# The Dixie Chicks, revisited **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 5, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963 "2009-09-05T15:16:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/1 "2009-09-05T15:16:21Z")
On March 10, 2003, during a show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks said: > [@](#): > > Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas. This set off one of the bigger shitfits of recent memory among the right. They were boycotted by stations across the country, their CDs were destroyed in effigy, and I couldn’t check my e-mail without getting [bilge like this](http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-dixiesaddamduo.htm) from somebody. The idea was that Maines shouldn’t have been disrespectful to the office, even if she didn’t like the occupant. Many justified the reaction by saying that Maines shouldn’t have criticized the President “on foreign soil”, but I always thought this was a rationalization and that they would have thrown an equal fit if she had said it in, say, Boston. Looking back now, when these same “patriots” are pulling their kids out of school because the leader of their country is giving a 20-minute speech, it’s hard to believe this even raised an eyebrow. Bush faced some pretty harsh criticism from the left throughout his presidency, but it’s hard to believe just how little of that made it into the mainstream before 2005, when Cindy Sheehan’s rallies and the clusterfucked response to Katrina revealed the emperor to be butt-ass naked after all and brought that criticism to the surface. That’s why Maines’s statement was such a big deal–no one was saying that sort of thing in 2003, at least no one in the mainstream. Later that year the anti-war left would embrace Howard Dean, who wasn’t particularly liberal on a lot of issues, because he was the only one to really speak out against Bush and the war. I’m not sure what my question for debate is. How does the reaction to Maines’s statement look from 2009? Is there any way to reconcile that reaction with the complete lack of “respect for the office” now that Obama is sitting in it? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/2 "2009-09-05T15:22:01Z")
IOKIARDI Regards, Poly ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/3 "2009-09-05T15:25:57Z")
9/11 drove us nuts. Suddenly, a feckless doofus became The Leader. Worse, he believed it. Remember the State of the Union Address the next time? How every time he delivered a punch line, everybody in the audience had to stand up and cheer. Stand up, cheer, sit down, punch line, stand up, cheer, sit down, punch line… Did you look closely at his face? He looked like one of those lab rats with a wire connected to his orgasm center, with the batteries on full overload. 9/11 drove us nuts. We’re slowly, slowly getting over it. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/4 "2009-09-05T15:43:07Z")
I have never been what you would call a big fan of Bush, particularly not in that time period, and I have to say: I don’t think Maines’ comment (the second part of it, that is) was worthy of anything but disgust. Think of it this way: A member of a band named the Dixie Chicks criticized the president for being from Texas. The Dixie Chicks. Is it even possible to be more obnoxiously stupid than that? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/5 "2009-09-05T15:46:13Z")
Well, Bush the Lesses _was_ pretty obnoxiously stupid, so I’d have to say “yes.” Nice username you have there, btw. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/6 "2009-09-05T15:52:14Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > …Is it even possible to be more obnoxiously stupid than that? Sure it is! You could think that Texas is a part of “Dixie”. Dixie is like Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama…crackers. Texas is, well, Texas. Peckerwoods. Not the same at all. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/7 "2009-09-05T16:53:22Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > 9/11 drove us nuts. That’s about it, and it explains just about every weird thing we’ve done since then. I agree that we are, VERY slowly, getting over it. But unfortunately, some of the stupidity is so entrenched that we’ll probably never be able to get rid of it. I’m looking at you, TSA! ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/8 "2009-09-05T17:56:03Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > Think of it this way: > > A member of a band named the Dixie Chicks criticized the president for being from Texas. > > The Dixie Chicks. > > Is it even possible to be more obnoxiously stupid than that? Uh, they weren’t saying they were embarassed that Bush is from Texas because Texas sucks - they’re ashamed he’s from Texas because THEY are from Texas and are embarassed to be associated with him. The Dixie Chicks formed in Dallas, Texas. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/9 "2009-09-05T18:02:09Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Uh, they weren’t saying they were embarassed that Bush is from Texas because Texas sucks - they’re ashamed he’s from Texas because THEY are from Texas and are embarassed to be associated with him. > > The Dixie Chicks formed in Dallas, Texas. Ummm… ah. I see. _nudges at dirt with toes_ Nevermind, then. I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/10 "2009-09-05T18:30:27Z")
A key contributor to the outrage was that the Dixie Chicks are country music, and country music is a particular mainstay of conservative, dumb, jingoistic, reactionary, uneducated, religious, misinformed dumdums. They took it as a betrayal, like if Amy Grant sang _Imagine_. If it had been Eminem or someone else, the reaction would probably have been much more benign. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/11 "2009-09-05T19:52:39Z")
I don’t agree with your dismissal of the fact that they were in England. It’s one thing to have a fight with a family member. It’s another to bad mouth that family member to those outside the family. If it happened in Boston, I wouldn’t have thought a thing about it. I felt the same way when Green Day said something about redneck Americans in their Bullet in a Bible DVD. Had it been in, say, Chicago, it wouldv’e been fine. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/12 "2009-09-05T20:13:04Z")
Dallas, huh? Amazing, such hip intelligent _chiquitas_ would stay in Dallas, when Waco is just a hundred miles south. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/13 "2009-09-05T20:15:20Z")
