Politics, ex Dixie Chicks Thread Options

[WaiterAtCliftons]

Dixie Chicks Bash Patriotism

06/19/2006 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
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There must be something about being overseas that really gets the Dixie Chicks talking. Group members Emily Robison and Natalie Maines have now taken on the subject of patriotism, and apparently they're as big of fans of it as they are President Bush.


In an interview with UK's Telegraph newspaper, Robison accused some country artists of jumping on the anti-Chicks bandwagon to further their own careers. She said, "A lot of artists cashed in on being against what we said or what we stood for because that was promoting their career, which was a horrible thing to do. A lot of pandering started going on, and you'd see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism."


Maines continued, "The entire country 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 Dixie Chicks have been overseas promoting their latest album, Taking The Long Way, with a series of live concerts. In fact, last week the trio returned to very place where their career took a major turn -- Shepard's Bush Empire in London. It was from this very stage that Maines bashed Bush three years ago.

http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/33442272

This is your number 1 band on the Billboard top 200.....fuckin' ridiculous

This post has been edited by WaiterAtCliftons: Jun 22 2006, 3:41 pm

[Alex]

I have very little interest in politics and such. I do partly agree with this quote though;

"The entire country 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."

I was born in NZ and have lived here all my life; I enjoy living here. As far as 'loving' my country goes though, it's just a place. It's land. People live here. Some of those people have opinions I agree with, some don't, some have similar interets to me and some don't. We have systems in place, some of which I agree with and some of which I do not. I'm not personally going to be able to change anything that I don't like, nor will I try.

I feel at home here- if I were to move, I would miss my home country. But I don't feel compelled to defend or admire every action 'NZ' decides to make. I'm not about to raise an NZ flag outside my house, or sing the national anthem when I wake up. Maybe if I was American I'd have a completely different attitude towards patriotism (though personally I find the amount of American patriotism displayed through the media over here almost sickening). In general, the USA seems to have a much higher regard for it than what I have experienced in my country.

No offence to anyone; just my opinion.

[LiveRoCkS77]

I have very little interest in politics and such. I do partly agree with this quote though;

I was born in NZ and have lived here all my life; I enjoy living here. As far as 'loving' my country goes though, it's just a place. It's land. People live here. Some of those people have opinions I agree with, some don't, some have similar interets to me and some don't. We have systems in place, some of which I agree with and some of which I do not. I'm not personally going to be able to change anything that I don't like, nor will I try.

I feel at home here- if I were to move, I would miss my home country. But I don't feel compelled to defend or admire every action 'NZ' decides to make. I'm not about to raise an NZ flag outside my house, or sing the national anthem when I wake up. Maybe if I was American I'd have a completely different attitude towards patriotism (though personally I find the amount of American patriotism displayed through the media over here almost sickening). In general, the USA seems to have a much higher regard for it than what I have experienced in my country.

No offence to anyone; just my opinion.

Good post.

From my experiences, almost everybody I know hates what America is today. They stand for freedom and democracy and yet they oppress just about everybody. Some with their beliefs and some with their military. I think their ideals are great too but it seems that they think those ideals only apply to themselves.

I think it's fine to love your country, although I don't care for mine personally. But there's a difference between loving your country and thinking that your country is gods gift to everything. I think american patriotism has extended into a lot of them thinking that because their American, they're better then everyone else. I, and many I know, think Americans are the most self righteous, arrogant assholes on the planet.

They brag about their big bad military and how they fight as a nation for freedom and democracy. Well, that's great but how about cleaning up your own backyard first? How about educating your children and fighting poverty instead of spending 10 billion fucking dollars a year on space exploration. Fucking priorities anyone? Finding a new planet more important then feeding your own starving children? Or educating people so they can get better jobs in order to afford them and their families healthcare? I could go on and on and on and on about shit like this for hours.

I just couldn't be proud to live in a country like that. a country where crime is rampant. People shooting each other left, right and center. I mean 12,000 gun deaths a year? More then the rest of the G EIGHT countries combined? A country who elects a president who sends his soldiers to die so he can fill his own agenda, then re elects him?

I think american patriotism is making people sick just about everywhere.

