An open letter to the Dixie Chicks:
 

Just thought some of you would like to see this..


----------------------------------------------------------------

Letter from radio station website in Lubbock, home of the Dixie Chick that
spewed forth about our president:
Name: LT Layne McDowell
Date: 03/15/03
Time: 01:54:49 PM

Comment

An open letter to the Dixie Chicks:

Earlier this week, while performing in London, you stated that you were
ashamed that our President is from your home state. I wonder if you
realized how many Americans would be listening. This American was
listening. This Texan is ashamed that you come from my state. I serve my
country as an officer in the United States Navy. Specifically, I fly F-14
Tomcats off carriers around the world, executing the missions that preserve
the very freedom you claim to exercise. I have proudly fought for my
country in the skies over Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan without regret.
Though I may disagree wholeheartedly with your comments, I will defend to
the death your right to say them, in America. But for you to
travel to a foreign land and publicly criticize our Commander in Chief is
cowardice behavior. Would you have so willingly made those comments while
performing for a patriotic, flag-waving crowd of Texans in Lubbock. I would
imagine not. How dare you pocket profits off songs about soldiers, their
deaths and patriotism while criticizing their Commander in Chief abroad,
even while they prepare to give their lives to ensure your own
freedom of speech. Please ask yourself, what have you done to deserve that
sacrifice? Do not try to justify your comments by claiming that you made
them only because you care about innocent lives. Never once in our history
have we committed troops to war for the purpose of taking innocent lives.
We do it to protect innocent lives, even yours. If the world leaders of the
late 1930's had the vision and courage of our present Commander in Chief,
perhaps the evil men who caused the death of millions in WWII would have
never had the opportunity to harm a soul.
The potential loss of millions of lives in the future at the hands of
today's evil men necessitate action. In a separate correspondence, I am
returning to you each and every Dixie Chicks CD and cassette that I have
ever purchased. Never again will I allow my funds to support your behavior.
All you have done is to add your name to a growing list of American
"Celebrities" who have failed to realize that they have obtained their
successes on the backs of the American blue-collar workers such as our
servicemen and women.
To Natalie Maines: This Texan, this American will continue to risk his life
to guarantee your freedoms.
What will you do to deserve it?

:sleep

nice letter...

pfftt
what a fucking joke.
guess no one is allowed to be ashamed of george w anymore.

isn't voicing her opinion, no matter how different it is from the marine's worth risking his life for? or does he feel freedom of speech is only "deserving" when people are saying what he believes in?

you can't tell someone you'll die fighting for their beliefs and then turn around and say "you'd better not voice them if i don't think you deserve to".

these celebs are stupid. with one dumb comment their career is badly damaged. Especially dumb because they were just starting to get super popular.

The next one I see heading down that path is Oprah.

why would anyone care what someone who has bought a dixie chicks CD has to say on anything?

amen.

You listen to neo-country, you forfeit your right to be taken serious a long time ago.

:1orglaugh

LOL I cant believe he admitted owning dixie chicks cd's. hahahahahaha what a fag.

you wrote that letter didn't you... you bastard

Busted. *sigh*

Hmm, so if you are AGAINST George, you are just excercising your right to free speech. If you are against people who are against George, you are a joke. He is expressing his displeasure with her actions just as she expressed her displeasure with GWB's. Now, what's the problem?

SpaceAce

http://www.t-shirts.com/custom/defau...62954&cmd=main

T-shirt - $21
Cab fair to Peace Protest - $14
Getting in a fight with a stupid hippy - Priceless...

Im just amazed that someone whos audience is primarily hicks and rednecks, would take such a position.

Not that I think hicks and rednecks do a whole hell of alot of debating the impact of geo politics.

I want someone like Garth Brooks or some other hick megastar to come out and stir the pot. Who really gives a fuck what the fat ugly one from the Dixie chicks thinks?

If you let the opinion of a celebrity affect your morale, you got bigger issues you should probably be attending to.

Did you even read the letter? He didn't say "she'd better not voice them". He said he thought it was cowardice, but he's entitled to his opinion same as she is entitled to hers, right? Just because he believes in free speech doesn't mean he has to like what she says and he is doing nothing wrong by telling her what he thinks and sending her tapes back.

