The reason for the Randi story

OK, she fell. She hurt herself rather badly. The story got mangled something awful. We over-reacted. Should we be ashamed?
I think not.

For a decade, moderates and liberals have been under attack by the religious, by the ultra-conservatives, and by the neocons. We have been told that we are baby killers, that we coddle criminals, that we support terror, that we are god killers, that we are destroying society, that we are devil worshippers, that we are socialists and want government to take over everything, and that we hate religions and are trying to make them illegal. (well, as for me, that last one has a hint of truth to it)


Rush tells us that killing us would be a good start.
Billo prays for San Fran to be attacked by terrorists.
Michelle talks openly about tossing us in jail and throwing away the key
Anne thinks that murder of liberals constitutes self-defense
Sean accuses us of every conceivable and inconceivable crimes imaginable.
George talks about unifying people, by forcing everyone to follow his war-mongering lead.

And that's on a good day.


Is it any shock that some shit for brains religious maniac goes out and blows up planned parenthood clinics in North Carolina AND IS VIEWED AS A HERO?
Is it a surprise that racial, homosexual, muggings are on the increase?
Are we surprised when the media (incorrectly labelled as liberal) becomes a mouthpiece of the RIght and of the president, not daring to question even one of his many lies?
Do we cry out in anger when Dixie Chicks are banned from the airways, simply because one of them spoke her mind honestly?
Are we still in shock when the debate has moved from whether the Patriot act is an evil option barely worthy of consideration, to determining how many rights we are giving up permanently?

Rhetorical questions, all. But, it explains a lot. Our democratic leadership in congress is notable for their absence. Media outlets are tilted so far to the right that the center seems to be a tiny, liberal outpost. Our government prides itself on dismantling everything that our betters built with sweat, blood and muscle. And should anyone like Dick Durbin manage to say truth to power, he is attacked relentlessly until he is forced to eat his words. Rush can call injured vets phony, but object to our upcoming Iranian invasion, we are are called traitors.

Of course we over-reacted. Because the crazies that collect on the far right are being egged on to putting us in their sights, and doing it violently. It was all too understandable that Randi might have been attacked. And the worst part about that is that the MSM was quiet, except to point to us and call us hysterical and over-reactive.

I wonder if those objecting to growing censorship and governmental power in Nazi Germany felt as alone, as much under attack, with a growing sense of foreboding and concern about their nation's future? At this rate, if there is an election in 2008, I will be immensely relieved.

Do we cry out in anger when Dixie Chicks are banned from the airways, simply because one of them spoke her mind honestly?

They were not banned, the consumers of their product did not agree with the statement and refused to listen to their music.
They called the stations that played their music and complained loud enough that their voices were heard and the Dixie Chicks were taken out of the music rotation.

Because right now, my bullshit detector just flew across the room.

It is more Anecdotal than anything else, but so is a lot of what is posted to DU.

I have several friends who are DJs at 3 or 4 country music stations in Upstate NY. They all told me that after this happened, they got phone calls from listeners who were upset and they spoke with their programming managers who agreed to pull the Chicks from the play list.

But it is a fact that Clear banned them forever.

by Clear Channel Communications. They of course denied that they were banned. I guess you believe their story...:shrug:

not based on customer outcries.

This was a corporate decision, and more than a few local stations complained, because there were many dixie fans. But the corporate orders stood, and by the way, they still stand. You will not hear a dixie chicks song on any station owned by Clear. by corporate decree.

It is perfectly legal to do that since coporations do not constitute a state entity. So they can run the company any way they want. Call it censorship, but it's not a violation of first ammendment since Clear Channel is not government.

The companies didn't even give stations the option of asking their listeners if the Dixie Chicks should be removed from the play list. The company just arbitrarily decided to remove the band from all play lists.

Granted, listener feedback would have probably ended up in the Chicks being removed from the majority of the individual stations. In that case, the Chicks wouldn't have had much of an argument since their primary fan market would have been the ones to tell them to take a hike.

However, by issuing the ban from the management level those companies gave the band a platform that wouldn't have existed otherwise.



