The bottom line here-- can you say Michael Moore?-- is that being a celebrity (and so having a platform) is not the same thing as having enough intelligence or being well enough informed to say something political. There is a difference between freedom of speech and putting one's own foot in one's mouth in an extremely public fashion. I mean, who gives a f*** about the politics of the Dixie Chicks? Can you even read that sentence I just wrote without laughing out loud? The politics? of the Dixie Chicks?? Perhaps an hour-long forum a day on C-Span is in order. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Karen Hoskins" To: Cc: Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 10:47 PM Subject: Re: artists and protest (was dixie chicks axis of evil blah blah) > It is only a form of censporship if said Dixie Chick was forbidden from > speaking. Just as she has the right to speak as she wishes, her record > buyers have the right not to buy her records for whatever reason. Or are > we now forced to listen music we don't care to in order to protect her > rights? > > Do you think she apologized for any other reason other than being afraid > she'd ticked off her C&W audience and would lose money in record sales? > Her sincerity of her original comments were trampled by the phony > sincerity of her apology. If she realy believed in what she said she > never would have taken it back. > > Karen > > Road Angel wrote: > I congratulate the female country stars who are willing to stand up for > their beliefs. I'm just sorry that conservatives cannot understand that > dissent is one of the things that makes America great. "The land of the > FREE," anyone? And whether you like to admit it or not, when a person > chooses to express him- or herself, and then his or her livlihood is > threatened because of his or her expression of that belief, that IS a > form of censorship. >