President Bashing - Okay or Not okay?
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Not Ready to Make Nice
Back in 2003, the lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, said something that shocked the nation. She merely said, "we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." Her reason for saying this is because she did not agree with his going forward with the war in Iraq. A week before President Bush actually launched the Iraqi invasion, she added that she felt he was ignoring the opinions of many Americans. Sure, we all have freedom of speech. This was just one girl's opinion, right?
Obviously not! These statements resulted in what was supposed to be a 3 year boycott from radio, which was extremely devastating to the girl band's musical career. Now, over 8 years later, we are still not really hearing them on country radio stations.
The Dixie Chicks did come back in 2006 with a new album featuring the song "Not Ready to Make Nice" which did very well, but in my point of view, the band never fully recovered from the simple words that were said about our president.
Are You Ready for Some Football?
A more recent president bashing came from none other than ESPN's "Are You Ready for Some Football" singer, Hank Williams Jr. His words were, "It would be like Hitler playing golf with Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli leader)." This statement was his comparison to President Obama's golf trip with House Speaker, John Boehner. When asked to explain himself, WIlliams said that all he meant was that it was an odd pairing. He said that Obama and Boehner were "polar opposites and it made no sense." Unluckily for him, the damage had already been done. Merely using a metaphor where Obama and Hitler were compared shook the nation.
ESPN was quick to fire Hank WIlliams, Jr. without hesitation. The station also decided that to be sure that he was no longer linked to them, they should also pull his famous Monday Nigh Football theme song from the air, and just like that, no more "Are You Ready for Some Football?".
Georgia Bush
In 2006, Lil Wayne, rap icon, released a presidential bashing on his new album. In the song, "Georgia Bush", the rapper does a lot of talking about our president at the time, and not in a good way. The entire song basically blames President Bush for the damage in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. The song suggests that George W. Bush was responsible for the levee breaking. It says that explosives were heard going off, and that is why the levees broke. Lil Wayne even went as far as to say, "man, f**k the police and President Georgia…Bush!".
So why wasn't this taken more seriously? Is it because it wasn't stated in a speech but rapped in a song? If you ask me, his words seem to be much harsher than the words of the Dixie Chicks and Hank Williams, Jr. combined!
Where Should We Draw the Line?
These are just 3 examples of famous people (all singers) who have bashed our president in front of the world. Two of the three dealt with serious consequences while the other just slid away without even being noticed.
I'm sure there are many other people who have either spoken or sung about the President of the United States without any consequences, as well.
So, what do you think? Do you think it was right for the Dixie Chicks to be boycotted? for Hank Williams, Jr. to be fired?
Do you think it is okay to president bash through song?
I think this is a valid topic that should be discussed. Where should the line be drawn? Who has freedom of speech and who does not? And is it ever okay to speak our not so great opinions of our President publicly?
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Ultimately we live in a consumers'market. All three examples are of people engaged in the private sector entertainment business. As consumers, we exercise a freedom of choice on the basis of what we like and what we don't like. That should be the basis of punishment in a free speech society. We are free to speak our minds but we are also accountable for what we say. In the case, of the Dixie Chicks, I had followed the early members of the band since the time they were playing street corners as an unheard of group. After Maines made her comments, I put their CDs in my collection away and have not played one of them since. Whether everyone who attended that show agreed, I don't know but I would guess Maines knew that being in Europe gave her a more socialist audience. Regardless, it turned it me off totally as a consumer and I have exercised my rights to disregard their existence as enteratainers. WB
Although we are given the freedom of speech, it is still not right to publicly bash a president or anyone for that matter. However, we really can't contain the anger of some people who are so disappointed with the government. They are those who can't handle/control their emotions. They have to somehow release their anger through whatever measure that suit them. They just have to be ready to face the consequences of their action.
We do have the freedom of speech, if the only people the government is going to listen to is the one's that are singers, rappers, or actors then I believe by all means let them speak up without recourse. If I were to stand and speak about my husband's treatment with his PTSD no one will hear me, but if someone in the entertainment world stands up and speaks they will listen.
I believe we all have the right to bash the President, or any of our other employees in Washington! I also believe, as someone else already noted, that we should expect to be held accountable for what we do and say.
Natalie Maines (with whom I happen to agree), Lil' Wayne and that knucklehead Hank Jr. all have the right to speak their minds. And they all should be prepared for any public backlash they may create. It's part of the give and take of public discourse.
Thank you all for reading and commenting! I am really enjoying everyone's point of view of on the issue!
dahoglund Level 7 Commenter 5 months ago
I think what people found a problem with when the Dixie Chicks bashed Bush is they did it outside of the country so it amounted to bashing our country.They also did it during a concert. People pay down their money to hear a concert and not the politics of the performers. It is an insult to the fans.
As far as the rapper I suggest he take some courses in political science