Free Republic

Dixie Chicks Get what they deserve then cry when America turns against them. Old News - Yes. Free Republic given predominate presence in controversy. http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=bsqhggqpy8

Dixie Chick Natalie Maines worked on her fitness by hiking in L.A. this weekend. The recently shorn 34-year-old mother of two is not ashamed to break a sweat in public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFfd9eMdzbI A fellow Marine and I wrote, and I recorded a song titled "Not Ready To End The Fight." This song was inspired by the fact that I, like many Americans, don't particularly appreciate the underlying message behind the Dixie Chicks' song "Not Ready To Make Nice." While I did like the underlying music from the song, the lyrics' just didn't sit well with me, many of my colleagues and other Americans. After being urged on by friends, family, and colleagues I decided to record "Not Ready To End The Fight" to make a point, criticize, comment and answer the...

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Another Dixie Chicks cause, another angry reaction. A man whose 8-year-old stepson was killed in 1993 has sued all three members of the country-pop group for defamation, singling out frontwoman Natalie Maines for her comments suggesting that he played a role in the boy's death. Maines, whose outspokenness has won her lifelong friends and mortal enemies alike, appeared last December at a rally in Little Rock, Ark., for the three men, tagged the "West Memphis Three" by their supporters, who were convicted as teenagers of killing the plaintiff's stepson, Steve Branch, and two other 8-year-old...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines is the target of a defamation lawsuit by the stepfather of one of three 8-year-old boys slain in 1993. Maines spoke out for three people convicted of the slayings and alleged the stepfather was instead involved in the killings. Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch, who was killed in 1993 with Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Nov. 25. The suit names all three members of the Dixie Chicks, but focuses on Maines. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Hobbs claims he suffered...

Dixie Chicks' lead singer Natalie Maines is being sued for defamation over statements she allegedly made about the stepfather of one of three 8-year-old boys murdered in Crittenden County, Ark. in 1993. Arkansasbusiness.com reports that a complaint was filed November 25 in Pulaski County Circuit Court by Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the murdered boys, Steve Branch. The complaint alleges Maines wrongfully made a "false and reckless claim that [Hobbs] committed the murders of the three boys ..." Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were found dead May 5, 1993 in a West Memphis, Ark. neighborhood. Damien...

Sorry if this is old news but this is the first time I've seen this movie. In "Shut Up And Sing" Natalie Maines names FR as the blog that started all thier probelems. WAY TO GO FR! Still watching on the Encore Drama channel.

For those who wondered how Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., could sponsor a “campaign finance reform” law that restricts political speech, the answer became clear during a hearing he chaired the other day: McCain has never read the First Amendment. How else to explain the senator’s contention that radio stations violate the First Amendment when they decline to play the music of performers who offend their listeners? According to McCain, this threat to freedom of speech is a ‘‘strong argument’’ for limiting “media concentration” — in this case, for compelling big radio chains to sell some of their stations. As you...

During a recent appearance on Boston talk-radio star Reese Hopkins’ program, Phil Donahue waxed indignant about the way the Dixie Chicks were treated during the weeks preceding Operation Iraqi Freedom. Donahue, the producer of the new antiwar documentary Body of War, claimed that the Dixie Chicks and other celebrities who condemned the impending war were silenced by conservatives and forced off the airwaves by the mainstream media. The former TV star insisted that American broadcasting executives were nervous about strongly expressed antiwar views on their programs, and placed a muzzle over the mouths of those opposed to “Bush’s war.” Hopkins...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chCEGvWLiOo

The architects of Chinese repression in Tibet are three senior bureaucrats little known to the outside world but destined to be the focus of condemnation from human rights groups in the months ahead. China preserves the facade of an autonomous regional government and has paraded its ethnic Tibetan figureheads over the past week. Chinese researchers say they are political nonentities. The real mastermind of Chinese policy towards the restive ethnic minorities is a 67-year-old lifetime communist functionary named Wang Lequan. Wang has proclaimed himself to be the top terrorist target in China. Nominally, he heads the party in Xinjiang, which,...

