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2003 The Dixie Chicks backlash begins
In response to the critical comments made about him by Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush offered this response: “The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind. They can say what they want to say.” Of the backlash the Dixie Chicks were then facing within the world of country music, President Bush added: “They shouldn’t have their feelings hurt just because some people don’t want to buy their records when they speak out.” This music-related sideshow to the biggest international news story of the year began on March 12, 2003, when the British newspaper The Guardian published its review of a Dixie Chicks concert at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London two nights earlier.
In that review, The Guardian‘sBetty Clarke included the following line: “‘Just so you know,’ says singer Natalie Maines, ‘we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.’” (Clarke left out the middle of the full quotation, which was, “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence. And we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.”) That line quickly became fodder for a grassroots anti-Dixie Chicks backlash. It began with thousands of phone calls flooding country-music radio stations from Denver to Nashville—calls demanding that the Dixie Chicks be removed from the stations’ playlists. Soon some of those same stations were calling for a boycott of the recent Dixie Chicks’ album and of their upcoming U.S. tour. Fellow country star Toby Keith famously joined the fray by performing in front of a backdrop that featured a gigantic image of Natalie Maines beside Saddam Hussein.
The economic and emotional impact of all this on the members of the Dixie Chicks is documented in the 2006 documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing. In its opening sequence, one can see how popular and how far from controversial the Dixie Chicks were just prior to this controversy, when they sang the national anthem at the 2003 Super Bowl. The film also captures a scene in which the Dixie Chicks’ own media handler is counseling Maines not to speak her mind too openly about President Bush in an upcoming interview with Diane Sawyer. “I’ll tell you why,” says the PR man. “He’s got sky-high approval. The war couldn’t be going better. By the time this interview airs…the looting will be done, the rebuilding of Iraq will be started….Two weeks from now, it’s going to be even a more positive situation.” And although the outcome of the war in Iraq remains unknown, the concern expressed about Maines’s outspokenness on the professional prospects of the Dixie Chicks proved to be extremely well placed.
Source: www.history.com
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Oct. 7 final day to register to vote
Oct. 7 is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 5 general election.
Voters also should double check their voter registration to make sure all the information is up-to-date. Go to votetexas.gov on the Texas Secretary of State’s website to make any address changes.
Registering to vote in Texas is easy, simply complete a voter registration application on the SOS website and return it to your county election office at least 30 days before the upcoming election date.
Fill in the required information, print and sign the complete application. At this late date it may be best to deliver the registration form in person to the election office in the courthouse annex at Montague.
Any additional information on voter registration can be seen on the county website at co.montague.tx.us, click on elections. Direct any questions to the office at 894-2540.
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Saint Jo crew works all night to repair 8-inch water main
Marty Hilton and his crew with City of Saint Jo Public Works pulled an all nighter repairing an eight-inch water main break along U.S. 82 and Boggess Street. The break was reported around noon on Wednesday. City officials said one of the hardest parts was digging on U.S. 82 and when large trucks would go by the vibrations kept making the walls fall down causing them to be dug out again. The repair was completed at 10:30 a.m. Thursday and the water turned back on. The city is under a boil order until the water tests are complete, which can’t happen until Monday when the lab reopens. (Courtesy photo)
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Local businesswoman arrested in Hood County on TABC warrant
Tawni Jones Ledbetter was arrested on July 10 by law officers in Hood County on a warrant for making a false statement to the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission.
Ledbetter was released from jail on $10,000 bond. While the former owner of The Rack lists Bowie as where she lives, she also remarried earlier this year to a man who resides in Granbury.
The TABC complaint could be handled as a misdemeanor according to the public information office, but additional details were unavailable as of presstime. The PIO indicated it depends on the specific type of case and he did not have the warrant information at the time of the call.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
CORRECTION – In the Wednesday Bowie News this article in the print edition stated Ledbetter was the owner of The Rack, this is incorrect. She is no longer owner of this business. We apologize for this error.
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