Natalie Maines Attacks Patriotism in London Newspaper
Wednesday, June 21, 2006"I don't see why people care about patriotism."
Dixie Chicks star Natalie Maines can't keep her mouth shut in London, it seems, after making another controversial statement in a UK newspaper.
The singer became a target for patriots in 2003 after she criticized President George W. Bush during a London concert.
Maines' life was threatened and Dixie Chicks tracks were banned from country music radio stations after the outspoken singer declared she was "ashamed" to come from the same state as Bush (Texas).
And now Maines is questioning patriotism in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
She says, "The entire country (US) may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism. Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why?
"You can like where you live and like your life, but, as for loving the whole country... I don't see why people care about patriotism."
The comment appeared in the newspaper last Thursday, just before the trio took to the Shepherd's Bush Empire stage - the same London venue where Maines made her infamous remarks about President Bush.
Yahoo had a similar story:
http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news/33442272
Not surprisingly, this article talks about their lagging ticket sales:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/09/ap/entertainment/mainD8I4U7S00.shtml
(Gee, I wonder why no one wants to go to their concerts?)
I understand that George Bush is not the best president. And we all have the right to our freedom of speech. But this isn't just biting the hand that feeds you, this is chomping the whole damn body. She should learn her lesson and stick to music.
5 comments:
You would think she would learn. Like my mom always told me, "If you don't have anything nice, to say, don't say anything at all."
It's a shame, too, because I used to really like their music.
She doesn't seem to understand that most country music fans are VERY patriotic people.
Aw, Sunshine, did somebody else's mom say, "If you don't have someone nice to kill, go start a war?" :)
Sorry, Hoosier :) . Seriously, I don't know what I think about the new quote yet, but I was backing the Chicks up all the way in the past. The fact that they had an opinion and they got blasted as bad as they did was wrong (my opinion). They may not have expressed a popular opinion at that time, but they became a scapegoat and conservative media ran with it.
Is there a difference between patriotic and pro-war? It seems that making a distiction between the two leads to being called all sorts of names.
Okay, a thousand apologies. I don't even talk politics with my parents and sisters, so I shouldn't be doing it here either. I appreciate your posts and I'll behave better now. :)
As I consider G.W. Bush and the rising tide allied with him to be the worst thing to happen to the U.S. in my lifetime -- this administration is damaging this nation far more and in a more lasting way than multiple replays of 9/11 would -- you can guess which side of this I come down on. Applying the phrase "not the best president" to him has me thinking of describing Stalin as "not the best Premier the USSR had."
That patriotism is most often taken to be an unflagging (no inverted pun intended) emotional attachment and support of not just the nation, but whatever might be done by people in the name of the nation makes me somewhat sympathetic to the latest statements, too.
On the other hand, yes, given the area of music she's in and the average fan thereof, these statements make little business sense.
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