The Dixie Chicks were labled "Traitors to Country Music" after lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Maines's comment angered so many fans that protesters destroyed a heap of Dixie Chicks CDs with a 33,000-pound tractor.
At least that's what you've been lead to think. Now, Paul Krugman at the New York Times claims that the pro-war, anti-Dixie Chick rallies have been organized by a large Texas media corporation, Clear Channel Communications, which oversees over 1,200 stations with "iron-fisted centralized control." According to Krugman, Clear Channel has clear ties to the current administration: Tom Hicks, Clear Channel's vice chairman, purchased the Texas Rangers from then-Governor Bush, and, along with Clear Channel chairman Lowry Mays, Mr. Hicks utilized his position on the University of Texas Investment Management Company to invest heavily in Republican or Bush-involved enterprises. In other words, Krugman argues, this is a case of businesses doing favors for politicians, in exchange for the business-friendly policies this administration has been known to favor.
How accurate is this? Krugman has been known for being fairly anti-Bush. But if his accusations are true, this is an uncomfortable example of central political influence over one of the big media corporations that now control much of our information.
Krugman's op-ed column is here.