Chicks’ return marks return of freedoms

Viewpoint by Cindy Reed/reporter

After Natalie Maines made her infamous disclaimer of President Bush, the predictable outcry ensued.

Maines and the Dixie Chicks were reviled as traitors and terrorist sympathizers.

Radio boycotts and CD burnings were called for across the country. It seemed likely an off-hand remark had become the band’s undoing.

Our commander in chief made the assertion that the War on Terror had to be waged against Saddam Hussein and Iraq. Any citizen with the temerity to publicly disagree must have been guilty, by opinion, of sedition.

The way our most vocal citizens jump upon this bandwagon, pointing out the dissidents among us, is disturbing.

Urged to greater heights of frenzy by conservative pundits, the basic right to freely question an administration frequently includes challenges of patriotism if not downright sanity.

This sounds too much like McCarthyism of the ’50s.

American history illustrates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Our right of free speech sums up the values we hold dear.

King George I considered our illustrious founding fathers traitors and rabble-rousers rocking the conventions of the day as they called for dissention in word and in deed.

We continue to celebrate those men as bold forward thinkers and patriots who risked their all to lead the western world in the direction of liberty, equality and fraternity.

While America insists on pulling the middle eastern world into the 21st century, the mood of the country is, once again, swinging somewhat left.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle are making excuses for why they supported the president as they bid for his job.

The Dixie Chicks won five Grammys at the 2007 ceremonies, including song and record of the year.

The fact their no-regrets anthem, “Not Ready to Make Nice,” finds so much popular support is encouraging to those old-fashioned idealists among us.

It is always easy to stand up to disturb the status quo when it is in vogue to do so.

To stand up, get smacked down and then be vindicated creates hope.