The Chicks were on Oprah this week and had to repeatedly stop what they were saying to let the thunderous applause they were receiving die down. I was most astonished when one of them said that she was told by a man that free speech is all right, but it ought to be done in private.

I’m no CW fan, but I’m proud to say my son was listening to the Chicks long before this flap.

I just visited Linkmeister’s blog and suggested he read this morning’s Boston Globe, front page article titled, “Roundly condemned, mudslinging ads...” for another look at the nonsense that is taking place all across the country.  I suggested that if all goes the way we hope, that in two weeks the Dems new anthem ought to be the Chick’s song, “Not ready to make nice.” I have always liked their music and even more so now.  They have pretty much left CW and are more mainstream now.........good thing I guess since many of the CW artists are on the other side…

(BTW, Kate, this morning’s Eagle Tribune--front page, Kerry Healey blames her approval rating on THE OTHER SIDE’S NEGATIVE ADS--I am beside myself!!) and my word is RUE--perfect!!

And I did visit the Globe site and did read the article, cyn.  I also recommend reading the article at FactCheck, referred to in the Globe story.

Cyn, I have a such visceral dislike for Kerry Healey. I don’t even need to hear her open her mouth at this point. Just the sight (or thought) of her makes me cringe. She is so nasty and she’s obviously not getting it that she’s turning people off in droves because she is just so unpleasant. I heard on NPR yesterday that she’s in a bit of an ethical pickle right now, too. Call me shocked. NOT. Patrick has been coming up in the polls and I hope nothing changes that in the next few days, despite Kerry Healey whining about how unfair it all is. A landslide would be very nice.

Pablo, I’m not at all surprised that the Dixie Chicks have been told to keep their free speech to themselves. That’s been standard operating procedure for the last few years, in this country, and it’s appalling. I never realized before that free speech is conditional. Or that so many people think it should be. What the heck? At this point I’m not even interested in being noble. I want retribution for all the times that people like me have been called un-American, unpatriotic traitors and appeasers. I want these Republican scumsuckers so thoroughly humiliated and humbled that they’ll NEVER try this crap again. Will it happen? Oh, I sure hope so.

Not Ready To Make Nice has a satisfying ring to it.

Thumbs up for the Dixie Chicks. I listened to them before all that slandering took place and I continue to listen to them despite - or because of - the beating they received.

The U.S. needs (even) more people to speak out against the appalling things going on. Hell, you guys used to be a country to look up to, and I’m sure most of the people still are, but the government you chose for yourselves (I know it was by a very narrow margin, if there was any at all) is just flushing more than 200 years of almost unbroken admiration and respect received from foreign nations down the toilet.

Disgusting.

How it hurts to hear that said, but it’s so true. By the barest of margins, the President announced his mandate two years ago and immediately half the country became dirt under his feet. And a fair part of the rest of the world, as well.

I’ve never been of the opinion that this country is pure, but at least we somehow managed to maintain a good image abroad. Mostly we tried to do well, with screw ups along the way. Now the administration thumbs its nose at everyone who doesn’t agree with it and systematically destroys institutions and trust and lives—not to mention our entire form of government.

It’s not too late to reclaim it, but it’s not going to be easy to undo what’s been done.

If we manage to retake half or (hopefully) all of Congress this election, that’s when the hard work will really begin. And it probably won’t be pretty.

A landslide here in Massachusetts would hammer the message home.  Sadly, I am not sure that anything less than that will have the same effect.  She has pulled her nastiest ads apparently and gone for a nicer, gentler (GAG) one, but rumors have it that she will bring out the rapist/woman/dark parking garage and some others out next week again.  She should be ashamed.  As a woman, I am embarassed that she has run this kind of campaign........she is exactly what gives women in politics a bad name.

Unfortunately, if it works, they’ll keep doing it. If it doesn’t maybe they’ll rethink their strategy. I wouldn’t entirely bet on it though.

Kerry Healey isn’t the only woman using rape as a campaign tactic.

I ran across this ad yesterday for Dolores Brewer who is running as a mayoral candidate in Alexandria, Louisiana. She is way behind in the polls and this is her newest ad. It.Is.A.Jaw.Dropper. She couldn’t get much lower than that. This is a campaign ad strategy that needs to be killed and buried right now.

Being from Texas and all, the Chicks were all the rage down here for years and years.  Then, those 12 little words Natalie Maines uttered onstage in London changed their world, followed by death threats, which is where these lyrics in “Not Ready to Make Nice” came from: 

I made my bed and I sleep like a baby
With no regrets and I don’t mind sayin’
It’s a sad sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they’d write me a letter
Sayin’ that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over

Sadly, the review in our local newspaper of the documentary “Shut Up and Sing” said basically the same thing:  Natalie Maines has a great voice but she should just shut up with the politics and stick to singing. 

Horrible, isn’t it?  That’s how polarized our country has become.

Forgot to mention:  my favorite song on their latest CD is the sort-of title track “Taking the Long Way Around.” It just doesn’t get much better than hearing Natalie sing lyrics like “I never seem to to it like anybody else...”

Well, consider this:

Danny Aiello, Fred Thompson, Ron Silver, Stephen Baldwin, Nolan Ryan, Curt Schilling, John Elway, Roger Staubach, Jack Nicklaus, Dorothy Hamill (!) and Mary Lou Retton (!), just to name a very few, publicly endorsed President Bush and some even spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention or made ads supporting the Prez, with a few calling the rest of us unpatriotic and unAmerican. I sure as heck didn’t hear anyone screaming at them to shut up and do their jobs.

I can only conclude that free speech is only free for Republicans at this point in time.

Never been a big Dixie Chicks fan, but this song elicits a visceral response from me.  The only fan letter I’ve ever wanted to send would say only, “Thank you for not apologizing.”