Congress takes two weeks off, and there's more nonsense going on than you can shake a stick at.
The hardest thing for me to learn is that I can't find a resolution for all of America's ills in a once-a-week column.
So, how about something on the positive end of the spectrum:
Just prior to the invasion of Iraq, Natalie informed an audience in London, England that they were not proud to acknowledge George W. Bush as a Texas homeboy. In a firestorm straight out of The Old Testament, the blinded-by-George's-divine-light Country Music community immediately ostracized these three women of song.
It offended the sensibilities of the self-righteous purveyors and fans of mindless ditties based upon drinking oneself into a nightly stupor and spousal infidelity as ways of life that these "little wimmin" would dare be so unpatriotic as to speak out against the president. Why, their musical instruments must be crafted in hell by gargoyles relegated to eternal damnation; their music, previously held in such high regard as to have received eight Grammy awards as well as numerous additional accolades, most assuredly was written with a pen guided by the hand Satan himself.
(They have earned 39 RIAA gold, platinum and multi-platinum certifications, and are the only female group with two Diamond Awards for sales of over 10 million units. Must have been that pact with the Devil that brought all the success.)
In a replay all too eerily reminiscent of the insanity that erupted after John Lennon was misquoted about The Beatles being more popular (in many instances) among their fans than God, Country DJs (collectively not the brightest group of people on the planet) led the charge to banish and bankrupt the ladies by never playing any Dixie Chicks songs again. How lame. A broadcaster should be the absolute last of all people to trample anyone's 1st Amendment Right to Freedom of Expression into the ground. It's the very duty of all broadcasters to uphold that most important of American Freedoms - that's why it's listed at the very beginning!
Without the safety net of Freedom of Expression the broadcaster stands subject to be the first victim of unjustified silencing, even unwarranted arrest and incarceration.
These DJs incited folks to, or at a minimum went along with, marches and demonstrations denouncing The Dixie Chicks. Just as imbecilic preachers had done with their hypnotically-mesmerized teen faithful during the late '60s, events and gatherings were held with the sole purpose being to burn Dixie Chicks CDs and cassettes.
How dare some upstart musicians - girly musicians, no less -- defy the edicts and power of the Fuhrer" er, King" oh, whatever the hell George is.
To the standing-on-its-head, Jack-and-Miller-soaked logic of the baloney and mayo on white bread, F-150 drivin', Christian-bred sundry Country Music aficionado, if you ain't fer Bush and his war of egomaniacal gratification, then you ain't fer our troops.
Anyone who's read this far perceives the sheer inanity of that line of thinking.
Well, The Dixie Chicks have not softened any in their rhetoric; if anything this cold shoulder treatment has only steeled their resolve.
As George's lies came back around to bite him in the ass, folks began to realize the depth of his phoniness and utter incompetence, while his poll numbers sank lower than whale excrement - creating dissidence within the GOP - the fans are returning to The Dixie Chicks in droves.
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