[LiveOne]

As much as I love being an American, those of us who are citizens would have to be blind not to have at least *noticed* the hypocrisy and contradiction that abounds here (and is often proliferated by our own government).
We preach the joys of freedom of speech…and yet we ostracize members of our own society who voice an opinion that differs from “popular” sentiment (anti-patriotism is just one example). We advocate the virtues of the “separation of church and state”…and yet we have to have our highest court making SPLIT rulings as to whether the 10 Commandments have a place in public (state-sponsored) institutions of education …and we make people swear on THE BIBLE that they are going to tell the truth when the testify in our court system.

I dearly love what America stands for (on a fundamental level), but I don’t love what America has become. Our government stopped being “For the People, By the People” a very long time ago. It’s about agenda now…and who’s agenda has more money (i.e., power) behind it. There is no better evidence of this than in our lobbying system. Unfortunately, I really feel that our government has become an entity that cares less and less about the citizens it’s supposed to be serving and more and more about big business, personal gain, and staying in power. Republicans blame the Democrats; Democrats blame the Republicans, but both sides are EQUALLY GUILTY! Politicians love to stand behind podiums and lecture about the “right” way to operate a country, and yet few of them seem interested in doing the right thing by the constituents they supposedly represent. Unfortunately, I think it’s a flaw in the way our system is structured…it takes BIG money to run for office, so politicians look for big businesses and special interest groups with lots of moolah to back their campaigns, but in return, certain promises are made about returning favors when legislation is passed that benefits that same corporate entity or special interest group. Typically, legislation that benefits special interest groups does little to nothing for the average citizen. It’s a slippery slope…and it sucks for those of us who are expected to support our government and the decisions it makes, but get nothing but bureaucratic BS when we ask about things like healthcare, education, and Social Security…you know, those things might actually make OUR lives a little easier.

I don’t know…I just think that our government has forgotten what this country is supposed to be about. Often, all us “peons” are left to cling to is an *ideal* that’s preached, but not necessarily practiced. And believe me, we do CLING to it…

[Lively Chick]

As much as I love being an American, those of us who are citizens would have to be blind not to have at least *noticed* the hypocrisy and contradiction that abounds here (and is often proliferated by our own government).
We preach the joys of freedom of speech…and yet we ostracize members of our own society who voice an opinion that differs from “popular” sentiment (anti-patriotism is just one example). We advocate the virtues of the “separation of church and state”…and yet we have to have our highest court making SPLIT rulings as to whether the 10 Commandments have a place in public (state-sponsored) institutions of education …and we make people swear on THE BIBLE that they are going to tell the truth when the testify in our court system.

I dearly love what America stands for (on a fundamental level), but I don’t love what America has become. Our government stopped being “For the People, By the People” a very long time ago. It’s about agenda now…and who’s agenda has more money (i.e., power) behind it. There is no better evidence of this than in our lobbying system. Unfortunately, I really feel that our government has become an entity that cares less and less about the citizens it’s supposed to be serving and more and more about big business, personal gain, and staying in power. Republicans blame the Democrats; Democrats blame the Republicans, but both sides are EQUALLY GUILTY! Politicians love to stand behind podiums and lecture about the “right” way to operate a country, and yet few of them seem interested in doing the right thing by the constituents they supposedly represent. Unfortunately, I think it’s a flaw in the way our system is structured…it takes BIG money to run for office, so politicians look for big businesses and special interest groups with lots of moolah to back their campaigns, but in return, certain promises are made about returning favors when legislation is passed that benefits that same corporate entity or special interest group. Typically, legislation that benefits special interest groups does little to nothing for the average citizen. It’s a slippery slope…and it sucks for those of us who are expected to support our government and the decisions it makes, but get nothing but bureaucratic BS when we ask about things like healthcare, education, and Social Security…you know, those things might actually make OUR lives a little easier.

I don’t know…I just think that our government has forgotten what this country is supposed to be about. Often, all us “peons” are left to cling to is an *ideal* that’s preached, but not necessarily practiced. And believe me, we do CLING to it…

Another brilliant post especially where you highlight the lobbying system