the risk of banning what turns out to be the truth.