# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/21 "2009-09-05T21:50:02Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > 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. I agree. The backlash had a lot to do with the fact that they were mainstream country artists. As I recall, other artists like Pearl Jam and John Mellancamp were much more vocal in their opposition to the war. But no one was burning them in effigy, demanding that their music not be played on the radio or trash their CDs. I’m sure those artists have fans who also happen to be conservative, but they’re not part of a genre that openly panders to conservative “values” like Nashville country. ---
**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, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/22 "2009-09-05T21:58:04Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > 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. Of course, time being a precious commodity, you would spent no more time online talking about it than you would reading it, right? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/23 "2009-09-05T22:01:37Z")
> [@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. I hope you mean JUST during their performances, right? Because I thought Maines said it in an interview. Or was I wrong? (As far as buying CDs and burning them in effigy, I hope they realize the irony in that) ---
**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, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/24 "2009-09-05T22:16:54Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I hope you mean JUST during their performances, right? Yes. > [@](#): > > Because I thought Maines said it in an interview. Or was I wrong? It was [during the concert.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Maines) > [@](#): > > …while in concert in London for the 2003 Top of the World Tour, Maines commented that the Dixie Chicks were “…ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/25 "2009-09-05T22:31:01Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nLBgmbXBOb8/hqdefault.jpg "Dixie Chicks - Travelin' Soldier") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLBgmbXBOb8) For the sake of reference, might as well listen to them sing about war. I think it makes their position pretty clear. It’s right up there with Seven Spanish Angels as one of the most heartbreaking songs I know. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/26 "2009-09-05T22:33:50Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > 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. I agree with you completely. I used to be a big fan of the Dixie Chicks, I did not like bush, I did not like the war, and I am as country as they come, but they picked the wrong time and place. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/27 "2009-09-05T22:53:36Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > The backlash had a lot to do with the fact that they were mainstream country artists. As I recall, other artists like Pearl Jam and John Mellancamp were much more vocal in their opposition to the war. But no one was burning them in effigy, demanding that their music not be played on the radio or trash their CDs. I’m sure those artists have fans who also happen to be conservative, but they’re not part of a genre that openly panders to conservative “values” like Nashville country. First, I dont consider bush a conservative. I never considered bush a conservative. Lots of “real” conservatives like me did not like bush, and did not like his war. Secondly, “mainstream country” has nothing to do with it, even if Alan Jackson himself was against the war, and even if Alan went on record being vocal against the war and being against invading Iraq - it wouldnt cause a fuss…because… Third, Alan Jackson has enough class, and enough country politeness, that even “if” he was agaisnt the war, he would know not to do it where, when, and how the Dixie Chicks did it. The Dixie Chicks just did it the wrong way. It wasnt about if they were for war or against war, it was how they acted. (…the only reason I am picking Alan Jackson’s name is just for an example, and because he is known as mainstream country as they get today, and has nothing to do with how he feels one way or another about the war) ---
**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, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/28 "2009-09-05T22:54:38Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > …They know their mom voted for Obama and their dad for McCain - they seem cool with this. Women often marry beneath themselves. Mostly, I’m given to understand. ---
**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 6, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/29 "2009-09-06T00:12:21Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Women often marry beneath themselves. Mostly, I’m given to understand. As true as this is, politics has nothing to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/30 "2009-09-06T00:12:39Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > 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? No, you misunderstand what Natalie was saying. I always took it as this: A band from Texas were embarrassed that a nitwit like George W Bush was from their state. They were ashamed of him, because he was one of their own & was acting foolishly. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/31 "2009-09-06T00:20:55Z")
As far as saying it to outsiders goes: It was in Britain. Our ally in the coalition going into Iraq. They weren’t outside the question. Our governments were entangled. And the Commonwealth are family, just a little more distant. That’s just the way it is. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/32 "2009-09-06T00:30:28Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > 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!! Don’t worry. We’ll still be turning out COMMIE-PINKO-GAY (you forgot that one) students even when Obama the AntiChrist isn’t speaking. It’s in the curriculum. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/33 "2009-09-06T01:10:28Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yes. > > It was [during the concert.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Maines) Ah…nevermind then. :o Yeah, in that case – shut the fuck up and play, dammmit! Or next time, organize a protest concert. Because, like someone said, it’s not like a band like Pearl Jam, or say, Neil Young – you’d EXPECT protesting there. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/34 "2009-09-06T01:17:19Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Bush the Lesses _was_ pretty obnoxiously stupid “Lesses”? According to Teeming Millionth Avise N., writing to Cecil in [1982](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/250/is-it-true-every-type-of-animal-dropping-has-its-own-name), “lesses” is a specialist’s term for boar dung. A typo, but one that works. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/35 "2009-09-06T01:18:04Z")
> [@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 forgive you for not knowing much about the situation, but that’s no excuse for lecturing about it. Your right to free speech ends at making specific and immediate threats on my life. And CD burning parties, boycotts, picket lines outside of shows, bullying of fans-- collectively derailing the careers of one of the biggest bands in the world at the time-- while obviously not against the law, is astronomically more dickish than “we’re embarrassed that [this complete moron who everyone should be embarrassed of] is from Texas,” no matter whose “soil” the words were spoken on. Still “puzzled”? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/36 "2009-09-06T01:21:30Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I forgive you for not knowing much about the situation, but that’s no excuse for lecturing about it. > > Your right to free speech ends at making specific and immediate threats on my life. > > And CD burning parties, boycotts, picket lines outside of shows, bullying of fans-- collectively derailing the careers of one of the biggest bands in the world at the time-- while obviously not against the law, is astronomically more dickish than “we’re embarrassed that [this complete moron who everyone should be embarrassed of] is from Texas,” no matter whose “soil” the words were spoken on. > > Still “puzzled”? There is nothing “threatening” about “CD burning parties, boycotts, or picket lines.” I’ts not being “astronomically dickish.” ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/37 "2009-09-06T01:22:35Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > There is nothing “threatening” about “CD burning parties, boycotts, or picket lines.” You’re right. I was referring to the death threats. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > I’ts not being “astronomically dickish.” Yes it is. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/38 "2009-09-06T01:55:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Of course, you would actually watch the speech first(I didn’t want people assuming that you had already judged it). He is not going to like it. He has plans. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/39 "2009-09-06T02:09:54Z")
Really, y’all should see the movie about it. Some of the people around the chicks (& Natalie of course) come off as wanting some controversy & publicity. But the reactions of the anti-Dixie Chicks crowd (which was literally stirred up by talk radio; how do you expect so many in the USA even heard about something she said in Britain?) got ridiculous. It was a precursor to the stuff they’re doing to the Democrats with talk radio now. Same kind of tactics, with the possible exception that talk radio guys might shy away from calling for the assassination of sitting Congressmen with the power to shut them down. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963/40 "2009-09-06T02:29:05Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Some of the people around the chicks (& Natalie of course) come off as wanting some controversy & publicity. Only after the situation blew up, and only really because Natalie did not want to back down from her words. It was not initially meant as a rabble-rousing comment. They were surprised to find out that news of it got back to the US and people made a fuss over it. The Dixie Chicks flicked a paper football and fire was returned with an [A-10 Warthog](http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/henchman/314/planes/fire02.jpg). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dixie-chicks-revisited/508963.md?page=3)