Check out this song and video blasting back at the Vichy Chicks! Not Ready To End The Fight

The Dixie Chicks are partners in name only - the multi-platinum- selling trio is all but broken up, according to a source close to the group.Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison made just a handful of appearances together in 2007 - and now they rarely even talk, the source reveals. "The girls have gone their separate ways," the source close to the Texas-raised country musicians told The ENQUIRER. "They were not getting along when they toured together during 2006, but they managed to stay civil. Now when they're not forced to be together, the girls don't even...

In music, as in politics, timing is everything. In early 2003, just six weeks after performing the national anthem here to kick off Super Bowl XXXVII, the Dixie Chicks became national pariahs after its lead singer, Natalie Maines, told a London concert audience the Texas trio was “ashamed” to be from the same state as President Bush. Result: derision, death threats, charges of sedition and worse. The group's music was virtually banished overnight from country radio and its album sales plunged. In 2006, the same year the Dixie Chicks released an album that won multiple Grammy Awards despite being almost...

Thank you for checking out my new page! I have co-written and recorded a song titled "Not Ready To End The Fight." This song is inspired by the fact that I, like many Americans, don't particularly appreciate: the underlying message of the Dixie Chicks' song "Not Ready To Make Nice";the Dixie Chicks' disrespectful remarks about Toby Keith listeners;the Dixie Chicks' disrespectful remarks about Reba McEntire listeners; Natalie Maines saying "You're a dumb f---" in response to the President saying "I don't really care what the Dixie Chicks said."; and all the other Hollywood stars that constantly run their mouths about...

The voice of Natalie Maines, lead singer for the Dixie Chicks, floated across the state Capitol grounds Wednesday as a line of “West Memphis Three” supporters snaked up the steps with a giant banner. Maines was due to arrive any minute. Meanwhile, those rallying for the release of three men convicted in the 1993 slayings of three 8-year-old boys listened to a recording of the Dixie Chicks’ 2006 hit, Not Ready to Make Nice Forgive, sounds good Forget, I’m not sure I could They say time heals everything But I’m still waiting... About 150 people — including national media and...

The Dixie Chicks have a new controversy on their hands. Lead singer Natalie Maines is urging people to contribute money to a defense fund for three Arkansas men that she (and many others) believe were wrongly convicted of killing three children in 1993. Maines writes her plea on the Dixie Chicks Web site, which has already been answered by several celebrities including, I am told, Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Eddie Vedder, Jack Black and Henry Rollins. "I'm writing this letter today because I believe that three men have spent the past 13 years in prison for crimes they didn't commit,"...

Bridge Ladies Slammed for Anti-Bush Sign Richard Kim "WE DID NOT VOTE FOR BUSH." Those words were handwritten on the back of a menu by the US women's bridge team and held aloft during the award ceremony at the world team championships in Shanghai last month. The team had just won the tournament, destroying Germany in the final, and were making what they thought was a small political statement. It wasn't a particularly radical message (who else didn't vote for Bush?), and it was made spontaneously, in a moment of international goodwill and humor. As today's NYT chronicles, the United...

Democrats angered at the image of country and western as Right-wing “redneck music” are planning a tour of Middle America during the 2008 election campaign by Nashville artists opposed to the Iraq war. An alliance called the Music Row Democrats is poised to re-launch itself early next year in an attempt to seize back country music from the Republican camp and spread their message that President George W. Bush’s party does not care about ordinary people. Slowly but surely, more country singers are performing songs critical of the Bush administration. Merle Haggard, who once sang the anti-hippie anthem “Okie from...

The new album from The Eagles, Long Road Out of Eden, is just one long, sustained attack on the integrity of the United States and is as bad as any loud-mouthed Dixie Chicks diatribe. With songs prosaically about Global Warming and the evil American “empire,” seemingly the only one of the band who just wanted to entertain the fans was Joe Walsh, the others too puffed up with their own sense of superiority to bother. Unfortunately, what we have here just another exclamation from pampered rock stars that they are smarter, more environmentally friendly and more caring than the rest...

