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Bush administration influences Dixie Chicks protests
Posted by Steven Wu on Tuesday, March 25 @ 04:26:35 EST News
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.

 
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Re: Bush administration influences Dixie Chicks protests (Score: 1)
by JamesGrimmelmann on Tuesday, March 25 @ 09:11:57 EST
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One hardly needs to suspect undue political influence to worry about Clear Channel's motivations. Salon's excellent coverage of the Clear Channel empire has included a continuing focus on the thuggish management culture and vitriolic -- often personal -- vindictiveness.


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Re: Bush administration influences Dixie Chicks protests (Score: 1)
by bryan_taylor on Tuesday, March 25 @ 11:49:29 EST
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I just love stories like this. People who write this kind of thing are so out of touch it's sad. The reality is that the Dixie Chicks have done serious and permanent damage to themselve with their own fan base.

Krugman suggests it can't possibly be the case that country music fans (who we all know are very pro-repbulican) actually find Maines' statements offensive. Krugman is dreaming, and I doubt that a NY Times writer has a clue about what country music fans think.

Polls show 72-76% of people in the country support Bush, and a majority of people do so "strongly". Every demographic study shows that the strongly anti-conservative portions of society are concentrated in large urban areas. These are the kind of places where country music is not popular.

The reality is that the NY Times is widely detested by country music fans and I wouldn't take their opinion on much regarding conservative thought.


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Re: Bush administration influences Dixie Chicks protests (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 25 @ 16:04:45 EST
Krugman is so blatantly lying, and this lying is so easily provable, that I'm saddened to see anyone at Lawmeme take him seriously enough to add his screed to this blog.

(How to prove: Clear Channel owns hundreds of country-format stations throughout the coutnry. Go check out their various web sites and see how many of them have removed the DCs from their playlists. My local CC country station certainly hasn't. In fact, I emailed them at the beginning of this brouhaha and the GM emailed me back absolutely refusing to ban them, not even for a 24-hour protest.)

Secondly, This jerk is comparing the breaking of a Dixie Chicks album you already own to Kristallnacht!!!! How can you possibly give such a truly evil statement free publicity without even questioning it?


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Re: Bush administration influences Dixie Chicks protests (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 25 @ 16:50:28 EST
I heard Krugman this morning on WNYC radio saying that what anti-Blixie Chix protestors are doing is like the Nazi Germans burning books and like Blacklisting in the McCarthy Era. Even the host of the show, who is a loyal Liberal-Leftist thought that this was a rediculous exaggeration. He pointed out that no one is advocating government censorship of their music. Individuals are free to boycott whomever they please. Krugman came off sounding like the hysterical Left-wing cretin that he is. Chicken-little, the sky is falling on the Blixie Chix.


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