“Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States id from Texas.” This quote was said by Natalie Maines on March 10, 2003 in their convert in London. The crowd cheered her on and laughed about her comment. Although, after the concert this was all over the news and she was being criticized for what she said and how it was negative. Just because Natalie Maines said that comment it hurt her other two group members, Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison but they hadn’t really said if they agreed to this comment or not.
Natalie made a comment the next day and Maines said, “I feel the president is ignoring the opinion of many in the U.S. and alienating the rest of the world. My comments were made in frustration, and one of the privileges of being an American is you are free to voice your own point of view.”
She also apologized to President Bush because of what she said and here is another quote Maines said, “As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect. We are currently in Europe and witnessing a huge anti-American sentiment as a result of the perceived rush to war. While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers' lives are lost. I love my country. I am a proud American."
Kanye West also spoke out about George Bush and he said, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.”This comment was made after Katrina in August of 2005. The Press people set up a poll asking, "Do you think George W. Bush does - or does not - care about black people?" Among blacks, 21 percent say he does and 72 percent say he doesn’t. Among whites, 67 percent say he does and 26 percent say he doesn’t. Overall, 62 percent say he does and 31 percent say he doesn't. As you can see black people obviously are against George Bush and think he doesn’t care about them and most of the white people think he does care about black people. Kanye West was criticized at first but afterwards this was quickly forgotten by people.
Here is a video of what he said...
Pink also spoke out against George Bush in her song called Mr. President. This song was not approved for release as a single in the U.S but Pink was more pleased by the response from her fans and other people and who have created their own videos to accompany it for online broadcaster YouTube. Pink said, "I've been crying my eyes out watching the videos on YouTube (online broadcaster) - that song has a life of its own now. The Civil Liberties Union has now got involved because a 10-year-old was banned from performing it at her elementary school." Pink was glad her fans responded positively and didn’t really care about if they don’t broadcast her song on the TV or radios.
As you can kind of tell, all these three situations were handled absolutely differently. When Natalie spoke out about Bush the media took it harsh on her and made it a big deal and their whole career almost ended just because of one group member who made this one comment. The Dixie Chicks probably got criticized like this because this was probably the first time they said something that offended some people and George Bush. On the other hand, whatever Pink says people don’t really care as much because people have grown to know Pink as a girl who says whatever is on her mind and mostly likely always tells the truth. Kanye West makes a big deal about some things like on the VMAs how he got less time to perform on stage and how Brittany Spears got more time on the stage than him. He is always complaining about something and I assume he will never stop. All three of these artists are different types of singers and have different audiences. Natalie’s comment about Bush was taken to the top unlike Kanye West’s comment about George Bush not caring about black people which was more controversial.
Work Cited
"CBS News." Dixie Chicks Slammed For Bush Gibe. 14 March, 2003. 8 Jan 2008 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/15/entertainment/main544132.shtml.
Dan, Froomkin. "Was Kanye West Right?." 13 September, 2005. 8 Jan 2008 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/09/13/BL2005091300884_pf.html.
Easton, Jake. "Tablod Column." Dixie Chicks. 23 April 2003. 8 Jan 2008 http://www.tabloidcolumn.com/dixie-chicks.html.
"The Blacklisted Jounalalist." The Dixie Chickens. 2003. 8 Jan 2008 http://www.bigmagic.com/pages/blackj/column90d.html.