I know this is out there, and I cant defend this with anything other than my gut feeling, but I always wondered if it would have been one of the other members of the Dixie Chicks, (who are both much, much more physically fit and attractive than Maines, who is a bit pudgy and a bit pig-nosed) who made the statement if the outrage would have been as strong… For some reason, I thought at the time that Maines got more flak because of her physical appearance that the others might have if they had made the comments. (I wish I could link a picture of the band, but its always seemed to me that Natalie Maines was much less—subjective I realise—attractive than her bandmates, and I even vaugely remember a one liner from “The Simpsons” that referenced a similar sentiment, though the Simpsons bit was well after I had the same thought) Not trying to de-rail this thread, but did anyone else think the same thing??? I am fully ready to accept that this is all just my own warped thinking, but I am just curious if I was alone in my musings. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/14 "2009-09-05T20:42:43Z")
First of all, how can you destroy a CD in effigy? Burn an empty jewel case? Second, it puzzles me that people will defend to the death the right of the Dixie Chicks to say what they wish but look askance when their fans do the same thing. Free speech does not mean the freedom to be immune from consequences. Similarly the people refusing to let their kids hear President Obamas address have that right - we don’t live in a country where we have to listen when anyone gives a speech and by and large parents can make these choices for their children. OTOH, if it causes a political backlash, so be it. My kids haven’t started school yet, and I haven’t checked to see which grades are going to be watching President Obama. I wouldn’t stop them from watching, but if they asked me what I thought about the speech I would tell them - including the fact that I oppose much of Barack Obama’s agenda. They know their mom voted for Obama and their dad for McCain - they seem cool with this. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/15 "2009-09-05T21:09:52Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Second, it puzzles me that people will defend to the death the right of the Dixie Chicks to say what they wish but look askance when their fans do the same thing. Free speech does not mean the freedom to be immune from consequences. I don’t know why people always conflate “vehemently disagree with and think they’re total morons” with “let’s take away their right to free speech!” Truth be told, the Dixie Chicks fans were the ones spitting on the right of freedom of speech by burning piles of CDs and calling for boycotts. The rest of us just thought they were stupid fools, but we weren’t calling for them to be silenced. The OP is absolutely on the money. If Obama were being dissed by an artist on foreign soil, the same people who burned Dixie Chicks CDs would be _buying_ the guy’s CDs and sporting “I heart \_\_\_” bumper stickers. I’m not saying Democrats wouldn’t have done the same thing if the roles were reversed, but come on. Can a conservative such as yourself, **Mr. Moto** , seriously imagine a massive boycott of Anti-Obama Person on the scale experienced by the Dixie Chicks, by the same people? Really? The conservatives talk a good game about patriotism and love of country and respecting authority, but only when it is “their” guy in office. Then it’s OMG!! LET’S PULL JUNIOR OUT OF SCHOOL SO HE WON’T TURN INTO A COMMIE-PINKO!! All self-respecting conservatives should be embarrassed right now. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/16 "2009-09-05T21:11:41Z")
I just have a negative reaction whenever any entertainer pushes his/her political agenda during a performance. I hate it, even when I agree with the person. What they seem to be doing more than anything else is basking in the glow of their own righteousness. As for the nutters who are pulling their kids out of school-- well, most seem to be ignorant. And the right wing pundits adding fuel to the fire are despicable. Many of them know damn well that this is nothing more than partisan hack politics. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/17 "2009-09-05T21:18:19Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > My kids haven’t started school yet, and I haven’t checked to see which grades are going to be watching President Obama. I wouldn’t stop them from watching, but if they asked me what I thought about the speech I would tell them. Of course, you would actually watch the speech first(I didn’t want people assuming that you had already judged it). ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/18 "2009-09-05T21:35:59Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I know this is out there, and I cant defend this with anything other than my gut feeling, but I always wondered if it would have been one of the other members of the Dixie Chicks, (who are both much, much more physically fit and attractive than Maines, who is a bit pudgy and a bit pig-nosed) who made the statement if the outrage would have been as strong… > > For some reason, I thought at the time that Maines got more flak because of her physical appearance that the others might have if they had made the comments. > > Not trying to de-rail this thread, but did anyone else think the same thing??? > . I’m not a knowledgeable fan, but when I saw them do a concert show on PBS six months ago, my reaction was opposite. Maines, to me, seemed like an unconventional knockout, and the other two were boringly ordinary attractive blondes. Almost invisible by comparison. My thoughts were along the line of: _Oh! Now I understand why she was drafted into the group, she’s got a great voice, has charisma, and is gorgeous. That’s why my eye was always drawn to her in every photo I’ve seen of the Dixie Chicks… it wasn’t just the novelty of her looks._ > [@John\_Mace](#): > > I just have a negative reaction whenever any entertainer pushes his/her political agenda during a performance. I hate it, even when I agree with the person. What they seem to be doing more than anything else is basking in the glow of their own righteousness. Well, I believe that America’s Iraq incursion has been discussed on these boards before, so I don’t want to encourage that near-inevitable sidetrack, but… The Iraq invasion was unique in it’s shamefulness among U.S. actions of the last 35 years. I can’t remember a case of an administration spreading disinformation with such amoral abandon. In other words, it was a special case. Normally I feel as you do about political statements from on-stage entertainers. Fuck 'em and their shallow sound bites. But in this instance they were responding to bald-face deception and the impending deaths of thousands of people. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/19 "2009-09-05T21:43:47Z")
Reading these threads, the US feels like an hysterical place now, never mind 6 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/20 "2009-09-05T21:45:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Of course, you would actually watch the speech first(I didn’t want people assuming that you had already judged it). No - I’d probably read the transcript. I don’t have time to sit through that. And I can judge plenty well enough from that, most times. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963.md?page=2)