Free Republic

FLASH!!! Dixie Chicks Natalie Manes just now blamed the Free Republic for their downfall on "Hardball." She claims the FR had an organized effort to bring them down.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP): Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks' "Accidents & Accusations'' tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates. Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick's Web site. Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates. The North American leg of the tour kicked off July 21 in Detroit. Billboard magazine and other trade publications...

Country trio the DIXIE CHICKS are planning to re-ignite their feud with US President GEORGE W BUSH in a provocative new song. The group sparked controversy when singer NATALIE MAINES publicly criticised Bush during a concert in London in 2003 - and fans staged bonfires, where they burned CDs and merchandise after calling the girls traitors. That led to Maines sobbing during an apologetic interview on US TV. But the feisty singer remains defiant and has penned new tune NOT READY TO MAKE NICE, which addresses the controversy surrounding her concert comments. Maines teamed up with former SEMISONIC frontman DAN...

Two years ago, the Dixie Chicks were one of the most popular groups in the country. In February 2003, the Texas group had taken home some Grammy awards and were on “top of the world,” to quote one of their popular songs. That all changed the following month just days before the invasion of Iraq. That was when the Dixie Chicks’ lead singer Natalie Maines told an audience in London, England that they were not happy with President George W. Bush, saying, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” Printed in the...

The Academy of Country Music Awards took place in Las Vegas, but the biggest fashion statement of the night was made 1,500 miles away. And given the way things have been going for the past three months, maybe it's not so surprising that the statement was made by Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks. Maines sported a shirt emblazoned with the letters "F.U.T.K." while the trio performed "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)" via satellite from a concert in Austin, Texas. The special segment was part of the ACM Awards show televised live from Las Vegas. Later in the show, Vince Gill opened...

I listen to Sean Hannity sometimes, and recently I heard him speak in a mysterious code. I’ll bet you have too, but here goes. He asked a caller where they listened to his radio show. Then he said what sounded to me like, "Are you clear channel?" Later, I heard the words "clear channel" mentioned by other neo-con mouthpieces on the radio. But I didn’t know what it was. Then came the Dixie Chicks controversy. Word was if you are a good American, love your country, and by extension, support Bush policy, you would no longer listen to Chick songs...

First Night of Sweeps Goes to NBCFri, Apr 25, 2003 10:01 AM PDT LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Fast National ratings for Thursday, April 24, 2003In a battle of dueling pop stars on the first night of sweeps, Madonna was a clear winner over Michael Jackson, helping NBC win Thursday's ratings race. NBC averaged a 12.9 rating/20 share in primetime to score a narrow win over CBS, 12.1/19. ABC was third at 5.7/9, with FOX, 5.0/8, in fourth. In the metered markets, UPN averaged 3.9/6 and The WB 2.7/4.Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 9.6 rating. CBS finished second at...

2002-08-08) NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LA Daily News) - ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings is apparently not the only celebrity to take issue with Toby Keith's chart-topping country hit, "Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)." Now, the Dixie Chicks's lead singer, Natalie Maines, freely shares her dislike of the song. "Don't get me started," Maines told the Los Angeles Daily News. "I hate it. It's ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant. It targets an entire culture - and not just the bad people who did bad things. You've got to have some tact. Anybody can write,...

Dixie Chick Natalie Maines told a New Zealand TV reporter last week that her now-infamous slam at President George W. Bush was a joke. Maines admitted that she told a London concert audience that the group was ashamed that the President is from their home state of Texas, but added, "It was a joke and it wasn't planned. And it was really funny at the time. It got lots of cheers, and that's what it was meant for. You see the trouble that you can get into if you speak religion or politics. It gets people very upset." Maines issued...

NATALIE SAYS IT WAS JUST A JOKE Natalie Maines says she was only joking when she told a London concert the Dixie Chicks were ashamed President Bush is from the trio's home state of Texas. CMT.com says Maines told a New Zealand TV reporter the March 10 remark was "a joke and it wasn't planned. And it was really funny at the time." Scores of radio stations didn't think so, and stopped playing Dixie Chicks music in protest. The Chicks' single "Travelin' Soldier" plunged on the charts. "You see the trouble that you can get into if you speak religion...

50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' will top the Billboard albums chart for the fourth straight week after selling more than 234,000 copies, according to SoundScan figures released Wednesday (March 26). Of the album's seven-week chart life, it's led the pack for five of them, for a grand total of 3.5 million copies sold. Both Norah Jones and R. Kelly will remain in their respective #2 and #3 spots from the week before. Sales of Jones' Come Away With Me, a chart fixture for over a year, were upwards of 175,000 copies, a depression of more than 67,000 from...