SpaceAce

yes i read the letter.

he's not saying "oh well thats fine you don't agree with me" he's whining on about how she should be guilty that she's not appreciating the sacrifice he feels he's made by thinking the same way as him..
he should be saying "thank you very much for your sentiments, although i loathe them, the fact that you are expressing them fills me with the joy that only comes with knowing that my work as a soldier has paid off - if everyone agreed with me on this i'd feel like i made sacrifices and took risks for nothing".

the second half is just a guilt trip into making her change her views. he should be thankful he's getting milage out of the risks he took, a daily reminder of the dividends of his work..

i dont know....didnt think i had a problem.

but no, he isnt a joke....his letter is a joke.
it's laughable even.
:1orglaugh

but that makes too much sense. please re-edit to better display the passive aggressive manner in which a fucking crybaby little bitch would argue.

And your point is...? Why would he have to behave like that? He doesn't have to like what she says and he doesn't have to keep it to himself if he doesn't like what she says.

SpaceAce

How so? Despite what I see people saying, it doesn't seem whiny to me. He makes a few statements and tells her he is sending her some things he bought and he won't be buying any more. Writing a letter to someone because you don't like what they said is no different from telling a reporter or an audience that you don't like what Bush is doing. He is certainly no whinier than she.

SpaceAce

dude, what is up with ur sig?

because we lost thousands on 9/11 that means civilian casualties in iraq are justified?

that's sick.

He has an extremely valid point.
If she truly believe what she said, then why did she wait to get to the UK to say it?
Why not say it here in America?
Her statement was a bullshit way of playing to the crowd from a nonsensical dipshit who doesn't have the forethought to realize what impact this would have on her career.
Hence the apology the next day when the backlash hit her... if she truly believed what she said, she would've stood by it, rather than bending over and kissing ass.
Money is her only goal, and whatever path or words will get her there is what's important to her.

What I'm wondering is what her two bandmates think of her vocal cords right now as they see their career getting flushed down the harsh toilet of reality.
Never piss off your fans.

well, it does seem very much whiny to me.

but this part is the one i laugh at the most:
"How dare you pocket profits off songs about soldiers, their
deaths and patriotism while criticizing their Commander in Chief abroad,
even while they prepare to give their lives to ensure your own
freedom of speech."

As if Saddam is a threat to my freedom of speech.

Ashcr0ft is more of a threat to freedom of speech than Saddam.

her apologizing upset me. but im pretty sure she was forced into it otherwise her band wouldnt get any airtime.

exactly

Written by the department of homeland security?

as bhuto said... who fucking cares what some dickhead that bought a Dixie Chicks cd has to say about anything? Am I missing something here? It wasn't even an intelligent letter. He should be embarrassed. And the Dixie Chicks should have told him to eat a cock.

Good post. That is basically his point.

couldn't have said it better myself.

lol..

He could have told her she was a stupid little bitch for all I care, it's the fucking dixie chicks - it's the manipulative aspect thats bites the cock hard. The "this American will continue to risk his life to guarantee your freedoms. What will you do to deserve it?" basically saying voicing her opinion on bush and the war ISN'T deserving - you get it?

the whole idea of "fighting for freedom" is that you are fighting for some stupid corporate whore to be able to say what she likes, anything she says or does is "deserving" by the mere fact that she can do it.

and wasted our time in the first place.....


Dear Dixie Chicks:

Me no like music.

Me stupid.

ME a texan.

Me mad.

Me no buy cd.

"But for you to
travel to a foreign land and publicly criticize our Commander in Chief is
cowardice behavior. Would you have so willingly made those comments while
performing for a patriotic, flag-waving crowd of Texans in Lubbock. I would
imagine not. How dare you pocket profits off songs about soldiers, their
deaths and patriotism while criticizing their Commander in Chief abroad,
even while they prepare to give their lives to ensure your own
freedom of speech."

That is what he was pissed about. She did not and probably would never have said what she said in this country, particularly from a stage in front of her fans, and the proof is in the pudding when she made an effort to apologize for what she said.

Gee, a patriotic, flag-waving crowd of Texans.

If only I had an automatic rife and immunity from prosecution...

Most Texans carry. You probably would not even get a clip off before you were dropped.

Free Speech is great. Every idiot has a right to his or her opinion. GFY is proof of that. :)

Having the biggest radio chain in the United States, Clear Channel, a very close ally of the Bush Family, and a company who is lobbying the White House to change media ownership rules, ban your music because you speak up is not free speech. This is not about a few fans whining, this is about a huge corporation with close ties to the government banning a band because the band disagreed with the government who the huge corporation is trying to support for financial and political reasons. People protest against, and complain about, Rush Limbaugh every day, but Clear Channel has never pulled him off the air. Why? Because he is on Bush's team.