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The Oct 18 and 20 concert dates with Dixie Chicks/Eagles at Nokia Theatre LA Live were sold out in a few minutes.

Dish Network offered the Dixie Chicks' movie "Shut up and sing" as a $3.99 pay-per-view. While I was reluctant to send the money to the subversive organization, I decided I would do it in the name understanding the enemy. It is clear from the movie that the DC know that screwed up and screwed up badly with their comment about George Bush while on tour in England. They know they screwed up but that are not taking any responsibility for their screw up. They are deeply into blaming FreeRepublic.com for their troubles. They say that FR is a well organized...

With the USO short on big-name acts and the military trying to entertain troops in remote bases, unknown bands are braving battle zones to build their fan base. The 21st-century answer to Bob Hope. -snip- Charlie Robison -- Americana, Iraq. Mr. Robison's wife is a member of the Dixie Chicks, a band that's been vocal in its opposition to the war. Now on tour, he says only one soldier has joked about it.

The Chronicle's story today on the ongoing furor over Ann Coulter and the 'F-word', reports that the backlash includes a campaign initiated today by a gay rights group and media watchdog to persuade mainstream media outlets to dump her for good. The organizations in question, GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign, are seeking to get rid of Coulter from the airwaves and from being syndicated to newspapers. Is all this a step too far?Ironically, GLAAD itself is the target of a campaign by the American Family Association to get the Ford Motor Co., a development noted by the gay web...

The Dixie Chicks have a movie, Shut Up & Sing, coming out today, and, to keep things lively, they're staging a grudge match with the worst site on the Internet, political-rhetoric division. "The fat chick will only drive traffic to this site," writes one poster to the site. "The Frenchy Chix can't get a gig in a gay bar in Ithaca," writes another. Others chime in with more corruptions: Chubby Chicks, Ditsy Twits, Vichy Chicks. "Yep typical liberals," says someone else. "No character." This is Free Republic, an exercise in political extremism that, despite being and something of an anthropological...

A 19 December article that appeared in The Guardian (UK) quoted the Dixie Chicks as saying to an audience in London in 2003 that "We're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." They were talking about the Iraq war and of John Lennon's campaigning against the Vietnam war. It was to set off a political storm in the United States that "echoed the treatment meted out to John Lennon 30 years ago." The article, titled "He didn't have to do it. That's one reason he's still admired," indicated that what happened to John Lennon was worse than...

It's telling when country luminary Merle Haggard has an entry on Rolling Stone magazine's list of top protest songs. Country musicians and their fans tend to hail from conservative states with high enlistment rates. Then again, the toll of the war on the sons and daughters of these states has been acute

The Dixie Chicks were featured today on Democarcy Now. They showed segments of the new Dixie Chicks documentary, "Shut up and sing." FreeRepublic is prominently mentioned in the documentary as the prime source of all the Dixie Chicks problems. They, themselves, of course had nothing to do with the problem. Natalie said that she did not mean anything political when she made her infamous remarks in London. She said she did it to get a laugh.

As I watched the Dixie Chicks win their five Grammy Awards on Sunday night – for an album staggeringly inferior to its rivals in the same categories – I couldn’t help but think back to the same night four years earlier, when I was being taught how to apply a tourniquet to a gunshot wound, as part of my pre-Iraq journalists’ training. Back then, I’d never even heard of the all-female country music trio from Texas. That changed a few weeks later – the morning after Natalie Maines, the group’s lead singer, told an audience in London that she was...

The Dixie Chicks’ big win at the Grammy Awards on Sunday exposed ideological tensions between the music industry’s Nashville establishment and the broader, more diverse membership of the Recording Academy, which chooses the Grammy winners, according to voters and music executives interviewed afterward. To some, the voting served not only as a referendum on President Bush’s handling of the Iraq war, but also on what was perceived as country music’s rejection — and radio’s censorship — of the trio. Jeff Ayeroff, a longtime music executive and an academy member, said the resounding endorsement of the group reflected the fact that...

