Just as a Teaser...

I know this has been hashed and rehashed in a lot of places, but the Dixie Chicks and the Robbins/Sarandons/Sheens of the world really need to unclench. Yes, they have the right to speak their views. And the rest of us have the right to tell them to shut their pie-holes. That isn't expecially polite of us, and maybe, just maybe, if we engaged them in dialogue we might find a common ground, and walk out in the garden of a new tommorrow. But them telling us we're a bunch of reactionary, racist, un-nuanced pigs strikes me as being more likely.





Lemme make sure I am clear. I have the right to not buy Madonna's new album because I find her Che Guevera wannabe routine offensive (as anyone who knows a bit about what Shining Path has actually accomplished in Peru should). I have the right to not see Robbins and Sarandon movies, to not watch the West Wing, to write vitriolic letters to the editor about how the Dixie Chicks are the reason to be ashamed of Texas, not President Bush. Anyone who thinks free speech comes with the right to be listened to, or even to be patiently endured, is missing the point. Anyone who speaks may be criticized. Deal.