Cowboy, Take Me Away! or Cowboy, Go Away!
So I'm going to see the Dixie Chicks and James Taylor this week. I'm very excited. Like James Taylor and respect his musical genius emmesely, but really I LOVE the Dixie Chicks. I don't know, there's just something fabulous about a girl band. I've been a big fan since the beginning, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the politics plays into things as well. I know me getting into politics, it's a stretch!
Anyway the concert is part of a tour put together by www.moveon.org to help rally resistance to Bush and gain support for Kerry in major swing states such as Missouri, where we will be attending the concert. So progressive artists getting together for a night of rocking the house, all effort going to the goal of ending all the Bushit in the White house. Hopefully they will help carry out the Bush family traditions of one-term presidencies and send the mad cowboy disease back to Texas.
Speaking of the Dixie Chicks, George the 2nd and Texas, does anyone remember that whole thing where the Chicks said they were embarassed that George Bush was from Texas? That turned into a crazy mess. All of sudden, the Dixie Chicks were anti-American and disrespecting our troops. Then the next thing you know Clear Channel and Cumulus Radio stations are holding Pro-War rallies and banning the Dixie Chicks from getting play time on their radio stations.
I think we have stumbled upon a bigger issue here. Perhaps instead of having heated discussion about whether the Dixie Chicks should have their constitutional right to free speech, we should have been talking about multimillionare businessmen controlling what the American people can and cannot hear over public radio waves.
According to the New York Times, Clear Channel owns over 1,200 radio stations across the country and Cumulus owns over 240 major market stations. Odds are if you are listening to commercial radio, you are listening to one of these companies. While Culumus Media banned the Chicks ouright from all their stations for an "extended cooling off period," Clear Channel said the final decision to play or not to play was left to the individual stations, and they were not keeping track of what each one decided. According to the same New York Times article it appears that most industry insiders find this statement highly suspect because Clear Channel is "notorious for ironfisted centralized control" over its subcompanies. Perhaps that's why they didn't have to write out an official order banning the Dixie Chicks, the mere suggestion of it was enough to get the job done at most of the stations it owned.
Then again I guess that footing the bill of over 25 pro-war rallies where bulldozers smashed tons of Dixie Chicks' CD's sent a pretty clear message from Culumus and Clear Channel as well. From a business standpoint it was probably a pretty good move. I mean you only cut off the civil liberties of three women and tightened the Soviet-like censorship of the American listening audience, and in return you get the unwavering support of the President, who by the way was made a multimillionare when Clear Channel's Vice-chairman bought the Texas Rangers from him. Incidently this President also wields tremendous influence over the FCC, which is considering further deregulation of laws that currently prohibit companies like Clear Channel from expanding to take over more radio stations and buying out the many TV companies they have their eye on.
In other words , follow the money! Quick Recap: Clear Channel Vice Chairman makes George W. really rich, he then uses this money to buy a Presidential victory, he then supports changing laws in order to allow his buddies at Clear Channel to own a majority of the airwaves, the buddies then refuse to play records of artists who have the courage to dissent, George Bush gets a clear path through public opinion, and the corporate heads get the green light on more money. Everyone ends up richer, and the American public is none the wiser. Who is going to tell them what even happened? Remember, the radio stations not only control the music; they also control the news.
This crazy plot ends up with a concert in Missouri where yours truly sings "Goodbye Earl" while wearing an "I'm a Proud Democrat!" T-shirt.
Forever yours!
Rachild
Anyway the concert is part of a tour put together by www.moveon.org to help rally resistance to Bush and gain support for Kerry in major swing states such as Missouri, where we will be attending the concert. So progressive artists getting together for a night of rocking the house, all effort going to the goal of ending all the Bushit in the White house. Hopefully they will help carry out the Bush family traditions of one-term presidencies and send the mad cowboy disease back to Texas.
Speaking of the Dixie Chicks, George the 2nd and Texas, does anyone remember that whole thing where the Chicks said they were embarassed that George Bush was from Texas? That turned into a crazy mess. All of sudden, the Dixie Chicks were anti-American and disrespecting our troops. Then the next thing you know Clear Channel and Cumulus Radio stations are holding Pro-War rallies and banning the Dixie Chicks from getting play time on their radio stations.
I think we have stumbled upon a bigger issue here. Perhaps instead of having heated discussion about whether the Dixie Chicks should have their constitutional right to free speech, we should have been talking about multimillionare businessmen controlling what the American people can and cannot hear over public radio waves.
According to the New York Times, Clear Channel owns over 1,200 radio stations across the country and Cumulus owns over 240 major market stations. Odds are if you are listening to commercial radio, you are listening to one of these companies. While Culumus Media banned the Chicks ouright from all their stations for an "extended cooling off period," Clear Channel said the final decision to play or not to play was left to the individual stations, and they were not keeping track of what each one decided. According to the same New York Times article it appears that most industry insiders find this statement highly suspect because Clear Channel is "notorious for ironfisted centralized control" over its subcompanies. Perhaps that's why they didn't have to write out an official order banning the Dixie Chicks, the mere suggestion of it was enough to get the job done at most of the stations it owned.
Then again I guess that footing the bill of over 25 pro-war rallies where bulldozers smashed tons of Dixie Chicks' CD's sent a pretty clear message from Culumus and Clear Channel as well. From a business standpoint it was probably a pretty good move. I mean you only cut off the civil liberties of three women and tightened the Soviet-like censorship of the American listening audience, and in return you get the unwavering support of the President, who by the way was made a multimillionare when Clear Channel's Vice-chairman bought the Texas Rangers from him. Incidently this President also wields tremendous influence over the FCC, which is considering further deregulation of laws that currently prohibit companies like Clear Channel from expanding to take over more radio stations and buying out the many TV companies they have their eye on.
In other words , follow the money! Quick Recap: Clear Channel Vice Chairman makes George W. really rich, he then uses this money to buy a Presidential victory, he then supports changing laws in order to allow his buddies at Clear Channel to own a majority of the airwaves, the buddies then refuse to play records of artists who have the courage to dissent, George Bush gets a clear path through public opinion, and the corporate heads get the green light on more money. Everyone ends up richer, and the American public is none the wiser. Who is going to tell them what even happened? Remember, the radio stations not only control the music; they also control the news.
This crazy plot ends up with a concert in Missouri where yours truly sings "Goodbye Earl" while wearing an "I'm a Proud Democrat!" T-shirt.
Forever yours!
Rachild
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