The Thomas Chronicles

There has been many times these past few years when I have felt like John Adams in trying to get people to listen. I am sure I am not alone in this sentiment since, at least here in America, there have been many voices that call for, and have been calling for, attention to the erosion of our freedoms.

Why, for instance, have we allowed a European billionaire upstart like George Soros to heavily influence, if not dominate, one of our political parties? Will our policies be decided in Brussels rather than Washington D.C. extra-constitutionally in our near future?

Why have we allowed millions of men, women and children to enter our country illegally in what amounts to modern-day slavery?

When did we allow the government the prerogative to direct us, the sovereign “We the People of the United States“, how to eat, what to eat, what to drive, how much we can drive, if we can or can’t smoke?

How did our government suddenly be given the authority to exclude our beliefs from being seen in public, to raise and control the minds of our youths, and to tax many Americans directly into poverty in the name of the environment even as members of our government pollute more than 20 times the average American? (Al Gore flies the most polluting airplane on the market now.)

How? When? Did I miss the vote? Or was this done by some bureaucratic edict?

All this has remarkable similarity to the generation that called for independence from Great Britain. The do-nothing fat cats in Congress, who voted themselves a lifetime of health care and a taxpayer provided staff…

Instead of independence from Great Britain this time around, we are faced with a global entity that wants to subsume America into one of its territories, like England is, like France is.

If these schemes at a global government succeeds, we are no longer Americans but subjects of the Globe. We might call ourselves Americans but without all the rights and the freedoms that entails being an American, we might as well call ourselves Martians even though we don’t live on Mars. It’s a nice sentiment, but it’s far from the truth.

It is these kinds of issues that were debated in Philadelphia in 1776.

You can imagine John Adam’s frustration as he tried to persuade, coax and maneuver the Continental Congress to declare Independence, and if you are like-minded, I’m sure you’ll have not much difficulty in imagining…

Although a musical, this scene from the movie 1776 pretty much captures it:

*** UPDATE BELOW ***

Well, perhaps that’s an overstatement.

People do listen to the Dixie Chicks, just generally not the people who like country music.

Over the summer, USA Today and other news organizations reported that the Dixie Chicks had to rearrange their North American Accidents & Accusations Tour and reschedule many of their concert dates due to lackluster ticket sales primarily in the South and Midwest. Also, although their album, Taking the Long Way, initially had strong sales and ended around 2 million copies sold for last year, it was still a fraction of the sales from their debut album and certainly less than the 6 million copies that the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ new album sold.

Even newcomer Carrie Underwood out-sold the Dixie Chicks with Underwood’s sales for 2006 totaling at 3.7 million copies.

Like it as not, they are a political music group. Like other bands with heavy political overtones, such as Rage Against the Machine, the Dixie Chicks appeal to a core audience of liberal listeners.

In 2003 in Britain, they said they were “ashamed” of President Bush, and from that moment on, despite their half-hearted apology to the American public, country music stations in the South and Midwest have virtually boycotted their music. This year they had to cancel their tour in Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville along with 14 other cities due to slow sales.

The Dixie Chicks have made it clear that they stand by their accusations against the President, and the Southern and Midwestern states have also made it clear that they stand by their dislike of them.

So, what exactly warrants the 5 Grammy’s that were awarded to the Dixie Chicks?

It is no secret that our artistic communities, Hollywood and the music industries and the like, are left leaning communities devoted to the advancement of their politics. If actual sales are indicative of where the American people are at, then it seems not very many people are listening to our artistic communities. Hollywood movies sales have been slumping for well over a decade with residual DVD sales keeping them afloat, and the music industry is on the ropes.

(As a sidenote, Hollywood is now pining their hopes of survival on the new Blue Ray technology. According to Reuters, “A large-scale failure of AACS could be a threat to the $24 billion DVD industry, which has started to cool and was counting on next-generation DVD sales to reinvigorate it.”)

So far as I can see, as with so many other things from our entertainment establishment, the Dixie Chicks were awarded Grammy’s not from the entertainment values of their music but from the vehemence of their politics.

(Photo By Dima Gavrysh, AP)

Update 2/15/07:

For the Dixie Chicks, politics aside, their core audience base have shifted significantly since their comment against Bush in 2003. Country music has traditionally been focused in the South, the Midwest and parts of the West. From what I understand, the Dixie Chicks’ fan base went from these regions of the United States to the coastal states.

However you cut the cards, that’s a dramatic shift in demographics; and an uncertain shift for any country western band since most country western acts don’t make successful jumps to the “mainstream” or popular music, even with few Grammy’s.

The list of attempts to go to “mainstream” from country is very familiar. Shania Twain, Lean Rhimes, even Garth Brooks (as Chris Gaines). Most of the time, the American public sees them as temporary novelties, which runs for a season; then we’ll see the novelty wear off. That’s when they plummet in sales.

Who knows if the Dixie Chicks have any lasting power in the music industry, but if past acts are any indicators, they’ll enjoy a nice run before people get bored.

Related Posts:

California Conservative: GOP “Frontrunners” And The Dixie Chicks
Fan of the Band: Country Radio Still Cold to Dixie Chicks
arubberdoor: Grammy Vindication for the Dixie Chicks
Texas Rainmaker: The Grammy’s are a joke