"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Teddy Roosevelt
May 23, the Dixie Chicks will release, TAKING THE LONG WAY, their first album since the famous 2003 flap that left them naked and boycotted, that threatened their lives, and that lifted them beyond such titles as "girl band" or "country band" to a new level of stardom.
Click [here] and turn up your speakers to hear the fightin' first track: "Not Ready to Make Nice".
In a London appearance, singer Natalie Mainee famously claimed that "people were misled" by embattled President George W. Bush in the rush to war. That statement and her claim to be "ashamed" that Mr. Bush is from her homestate of Texas, resulted in boycotts and death threats. Retailers threw Dixie Chicks CDs out into the streets.
At the time, Bruce Springsteen came to the defense of the Dixie Chicks, but even his blue collar charm couldn't undo the brownshirting of American country music. Rush Limbaugh labeled them "Saddam's Angels".
"The Dixie Chicks have taken a big hit lately for exercising their basic right to express themselves," wrote Springsteen -- who has been touring overseas. "For them to be banished wholesale from radio stations, and even entire radio networks, for speaking out is un-American. The pressure coming from the government and big business to enforce conformity of thought concerning the war and politics goes against everything that this country is about -- namely freedom."
Click the image above and give a listen to the title track of the Dixie Chick's new album. They're still "Mad as Hell".
Forgive, sounds good
Forget, I?m not sure I could
They say time heals everything
But I?m still waiting[...snip...]
I?m not ready to make nice
I?m not ready to back down
I?m still mad as hell and
I don?t have time to go round and round and round
It?s too late to make it right
I probably wouldn?t if I could
?Cause I?m mad as hell
Can?t bring myself to do what it is you think I should
In November of 2003, Mr. Bush's approval ratings had fallen from a high of 85% to a mere 51%. He has never recovered. Today, Mr. Bush languishes under 40% approval, with all of his post-2004 election political capital apparently spent. Between 2003 and 2005 public support for the decision to go to war in Iraq dropped from over 70% to under 50% and continues to decline.
Does this have anything to say about the "Babe Theory" of politics?
UPDATE: Grand Mof Texan minces no words on this topic. This is choice:
No one's ready to make nice. We're ready to make an example. We'll never let anyone forget the phony patriots with their phony "country" music pumping them all up full of phony bravado that would never see combat. They swarmed, cowards except in droves or when anonymous, pushing out of their mouths what DC sociopaths crammed there, thirsty for the blood of strangers and thumping chests that would never lie beneath a uniform.They were scared. They were mad and needed to go home and kick the dog and they thought they could kick us and man how they howled treason when we wouldn't put the bag over our own heads at let them turn America into something less.
They did what they did out of frustrated fear and tore down everyone around them to make themselves feel big again, volunteer thugs for the Enemy Within, the enemy within the White House.