Outspoken musician and activist Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks once stated during a 2003 World Tour that she was basically ashamed to be from the same state as then-president George W. Bush. The backlash from her statement was incredible. The well-spun music of the multi-platinum Grammy winning trio was immediately pulled from most radio stations. The all-female band was lambasted by the media, conservative pundits, and disloyal country music fans. More horrendously, all three received death threats for practicing their freedom of speech. The whole experience took a toll on the group (Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire), and years later they decided to take a hiatus from touring together.
Maines made her statement in 2003, just after the Bush/Cheney administration invaded Iraq causing the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and nearly 5,000 American troops. She was, of course, was later redeemed.
This experience did not silence the anti-war activist who today continues to speak her mind and truth as she flies solo. Her latest comment on Twitter lashes out at Texas senator and GOP presidential candidate, Ted Cruz. By way of Living Blue In Texas and Ashley Iasimone with Billboard Magazine, Maines tweets:
“Just so you know....I'm ashamed Ted Cruz is from America,” Maines wrote on Twitter late Saturday night (Jan. 23).
With her tweet she posted side-by-side images of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Cruz.
Maines quotes President Eisenhower:
“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity,” —President Eisenhower
She then compares Eisenhower’s quote a recent Ted Cruz statement:
“We will carpet bomb them into oblivion. I don’t know if sand can glow in the dark, but we’re going to find out.” —Ted Cruz
So she makes her point well well. Maines then tweets another jab at Cruz questioning his national citizenship:
“I stand corrected...Just so you know, I'm ashamed Ted Cruz claims to be American,”
The main difference between Maines’ 2003 statement against George W. Bush, and her 2016 tweets against Ted Cruz is that the latter is being met with great applause now, instead of years later.
Some might not remember that one of the mega networks that axed the Dixie Chicks from hundreds of their radio stations in 2003 is iHeart (formerly known as Clear Channel). iHeart carries “hate radio” programs such as The Rush Limbaugh Show (Glenn Beck, Michael Savage…) In a karmic twist, Rush Limbaugh is now being boycotted and has lost thousands of sponsors and a good number of radio stations. As for iHeart—they have been billions in debt and now Limbaugh’s contract is up and iHeart faces bankruptcy. Sometimes we get to see good override bad; it’s a beautiful thing. When it comes to dealing with right-wing, warmongering, sexist, bigots, Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks are simply, “Not Ready To Make Nice.”
Lastly, on a happy note, the Dixie Chicks will be reuniting for a new 2016 world tour that begins June 1. Tickets are reportedly going off the charts. It’s no wonder. They are remarkably talented, resilient, and courageous.
