Hayseed Hysteria

So let me get this straight, OK?

Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks meets with almost universal scorn from fans of country music after she says she’s ashamed of Bush in London in 2003 because of the Iraq war, to the point where her life is threatened just for speaking her mind (not something I would have done overseas during wartime to be honest, but she didn’t do anything wrong…I seem to recall Clinton getting trashed by wingers everywhere at any time for either actual or imagined mistakes), then writes a song about what her statement against Bush brought upon her and her family (a real kickass tune that you can access from the upper-right corner of this site, by the way)…but somebody named Ed Hill, a program director for a country station in Salt Lake City, Utah says the lyrics are “self-indulgent and selfish”?

Isn’t a death threat “self-indulgent and selfish” at the very least? And how is it that Maines and the Chicks are still pariahs to country music when icons (to them) such as Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have hammered Dubya on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and (I’m sure) will not suffer reduced recording sales as a result?

And KNCI director Mark Evans decides not to play the song because of what Maines said about country music back in January (which might as well be four years ago as opposed to four months)? Gee, you don’t have an axe to grind, do you? How many artists have said or done self-indulgent things in advance of release of their creation, only to be vindicated by sales of their product?

It sounds to me like these great radio geniuses are just looking for an excuse to take “Not Ready To Make Nice” out of rotation (another PD used the excuse of “reopening an old wound” for not playing the song…I guess the Chicks should have issued something else like another cover of “Landslide” to make this person happy).

Well, I don’t know the exact CD sales to date, but I DO know that “Taking The Long Way” was the fourth highest-selling CD on Amazon.com a month in advance of its release, which is due tomorrow. It sounds to me like some of these people who disagree with the politics of the first single are trying to kill the momentum generated prior to the initial release (so, in addition to being ignorant from the standpoint of free speech, it’s not good business also).

Gosh, I remember all those sappy tunes from Lee Greenwood, Reba McIntire and others about how much they love America (a wonderful sentiment, though I think it immediately turns into garbage when you use it as a excuse to shout down or silence someone else). I listened to them and tried to see through a political opinion I didn’t agree with. But I guess that doesn’t work the other way for some people.

And speaking of jingoistic entertainers, do you know that Toby Keith never even served in the military?

Update: Yep, it's such a shame that the Chicks are so unpopular, isn't it?