I Hear Music, Partisan Music Watching the Grammys. By Raymond Arroyo The whole point of music is to transcend politics, grievances, and the differences that divide to help us reconnect to those essential human emotions we all share: love, loss, anger, regret. Unless, that is, you work for the music industry. Like its wicked stepsister, Hollywood, the music business has become increasingly divorced from its purpose, estranged from its audience, and maliciously partisan. Not that they seem to care. Case in point: the 49th Annual Grammy Awards held at the Los Angeles Staples Center on Sunday night. Watching the proceedings,...

"I think people are paranoid" was how former Grateful Dead member Mickey Hart's comments to Reuters began. Hart was speaking about this year's Grammy Awards and the Dixie Chicks. Then he provided a sterling example of that very paranoia...

Did the Dixie Chicks win more for the quality of their music or for their political stance? Their music Their politics

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Dixie Chicks, who stirred up a hornet's nest with a jibe at President Bush, won all five Grammys for which they were nominated on Sunday, including the coveted album of the year. The victory marked a stunning validation for the female country music trio from Texas, almost four years after their dream run as the darlings of Nashville came to an abrupt end. Singer Natalie Maines told fans during a 2003 concert she was ashamed to come from the same state as Bush, and the group was transformed overnight into pariahs. Radio stations stopped playing...

Grammy digs Chicks! Trio sweeps top awards, takes album of year for ‘Taking the Long Way’ Updated: 2:05 a.m. ET Feb. 12, 2007 LOS ANGELES - The Dixie Chicks completed a defiant comeback on Sunday night, winning five Grammy awards after being shunned by the country music establishment over the group’s anti-Bush comments leading up to the Iraq invasion.

CNN) -- The Grammy Awards were nice to the Dixie Chicks, who won song of the year, a songwriter's award, for "Not Ready to Make Nice." The Chicks -- Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Robison -- shared the award with Dan Wilson, formerly of Semisonic and Trip Shakespeare. "I, for the first time in my life, am speechless," said Maines, who became a controversial figure in 2003 after making critical comments about President Bush. "Not Ready to Make Nice" was a response to the controversy; after Maines' comments, the Chicks' songs were pulled from a number of country music...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Grammys could take a rare step into the political arena on Sunday if the Dixie Chicks win the coveted album-of-the-year award, as observers of the music industry's biggest honors are predicting. The Texas country trio is reveling in its new outsider status after picking a fight with President George W. Bush in 2003, and watching its popularity plummet as the Republican-leaning country music establishment snubbed the chart-topping group. The Chicks' first album since the brouhaha, "Taking the Long Way," yielded five Grammy nominations, including three for the wry single "Not Ready to Make Nice." The...

December 14, 2006 The End of The Dixie Chicks The Dixie Chicks have been together since 1989... But it seems Natalie Maines' political outspokenness has brought the end of the band! Emily Robison, Martie Maguire & Natalie Maines have announced that they are going to split up after the Grammy Awards in February 2007. The Chicks are tired & wrung out, they’ve come to the end & they want a break from each other to spend more time with their families. But the real reason behind the split is political. Robison & Maguire have supported many of Maines' political beliefs,...

DIXIE CHICKS HATCH PLAN TO SPLIT UP! The Dixie Chicks are getting ready to fly the coop! The controversial country superstars have secretly decided to split up after the Grammy Awards - because Emily Robison and Martie Maguire no longer want to share the nest with outspoken Natalie Maines, say sources. "The Chicks are tired and wrung out," said a group insider. "They feel they've come to the end, and they want a break from each other to spend more time with their families." The three women, who have seven children among them, are at odds over Natalie's blunt political...