Free Speech is not what's happening here. It's censorship.

get into your bunker mrfiction, the aliens are coming !


A radio station has the right to play what they want. That is not censorship.

Is it censorship because school libraries dont have the latest copy of Swank ?


Rush is on the air because people listen to him and make the station money. No different than Howard Stern.

She was forced to apologize to keep their music on the radio. Heard of Clear Channel. Being banned from their monopoly of a network (thanks Bush) is suicide in the music biz.

Would it be ok with you if the electric, water, or phone company cut off all customers who were against the war from electricity?

Do you think that would be ok? I'm curious about your opinion on government allowed, but not sponsored, monolpolies and what they can and cannot do.

If you have to wait and call Rush tomorrow before you can answer, I can wait. :1orglaugh

Exactly.

"But for you to travel to a foreign land and publicly criticize our Commander in Chief is cowardice behavior."

She is not principled and was playing to the crowd there and does not have the courage to do it here.

I do.

Fuck Bush and the great white Holy horse he thinks he rode in on. Bush is a fucking idiot and hopefully we don't see the effect of his ignorance for more than a couple of years.


Note to the freaks:

Anti-Bush isn't neccesarily anti-war, and is definately not anti-American or anti-military. I support our troops 100% and hope this is easier than many expect it to be for them.

As much as I prefer disagreeing with The King, I do think that she was a coward for apologizing. If you are going to speak up, then speak up, don't back down.

Michael Moore might be an ass sometimes, but the guy isn't afraid of anyone. Too many of those on the left will back down when confronted, even if they are 100% right.

"If you have to wait and call Rush tomorrow before you can answer, I can wait."


Another rush comment? I have never even once listend to his show in my life.



"As much as I prefer disagreeing with The King, I do think that she was a coward for apologizing. If you are going to speak up, then speak up, don't back down. "


But consumers arent allowed to speak up and choose not to buy their music. and putting pressure on radio stations not to play their music.


The dixie chicks have nobody to blame but themself. They made themself less marketable.

Strong rhetorical skill, but to suggest that we do not act in self interest reeks of brain effluvia:

Finally, there's the morally suspect case of the Spanish-American War. When Cuban rebels rose up in 1895 against their Spanish colonizers, Americans sympathized with the Cubans, and many favored entering the war to help drive Spain out. But it took the 1898 explosion of an American ship, the Maine, which President McKinley had sent to Havana to protect Americans there, to bring the United States into combat. The blast, which killed 260 crew members, was probably caused by technical problems on the ship, but that wasn't evident at the time. The American public instantly became convinced of Spanish malevolence and demanded war. The United States invaded not just Cuba but <font size=3>the far-flung Philippines, also a Spanish colony. By the war's end, the United States had become a full-fledged imperial power, with rights to the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico.</font>

We also made an effort to rid the philippines of their indigenous population:

Back in the Philippines, 11,000 ground troops were sent in, and an uneasy alliance between insurgent Filipino and U.S. forces led to Spanish surrender August 14. Although the Filipinos initially appreciated the U.S. role in helping evict their Spanish rulers, tensions mounted as it became clear that our interest there had less to do with protecting democracy than it did with territorial expansion. Even before the peace treaty was signed, U.S. troops fired on a group of Filipinos and started the Philippine-American War, a vicious and ugly chapter in U.S. history that lasted until 1914. Openly racist views of the Filipinos underscored public debate and policy. The actual death toll will never be known, but estimates of the number of civilians that perished from famine, disease, and other war-related causes range from 200,000 to 600,000. In March 1906 an estimated 600 Muslim Filipinos - men, women, and children - were massacred over a four-day period under troops commanded by General Leonard Wood, who later became the Philippine governor general.

This war had started out as a very popular campaign, but by this time the shine had worn off and some brave citizens began to raise their voices in protest. Among them was the great American author Mark Twain. He pointed out the enormous contradictions between our "benevolent" foreign policy and its brutal consequences. As our involvement became
progressively more difficult to justify, and eventually came to be defended on the grounds that the U.S. could not retire from it without suffering "dishonor", Twain advocated the position that "An inglorious peace is better than a dishonorable war."

Mark Twain is as American as they come.

:thumbsup Thanks for the post Eric. As a former member of the US Air Force I really appreciated it.