Messing With Texas (A Dixie Chick regrets anti-Bush remark)

WSJ.com ^ | March 20, 2003 | KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL

[conservativecorner]

After months of listening to Sheryl Crow, Martin Sheen and an army of second-rate poets bash President Bush and the war--with nary a peep of protest from fans--you might assume Americans no longer have the resolve to unite and tell their stars to shut up. Then again, you might not be a country music fan.

[wysiwyg]

My wife and I were planning on going to see their concert when they come to Houston, but I'd rather have bamboo slivers shoved under my fingernails than spend a dime on the Dixie Chicks. What a shame -- I really do enjoy their music, but Natalie's comment changes everything.

[Lou L]

Had Miss Maines questioned whether or not war was the "right answer" here in the United States--say, at a concert in Houston or Nashville--maybe I wouldn't be so upset with her actions. But the fact that she showed utter cowardice by blasting the President overseas, that makes this a whole different matter.

p.s. Of course, even Miss Maines knows she'd never get away with saying something like this in Houston or Nashville.

[Hillary's Folly]

Favorite Films Now Available W/O Obnoxious Actors

[demkicker]

"The Dixie Chicks are "new" and no doubt Ms. Maines's small success in the pop world led her to believe she could talk trash like Barbra Streisand and get away with it. She figured wrong."

Man, I love that line!

[Samwise]

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

What astounds me (I guess I never learn) is that the left screams free speech all the time, but when a conservative uses the same right, by boycotting or writing a letter of complaint, then we are censoring them........

I love the tactics though... initially Maines was swept up in her overblown self importance and spoke her mind.....then claimed it was because of the feelings in Europe (let's hope she never has to ask her child "if everyone is jumping off a bridge does that mean you have to also?"), then the inevitable pathetic attempt at apology......followed by the attack against conservatives... it is never the fault of the left...... it's that darn Right Wing Conspiracy.........

[BufordP]

Yoyo! They can always change over to gangsta rap.

[FITZ]

When the furor first hit, Ms. Maines was belligerent

She doesn't regret the anti-Bush remark, she regrets the consequences to herself for saying it. She especially regrets that she might lose some money. All these liberal celebrities love money more than principle.

[Freedom4US]

I know my history, and the "peace" movement in the 60's was responsible for the death of thousands of American troops, some of us remember and are not about to give aid and comfort to these "dixie chicks", their music is erzatz country anyway, blow-dried and squeeky clean, a marketing construct. They never wanged my twang, and now that they felt it necessary to open their pie-hole overseas and talk crap about the country, it should be noted that I will never knowingly support them in any way shape or form. Sorry ladies, but you have a lot of growing up to do. Not on my dime.

[Guenevere]

bttt

[tuckrdout]

Yep!

[YourAdHere]

All these liberal celebrities love money more than principle.

I agree completely. Gene Simmons and I were having the exact same conversation the other day!

(Note to those who don't get it: Gene Simmons of Kiss is a notorious merchandiser. He'll put out anything with the Kiss logo if he thinks it'll make him some dough.)

[isthisnickcool]

Maines married into an Iranian family. That may have a bit to do with her views?

[BlueLancer]

"My wife and I were planning on going to see their concert when they come to Houston, but I'd rather have bamboo slivers shoved under my fingernails than spend a dime on the Dixie Chicks. What a shame -- I really do enjoy their music, but Natalie's comment changes everything."

Heck, go to the concert and boo! Find like-minded ex-fans and protest in the arena, protest in the parking lot. They've already gotten your money, unless you can get a refund (or can make a profit selling it to a scalper). So, you might as well put your "dime" to good use.

[tamikamaria]

My cousin knew Natalie back when he was in high school. He said her dad's band played all the hot dances in the area, and Nat was pretty full of herself even back then. He wasn't impressed then and he's even less impressed now.

He also said one of the local Lubbock radio stations was being interviewed by a TV station. The radio guys took their autographed Dixie Chick album off the wall dumped in the trash.

[Bryan]

Had Miss Maines questioned whether or not war was the "right answer" here in the United States -- say, at a concert in Houston or Nashville -- maybe I wouldn't be so upset with her actions. But the fact that she showed utter cowardice by blasting the President overseas, that makes this a whole different matter.

You're absolutely correct. Miss Maines' right to speak freely carries with it the responsibility to face criticism for what she has said. Now the fans are exrecising their right to speak freely.

Miss Maines could very easily have expressed herself in a more respectful manner: "We don't believe that war is the answer," "We're here to sing for peace," etc. But the anti-war left, particularly in London, has an in-your-face, "Yeeeeeeee-Hawww" element that's far louder and far nastier than anything on the extreme redneck right. That's the sort she was pandering to.

[VRWCmember]

One of our local conservative columnists/talk show hosts had a comment about Natalie along the lines of "they were so impressionable that upon seeing all the Anti-American sentiment in Europe they were embarrassed that President Bush is from Texas? It's a good thing they weren't touring the Middle East -- they'd have come back to the U.S. as suicide bombers."

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I did read that Maines had married someone of Irania descent.... As a side note, she grew up in Lubbock, where I went to College (Texas Tech)...and back in the late 70's the Air Force Base nearby had a pilot training program and the son of the Shaw of Iran lived in Lubbock while training at that base.....

[Mamzelle]

Maines married Iranian? Wow...now I know of half a dozen fat blondes who married Shiites. Must be an epidemic. If you have further details, let me know.