From Wikipedia re: Clear Channel : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Channel_Communications

In March of 2003, Natalie Maines, the lead singer of the Dixie Chicks said to an English concert audience, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas," upsetting many music fans and politicians in the United States. Thinking the Dixie Chicks were now a pariah and thus unmarketable, all of the country music stations owned by two Atlanta-based companies, Cumulus Media and Cox Radio were told to stop playing their music. There is gossip that Clear Channel also may have directed their stations to do so, but the company states this was solely the work of local station managers, DJs, and angry fans. Some critics of Clear Channel, including the editors of Rock and Rap Confidential, say otherwise, claiming that Clear Channel executives, in a bid to gain support for various policies they were pushing in Washington, instigated the boycott among its country music stations to send a message to other musicians that criticizing President George Bush's administration could hurt their careers through reduced airplay, etc. Though, there is no evidence that was the case.

a few in texas, Bama and Georgia, perhaps, but Dixie Chicks were the most popular band at the time of the ban. Clear started economic warfare for political reasons, something that other artists and bands noticed. The reach of the religious right and the ultra conservatives is long, well financed, and destructive to a democracy.

I bet that they won't recognize the damage they wreck.

would have banned the band based on listener feedback given the overall support Bush had with that group at that time.

Pop music stations may have kept the band on air just because the audience would not have been as conservative as country station listeners are.

But at what point would those stations have reversed themselves? When Bush hit below 50%, below 40%, below 25%? I suspect that by 2006, most of those stations would have relented. Except for Clear.

We know how low he will go. He just proved it with today's silly charade before the sleep-walking press corpse.

I imagine that the Chicks would have been back on the air in mass shortly after the Grammy win since by that time most people saw that the war was a disaster and Bush was on his way to perpetual low 30's poll numbers.

they went out on tour following the original remarks made by Natalie Maines, so it certainly wasn't a case of their fans somehow suddenly rejecting them. See, the public still ultimately controls things regarding ticket purchases, even if we have zero control of the airwaves. You might cite, in response, the more recent tour in support of "Not Ready to Make Nice", in which they canceled/moved some concerts to smaller venues, but I think this was more a result of their "genre shift" in which they decided to move away from country-oriented stuff following Clear Channel's decision. They probably did lose some fans as a result of that, but that really had nothing to do with their political views.

Since most concert venues have a no refund/return policy the venue could have been half empty come showtime and the show would have still been a sellout on the books. From what I read, it appears that most arenas were still at full capacity on that tour. That would lead one to believe that either a lot of people offended by Maines' comments decided to still see the show since the band/promoter already had the money or they found people to buy their tickets.

The most recent tour and album was more a reflection of how the controversy was going to effect them and when you compare numbers to prior US album sales and ticket revenue it did cost them somewhat. Even when they sold out a venue it generally took a lot longer to do so than they had on prior tours.

My take is the next album will be a more accurate reflection of their continued appeal. Given that so much of contemporary arena-size country music is more rooted in pop/rock vs. trad country I don't think the change in sound would keep people away if they've otherwise gotten over the controversy.

Not shame, but some kind of acknowledgement that they got sucked into an orgy of knee-jerk reaction.

My recollection is that one of Randi Rhodes' own professional peers reported that it was a right-wing attack; to the extent what he said was speculation, it was passed on as a factual report because of who had said it. It's not like DU'ers just made the idea up on their own.

I see no reason why this should get the usual 'omg we net people need to self-flagellate' response. This was a radio media screw-up that not everyone chose to discount because of skepticism by giving the right-wing benefit of the doubt that the right-wing has such good people in it that they would never, ever do such a thing. See where I'm going? At best, people could have behaved like me and said nothing until people had a chance to know for themselves for sure. But had that radio figure not speculated, DU might have joined in that speculation to a far less degree.

from slightly different points. I am not blaming us. to the contrary, I believe today's reality is such that both you and I would easily understand that such attacks could take place, given the rabid attacks by the Right (radio, TV, Print, in churches, in meetings, and from politicians) on the rest of us.

Just take the president's speach just now. He is attacking congress for problems he created. with a smirk.

Only reason I assumed it MIGHT not be that is a simple matter of math... the worst case scenario doesn't always happen.

And wow is it dumb for Bush to act like he got religion on spending.

"people could have behaved like me and said nothing until people had a chance to know for themselves for sure." Probably most did withhold comment, since it is hard to tally those who did not post "until people had a chance to know for themselves".

I don't see it as often at DU as in other parts of my life, but I see a lot of "I may have made a mistake, but it is not really my fault. I am under a lot of pressure from my teachers, my principal, Bush and the RW, my boss, my husband or wife, etc."

