Well. Apparantly the Dixie Chicks, having done their time in country music's form of penitence, have come out with a new disk, "Taking the Long Way." The lead single, "Not Ready To Make Nice," shouldn't really surprise anybody, that their comments made on a concert stage in England regarding President Bush reflect their current beliefs when it comes down to the war in Iraq (and the larger fight against terrorism).
On the morning newscast here, there was a news story about the albums upcoming release, and how the Dixie Chicks are on the way back from all the scorn they received back in 2003. In the report, they drew comparisons between the DC's, Pearl Jam, and Neil Young, who all have anti-war and anti-Bush songs on their current CDs, and how they were exercising their right of free speech.
And I have no problem with that. Really, I don't.
That might surprise some of you who have heard me constantly call the DC's the "Ditzy Twits", and have not really missed them when I've got the radio set to K103. And if you know what my radio is usually tuned to during the day, well, this might cause further suspicion. But just work with me here for a few moments...
First of all, we all have the right to speak freely, and to support, defend, question any act done by our government without repercussions or penalty FROM THE GOVERNMENT. THE GOVERNMENT is not allowed to reign in what I can or can't say (within limits of course, the old yelling "fire" in a crowded theater being one example, for instance...) Bush, Cheney, Rice, Pelosi, Reid, Durban...no one in a GOVERNMENT office or position can govern what I decide to say, politically speaking.
But folks, this isn't what we're talking about. I (and apparantly a few others) took offense at the fact that Natalie Maines stood in front of a concert crowd OVERSEAS, and stated that they were ashamed that they came from the same state as the President. Not here in the U.S., in front of an AMERICAN crowd (which, I believe, would fall more into the "red state" category than any other color...). Not stating opposition against a policy, but against a person.
Natalie, you just don't get it. The GOVERNMENT didn't do a thing. The FANS YOU ALIENATED AND OFFENDED WITH YOUR COMMENTS (myself included), did. We stopped listening. We stopped buying. And for the past 3 years, you've been marginalized. Ostracized. Booed at award shows (I'm sorry, which award show was it that you appeared VIA SATTELITE on?) ROCK and ALTERNATIVE ROCK acts and groups (like the aforementioned Neil Young and Pearl Jam) have vastly different audiences than COUNTRY.
The Dixie Chicks and politicians have demonstrated that they have one thing in common: When you make your base angry at you (political or fan), don't expect their support. President Bush is learning that now with his low poll numbers and his current policy movements with the Dubai ports deal and now with immigration. Has the DC's learned their lesson? Words mean things. All actions have consequences. Not hard to learn. Possibly difficult to remember.
I wish the Ditzy Twits all the best of luck with their new fan base...
No comments:
Post a Comment