I haven’t bought the Dixie Chicks’ new album yet, but if it is anything like their previous recordings, I know it will be amazing. Word is they have embraced Natalie Maines’ anti-Bush philosophy to the dismay of country music disc jockeys everywhere.
Maines immortalized herself as an evil, terrorist-loving anti-American in 2003 when she told a live audience she was ashamed the president was from her home state of Texas. The president? Ashamed? Who is this chick (literally) to be saying words like that? Who’s to say she’s not in bed with Osama Bin Laden!?
Cumulus Media and Cox Communications, a couple of media conglomerates, reacted similarly. The Dixie Chicks were banned from all radio stations owned by the two companies. Obviously the Dixie Chicks hate freedom, so to prove to them how great our country really is, they took away DJs’ freedom to play their music.
In a congressional hearing later that year, John McCain used the chain of events as a “what could go wrong” scenario when a single company controls hundreds of radio stations across the country. However, he was quick to point out that he didn’t agree with Maines about the president.
Although I bet he’s glad George Bush isn’t from Arizona.
Now the Chicks are at it again, only times have changed. It is not uncommon to hear people express that they are ashamed that the president is from America – representing us no less. His approval ratings are down, and this season’s “24” just ended with the arrest of a corrupt president, unlike the 2003 season, where the enemies were Middle Eastern terrorists. I’m not sure that what happened on “24” will happen for real, but this is the show that taught us the importance of torture as an investigative tool. Perhaps this season made us comfortable with the idea that sometimes we really do need to stand up against the president.
The pop culture/politics dichotomy that has developed since Sept. 11 is pretty fascinating. While we all heard the Toby Keith’s post-Sept. 11 tribute to good old American ass-kicking
“Courtesy of The Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” blaring on the radio, the Internet was abuzz with Sage Francis’ “Makeshift Patriot.” The angry song was critical of the media frenzy and neo-patriotism that, even in light of the enormous tragedy, seemed a little forced. Lyrics such as “We sell an addictive 24-hour candlelight vigils in TVs/Freedom will be defended … at the cost of civil liberties/The viewers are glued to television screens/Stuck … ’cause lots of things seem too sick/I use opportunities to pluck heart strings for theme music.”
Even in the days when you couldn’t go outside without seeing television-ordered American flags on plastic staffs poking out of car windows, there was dissent. Now, nearly five years later, the fear of speaking your mind against the establishment is gone. Thankfully.
When we look back on Sept. 11 now, we don’t just remember the horror of that day, but we demand answers. Even after the Sept. 11 report, many questions remain unanswered. And it was just last week that the Pentagon released footage of the attack on its building, even though it confiscated every surveillance camera in the area.
Bin Laden is still free, and from what it seems the administration looked at the destruction of Sept. 11 and decided it couldn’t trust its own citizens anymore. There were warrantless wiretaps and deals with phone companies to turn over our phone records. (Which, on a side note, I believe they did in exchange for the abolition of Internet neutrality, but that is another story all together).
It seems like the president decided not to trust us at all, right at the moment so many people put all of their faith in him.
Things are different now though, and Americans are quite literally singing a different tune. Steve Earle, Neil Young, Madonna, System of a Down, Pearl Jam, the list goes on; all these artists have come out with protest music. And the albums are selling.
We may not be to the point where Comedy Central brings back “That’s My Bush!” but I think the general attitude of the public may be changing. Americans are a funny people, and I am proud to be one. So as much as I hate how American pop-culture obsession bumps real news every time Britney Spears trips, I appreciate that our obsession with culture makes the culture-makers just as obsessed with us. Television, music, and public opinion are all in it together, for better or for worse.
Finally, we’ve all caught up with the Dixie Chicks.