Billboard magazine has chosen Bob Dylan's Modern Times as the best album of 2006. It was the second top billing for the 65-year-old singer, after Modern Times topped Rolling Stones magazine's picks of the year earlier this week. The album, Dylan's first in five years, topped Billboard sales charts earlier this year. Billboard picked its top 10 based on the opinions of its 48 staff and freelancers. Another veteran American rocker, Bruce Springsteen, came second with his We Shall Overcome — the Seeger Sessions. The Beatle's Love, a remix of original Apple recording sessions created for a Cirque du Soleil...

FREEP AWAY! http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Rewind2006/popup?id=2740840

After a rash of fawning, poor-widdle-victims media blitzing, and eight weeks in theaters, the Dixie Chicks documentary, Shut Up and Sing, has finally passed the $1 million mark in box office receipts. Woo. Hoo.

Dixie Chicks to Split Up After Grammy's? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jim Roberts Dec 13, 2006 The Dixie Chicks just scored the big trifecta with Grammy nominations. The one-time country band that turned their collective backs on the music genre, its stars and its fans cleaned up with the three majors, Best Album, Song and Record for “Taking the Long Way” and the single, “Not Ready to Make Nice.” The Chicks were one of eight acts with five nominations each, as it appears that the Grammy's are desperately trying to give the gals some love for their America bashing ways. Now a...

On May 1st, 2003, with much of the normally sedate country music community outraged by Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines' critical dig at the President, filmmaker Christopher Fleeger began an odyssey across the country, interviewing protesters at concerts and radio stations. What emerged is a fascinating look at a distinctly American discourse on discourse itself. The film focuses on the people who were inspired to add their voices and views to this storm of controversy and captures a crucial moment when many Americans sought to battle dissenting voices, believing it was the highest form of patriotism. With a vicious debate...

Three years after attacking President Bush, the Dixie Chicks and country music radio stations still aren't "ready to make nice." One of the most successful female country acts is ending the year on a high note: five Grammy nominations, including album, record and song of the year. Most refuse to play their songs, fearing alienated audiences, lower ratings and in turn, less advertising revenue. Earlier this year, a few stations turned down ads for Dixie Chicks concerts. Radio companies and industry experts insist the stations aren't picking on the Chicks. Instead, in an industry driven by research, they're making hard...

The Dixie Chicks may have been "Not Ready to Make Nice," but the Recording Academy was nice to the country-pop trio, giving them nominations in the top three categories for the 49th annual Grammy Awards. The Chicks were nominated for album of the year for their CD "Taking the Long Way," as well as record of the year and song of the year (a songwriter's award) for their single "Not Ready to Make Nice." The group suffered a boycott from some country music radio stations in the aftermath of lead singer Natalie Maines' 2003 comments about President George W. Bush....

"I find Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire conspiring with manager Simon Renshaw to intentionally deepen the rift separating the group from its fans. They're clearly shown planning ways to get the media to buy into the group's pleas of right-wing victimization, and trying to turn the anti-Chicks phenomenon into the band's defining element. That's it. I'm appalled. I've had it with these Chicks. The most remarkable thing about "Shut Up & Sing" is that although it's not a hostile documentary taking shots at the band, it reveals its members to be smug, arrogant and manipulative, intentionally growing the...

Natalie Maines has always been the Dixie Chicks' mouth. As lead singer, she not only fronts the band on stage but is often its spokeswoman. She was known for speaking her mind well before the now infamous comment that started a backlash against the popular country music group. Back in 2003 at a London concert on the eve of the Iraq war, Maines was just being herself when she said: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." The reaction that followed stunned Maines and bandmates Martie Maguire and Emily Robison. Suddenly, the...

It’s only been out two weeks, but with nine theaters reporting, Tinti’s now prepared to call this race for the Chicks-haters. Fair assessment? In 14 days, “Shut Up and Sing� has taken in $174,891. On opening weekend, it played in four theaters for a total box office of $50,103 — a per-screen average of $12,525, despite tons of moony free publicity on TV news and talk shows (including a feature on Nightline) and blanket advertising on blogs (including HA).By contrast, “The U.S. vs. John Lennon� opened on six screens on September 15 and raked in $69,143. The per-screen average of...