The war at home: Fighting for free speech by Carol Marin
The war at home: Fighting for free speech by Carol Marin
May 31, 2006
Copyright by The Chicago Sun times
''I'm not ready to make nice
I'm not ready to back down
I'm still mad as hell and
I don't have time to go round and round and round . . ."
Dixie Chicks song, "Not Ready to Make Nice," from the their new album, "Taking the Long Way."
The Dixie Chicks aren't sorry. And I'm glad. And grateful. So I went out this weekend and bought their latest CD, which is the one that country music stations controlled by Clear Channel (isn't that redundant?) are not playing. God Bless America, just not the free speech part, I guess.
If, as Time magazine suggested, the Dixie Chicks' new album has turned into a referendum, then I vote yes. Yes to their right, a few years ago, to say that they were ashamed that President Bush was from Texas. Yes to their right to oppose our invasion of Iraq. And yes to their right, as loyal but dissenting Americans, to say that the war, which has now claimed the lives of more than 2,400 of our soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis, is an ongoing national disaster.
It was three years ago that the Chicks started a firestorm of controversy. And they have paid quite a price in lost record sales. What's thrilling is that they're still not afraid. Not of boycotts. Not of death threats. And not of CD burning parties by the moronic among us who have confused the Constitution with the comic books they must be used to reading.
Since politics is my beat, not music, I called our resident Sun-Times expert, Jim DeRogatis. I wanted to know what he thought about the notion of these artists not only having conviction but using their art to express that conviction.
"Charmingly outdated," said DeRogatis. "It's pretty inspiring, and it's definitely costing them. . . . If only they kept it to rapping about their collective seven children, it would be all well and good but don't question the flag."
I don't get it, I said. The president's poll numbers are below freezing. This country's disaffection with the war is palpable. And the men and women who are fighting, dying and being wounded in this war, by and large, are from America's small towns and rural areas where country music is most popular. Are radio stations paying attention to their own listeners?
"Ah, Carol," DeRogatis said patiently, "let's look at it as you would from your beat. Who is the major force on country radio? Clear Channel Entertainment . . . based in Texas . . . hugely supportive of President Bush . . . a monopoly . . . a monolithic force. . . . I don't know if they really, legitimately are reflecting the opinions of their listeners . . . but who let it become this? Well, Bush's FCC."
OK. Now I get it.
If you don't like the message, go get the messenger. And it doesn't matter if that messenger is a singer or a reporter.
Right now, the attorney general of the United States, Alberto Gonzales, is threatening to prosecute the New York Times for reporting on Bush's domestic spying program. Never mind that Gonzales and the Bush administration have not felt at all hamstrung by existing laws or the quaint codes of the Geneva Conventions. As the Times pointed out in an editorial last week, "Mr. Gonzales was part of the team that came up with the rationalization for torture, as well as for the warrantless eavesdropping on Americans' e-mail and phone calls."
That's why, in addition to my admiration for the Dixie Chicks, I am grateful beyond words to author Studs Terkel.
Studs is a lot older than the Chicks. At 94, he is well past what most of us regard as retirement age. And yet his passion for this country and for the freedoms it claims to revere burns as brightly as those torched Dixie Chicks CDs. Terkel has filed suit, along with the ACLU, against AT&T for giving up our phone records to the National Security Agency. Terkel thinks that's domestic spying. You know what? It is.
The Justice Department wants to stop that suit, invoking what it regards as a "state secrets privilege."
I'm rooting for Studs on this one. And for the Dixie Chicks.
They seem to remember what too many others have forgotten. That this country was built by people who were not afraid of revolution. Were not afraid to take a stand. And were not afraid to confront power when the powerful had gone astray.
The real war on terror that they're fighting is the one here at home.
May 31, 2006
Copyright by The Chicago Sun times
''I'm not ready to make nice
I'm not ready to back down
I'm still mad as hell and
I don't have time to go round and round and round . . ."
Dixie Chicks song, "Not Ready to Make Nice," from the their new album, "Taking the Long Way."
The Dixie Chicks aren't sorry. And I'm glad. And grateful. So I went out this weekend and bought their latest CD, which is the one that country music stations controlled by Clear Channel (isn't that redundant?) are not playing. God Bless America, just not the free speech part, I guess.
If, as Time magazine suggested, the Dixie Chicks' new album has turned into a referendum, then I vote yes. Yes to their right, a few years ago, to say that they were ashamed that President Bush was from Texas. Yes to their right to oppose our invasion of Iraq. And yes to their right, as loyal but dissenting Americans, to say that the war, which has now claimed the lives of more than 2,400 of our soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis, is an ongoing national disaster.
It was three years ago that the Chicks started a firestorm of controversy. And they have paid quite a price in lost record sales. What's thrilling is that they're still not afraid. Not of boycotts. Not of death threats. And not of CD burning parties by the moronic among us who have confused the Constitution with the comic books they must be used to reading.
Since politics is my beat, not music, I called our resident Sun-Times expert, Jim DeRogatis. I wanted to know what he thought about the notion of these artists not only having conviction but using their art to express that conviction.
"Charmingly outdated," said DeRogatis. "It's pretty inspiring, and it's definitely costing them. . . . If only they kept it to rapping about their collective seven children, it would be all well and good but don't question the flag."
I don't get it, I said. The president's poll numbers are below freezing. This country's disaffection with the war is palpable. And the men and women who are fighting, dying and being wounded in this war, by and large, are from America's small towns and rural areas where country music is most popular. Are radio stations paying attention to their own listeners?
"Ah, Carol," DeRogatis said patiently, "let's look at it as you would from your beat. Who is the major force on country radio? Clear Channel Entertainment . . . based in Texas . . . hugely supportive of President Bush . . . a monopoly . . . a monolithic force. . . . I don't know if they really, legitimately are reflecting the opinions of their listeners . . . but who let it become this? Well, Bush's FCC."
OK. Now I get it.
If you don't like the message, go get the messenger. And it doesn't matter if that messenger is a singer or a reporter.
Right now, the attorney general of the United States, Alberto Gonzales, is threatening to prosecute the New York Times for reporting on Bush's domestic spying program. Never mind that Gonzales and the Bush administration have not felt at all hamstrung by existing laws or the quaint codes of the Geneva Conventions. As the Times pointed out in an editorial last week, "Mr. Gonzales was part of the team that came up with the rationalization for torture, as well as for the warrantless eavesdropping on Americans' e-mail and phone calls."
That's why, in addition to my admiration for the Dixie Chicks, I am grateful beyond words to author Studs Terkel.
Studs is a lot older than the Chicks. At 94, he is well past what most of us regard as retirement age. And yet his passion for this country and for the freedoms it claims to revere burns as brightly as those torched Dixie Chicks CDs. Terkel has filed suit, along with the ACLU, against AT&T for giving up our phone records to the National Security Agency. Terkel thinks that's domestic spying. You know what? It is.
The Justice Department wants to stop that suit, invoking what it regards as a "state secrets privilege."
I'm rooting for Studs on this one. And for the Dixie Chicks.
They seem to remember what too many others have forgotten. That this country was built by people who were not afraid of revolution. Were not afraid to take a stand. And were not afraid to confront power when the powerful had gone astray.
The real war on terror that they're fighting is the one here at home.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 8:16 PM
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