<p>MURFREESBORO - With fewer companies owning more media outlets, the lack of tolerance for opposing views increases, former Vice President Al Gore told a college audience here last night.</p> <p>Using recent attacks on the Dixie Chicks that followed anti-war comments by one group member as an example, Gore said big corporations threaten the true meaning of democracy because representatives - through various media outlets - try to stamp out opposing views with financial retaliation.</p>

CLEARLY KRUGMANI'm not going to write a National Review Online piece on Paul Krugman's column today -- this particular fly didn't rise to the level of annoyance to justify a full swat. I've already exposed the conflict of interest implicit in a New York Times columnist using op-ed ink to accuse a Times Company competitor, Clear Channel Communications, of political corruption due to its alleged sponsorship of pro-war rallies. And I will quote extensively from several smart takes from around the web today, taking on Krugman from other angles. There's good stuff here. Reader Paul Philp of Radical Results writes,...

NBCSandiego.comManager: No More Apologies From Dixie Chicks Fallout Continues From Controversial Bush Comment POSTED: 9:39 a.m. EST March 26, 2003 The manager of the Dixie Chicks says singer Natalie Maines is through with her apologies for a controversial comment she made in a London concert about President George W. Bush. Texas-native Maines (pictured, far right) told the audience earlier this month, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Simon Renshaw told the trade paper Radio and Records that Maines has already issued two strongly worded statements for making the comments, and right...

March 25, 2003 Channels of InfluenceBy PAUL KRUGMAN y and large, recent pro-war rallies haven't drawn nearly as many people as antiwar rallies, but they have certainly been vehement. One of the most striking took place after Natalie Maines, lead singer for the Dixie Chicks, criticized President Bush: a crowd gathered in Louisiana to watch a 33,000-pound tractor smash a collection of Dixie Chicks CD's, tapes and other paraphernalia. To those familiar with 20th-century European history it seemed eerily reminiscent of. . . . But as Sinclair Lewis said, it can't happen here. Who has been organizing those pro-war...

NASHVILLE SKYLINE: Shut Up and Sing? Chet Flippo 03/20/2003 (NASHVILLE SKYLINE is a column by CMT/CMT.com Editorial Director Chet Flippo.) So, what to make of the Natalie Maines mess? Because that's just exactly what it is, a big mess. Maines seems afflicted with chronic foot-in-mouth disease. In her latest lecture, on March 10 at a Dixie Chicks concert in London, Maines felt compelled to tell the audience, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." She could not have made a stupider mistake. First of all, if she really has strong convictions about...

The Backlash Grows Against Celebrity Activists By WARREN ST. JOHN OR a few days after the Dixie Chicks' lead singer, Natalie Maines, told a London audience, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas," there was not a ripple about the remark. The American ambassador to Britain, William S. Farish, was at the show on March 10, and made it a point to greet the Texas trio at a reception afterward. Though six critics reviewed the concert, only one mentioned the comment in print. Four days later, all that had changed. Reports of...

In case you still don't believe that the Dixie Chicks are in big, BIG trouble...I just got the following email:Dear eBay Community Member,The bid that you entered for the item http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2164923684 has been cancelled.You can view the reason provided for the cancellation by selecting the (bid history) link from the individual item page.Regards,eBaySo I go to the page and click on "bid history." Here's what it says: eBayBid History for DIXIE CHICKS TICKETS DENVER LOWER 130 3RD ROW (Item # 2164923684) Currently $0.01 First bid $0.01 Quantity 1 # of bids 0 Time left Auction has ended. Started Mar-13-03 18:45:00...

<<Back Local Company Creates Dixie Chicks T-Shirt Dixie Chicks' lead singer and Lubbock native Natalie Maines' recent anti-war comments have angered many fans. If you're offended, you can make your feelings known. A T-shirt was created by Lubbock's Advanced Graphix Custom Screening and Printing."President Steve Massengale says current world events call for support "for our troops and our president from all Americans, especially Texans."The shirt warns Maines not to "Mess With Texas" or "George W."The message is noted as a reminder from "Texans Ggainst The Dixie Dorks."   All content © Copyright 2000 - 2003, WorldNow and KAMC. All Rights Reserved.For more information...

The Dixie Chicks controversy has made it all the way to the South Carolina House. Representative Catherine Ceips introduced a resolution Wednesday (March 19) calling for the country music group to perform for South Carolina troops and their families as a way of apologizing for criticizing President George W. Bush. Ceips said she received many angry phone calls from people in her district, which includes the U.S. Naval Hospital, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, and the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort.Ceips told the house, "A free concert for troops would be a good way for Maines...