Accepting, or even sharing, responsibility for our mistakes is kind of rare these day (perhaps always has been. Maybe humans have always used a lot of their brain power figuring out why mistakes were not their fault).

IS a hero! :puke: I wouldn't be surprised if they viewed Timothy McVeigh in the same light...

You forgot to mention the guy that made a death threat against fellow talk-show host Stephanie Miller - they actually took the step of calling the guy at home on the air, and made him look like the pathetic, limp-dicked, knuckle-dragging clown that he was...it was high comedy indeed!

are not actionable, not under this admin. But should a liberal say anything strong, ATTACK! Get JUSTICE on their ass.

I call it a reaction coming from a person who knows the wingnut right holds murderous hatred for us in their hearts, and is capable of absolutely anything.

Start with the squelching of the Dixie Chicks, add the smearing of Graeme Frost and his family, the swiftboating of Kerry, the attacks of people like Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph.

There are likely thousands of people in this country just waiting for the word to be given, and they'll literally start killing.

As you pointed out, many right wingers with an audience encouraged violence against liberals. I had my suspicions but didn't say much here. But I wouldn't be "ashamed" for one second.

I am relieved that her injuries were not from another person . Now, it's a matter of healing without also worrying about the "who" of it on top of being hurt. I wish her a speedy recovery and being on the good foot from now on.

Alas, that doesn't include everyone who votes Democrat. There is a lot of belief in woo and conspiracy on all points of the political compass. On their side, there are the religious nuts and those who fantasize that the Iraq war is a clash of civilizations and the assorted conspiracy theorists . On our side, there are the MIHOPers and LIHOPers and those who worry that the 2008 election will be called off.

BTW, if anyone reading this really thinks the elections will be called off, I will put money on there being a presidential election in 2008, and on the US having a new president in 2009. And give you 2:1 odds.

:hippie:

If the Rolling Stones had said that were ashamed that Great Britain was an ally of the United States because of the policies of the present administration, how many stations would ban their music, even if a million callers demanded it?

What if Lisa Marie Presley got up on stage in Germany to mark her father's 4o something-th anniversary of being stationed over there in the Army and declare: " I knew my Daddy, and believe you me, Elvis Aaron Presley would have been ashamed to call George W. Bush his President!" to roaring approval? How many stations would drop the King's music in protest? Three, four, none?

Shee-it, boy, all you gots to do is follow that there moo-lah lah.

Honestly, I had never even heard of the Dixie Chicks until then, because I'm not a big fan of what passes for country music. I like classic rock (ala the Stones, ect), but I was raised on country music, and the motto then was "It don't mean a thang if it ain't got that twang". It's difficult to even imagine an ex-con like David Allen Coe or Merle getting up in front of a European audience and denigrating anybody in our government, no matter how stupid they were.

What would people think if somebody, say, of the stature of Billy Joel, got up on stage in London (and I don't know his political affiliation, so I hope I'm not offending anyone here)and between sets said, "Just so you all know, I'm from New York, and I'm ashamed to come from the same place as our do-nothing President Clinton?"

Has Been! they would shriek, How dare he? they would rage. Misogynist! Look how he treated Christie Brinkley and how he almost killed his little girl because he was fucked up on drugs and couldn't drive straight? I want his music taken off the shelves and his albums burned.

Maybe the Chicks are doing well in Europe, and I'm happy for them, but they just weren't big enough (read: bringing in enough mega bucks) to protect them from market pressures. Then, on top of it, their whole claim to fame was performing music within a genre that is traditionally conservative!

If the Stones or Elvis Presley had same the exact same thing the stations would have said, yeah, whatever, "Hey, boys and girls, it's coming up on three o'clock and it's time to check into that Heartbreak Hotel, now here's the King with Don't be Cruel"

The Chicks came across to a majority of people in America as tasteless tarts drinking warm beer and gossiping in the trailer park laundry, while their young-uns run around in dirty diapers.

You just don't criticize our people to foreign nationals, damn it, you do it here, and then deep in the fucking heart of Texas itself, right outside of fucking Crawford, and then let the foreign press pick the story up.

That would have been ten times more effective and they would be making a lot more money here and throughout the world and they might have ended up right on stage with Al Gore, presenting the award.

Damn, folks, can't anybody here play this game? It's strategy, strategy, strategy!!!!

We simply reacted to the only source that had any information at all on Randi. How were we to know he was full of shit?