SECTION SEVEN
EMAIL PAGE FOUR

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COLUMN NINETY-THREE, JUNE 15, 2002
(Copyright © 2002 The Blacklisted Journalist)

FROM PORTSIDE
Portside (the left side in nautical parlance) is a
news, discussion and debate service of the Committees
of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. It
says it aims to provide varied material of interest to people
on the Left. Heretofore , we were  under the impression that Portside  is the Internet's voice of the Left.  But it turns out to be the Internet's voice of the fundamentalist Far-Left, which, like all fundamentalist organizations, adheres to an orthodoxy and consequently refuses to post dissident or differing opinions from within the Left---such as HATE YOUR GOVERNMENT BUT LOVE YOUR COUNTRY, available to be read in SECTION ONE of COLUMN SEVENTY.  Fundamentalists, like fascists, will not tolerate any disagreements or variations from the fundamentalist orthodoxy.

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A HIP-HOPPER SUPPORTS THE DIXIE CHICKS

Subject: I'm Patriotic, Love Hip Hop & Support Dixie Chicks
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2003 19:06:38 -0500
From: portsideMod@netscape.net
Reply-To: portside@yahoogroups.com
To: portside@yahoogroups.com

I'm Patriotic, I Love Hip Hop and I Support the Dixie Chicks 

by Davey D

I'm gonna keep this short, sweet and simple... I have no problem with what Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks
said the other week in London about being ashamed that President Bush is from Texas...

The main reason for her statement was our President was bent on going to War.. As far as I'm concerned when it comes to the issue of life and death and killings of any kind that are gonna be done in our name then we
better speak up and keep speaking up..especially if you disagree. I say No to War!..and I say No to George
Bush's approach toward resolving this conflict with Iraq...

The fact that George seems bent on ignoring world opinion has made me feel ashamed. The fact that he's
reduced the thousands of people who have come out and spoke out against this impending war to being 'special interest groups' who can be and should be dismissed has made me feel shamed.

What's even more disturbing is the fact that in a land where we are supposed to have freedom of speech and
vigorous debate over political issues is encouraged, there seemed to be a swift well organized effort to silence Natalie and the Dixie Chicks and send a strong message to anyone in the public eye that if you speak out we will use our resources, mainly radio and other corporate owned media outlets to shut you down...In short what took place was a pre-emptive strike to shut down any sort of debate or dialogue. If you don't believe this was a concerted well financed effort just look what conservative media mogul Rupert Murdock is doing with his Page 6 section of the NY Post.. He's printing a blacklist of those who are opposed to war.. he's equating opposition to loving Saddamn...That's utterly ridiculous

I guess no one had a problem when Natalie did the song 'I Believe in Love' on the America: A Tribute To Heroes TV special and soundtrack album where they expressing their sympathy about those who suffered on 9-11. I guess no one had a problem when they recorded a stirring rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner", The Dixie Chicks like many other celebrities ranging from Dr Dre to Naughty By Nature to actors George Clooney to James Earl Jones all gave time, resources and money to the 9-11 relief efforts. They all stepped up and loaned their star power to the cause..No one had a problem then..We were all together in the same boat or weren't we?

Now after the dust has cleared and people began to take a long hard look at our foreign policy and how we are seen and perceived around the rest of the world and have come to different conclusions then the ones
advocated by the Bush administration, we now have a serious problem . Now we must be banned and silenced...Now we must be labeled unpatriotic.. 

Who the hell gave anyone the right to label one patriotic or unpatriotic? If you pay your taxes, don't break any laws and partake in the Democratic process that is supported by our constitution, then we should be speaking out and making sure our voices are heard on important issues...I'm glad the Dixie Chicks did.. I support them.. And I clearly understand that they are being forced to apologize and take back their remarks and go along with the program..

Sadly even after they apologized, you still have a bunch of folks who are going out of their way to shut them down... Perhaps they feel they are exercising their Democratic Rights..Maybe they're part of this disturbing pattern to silence dissent especially from those who can sway public opinion. It sure is funny how you don't see a whole lot of celebrities leading rallies and saying Yes Let's go to War.. Only a small handful.. Perhaps they know what everyone else who gets to travel around the world knows.. We ain't doing the right thing!!!

What's even more ironic about this entire fiasco is that if things don't go to plan.. we are likely to have the Bush administrations and those who support him calling up celebrities to use their star power and donate resources to efforts designed to uplift our embattled troops or to keep an anxious American public calm.

All in all if certain radio stations wanna smash on the Dixie Chicks.. I'm gonna step up and support them along
with all the other anti-war artist who have been convientely shut down and left out of the conversation and silenced..

Although I do a weekly Hip Hop show.. expect to hear a couple of Dixie Chick songs in between mixes..What the heck we all need to expand our musical horizons anyway... Thanks Natalie for saying what many are thinking. They just don't have the public platform to be heard...And even though you apologized and all that.. we clearly understand the pressures that are being put upon you... Dixie Chicks and 50 Cent.. That's not a bad combination..

Drop the Dixie Chicks a line and let them know how you feel... I support the Dixie Chicks.. They Speak for Me!

Listed below is a list of other anti-war songs that just aren't being played by the Clear Channels, Viacoms, Infinities, Emmis', Radio Ones and other corporate media outlets of the world.. Call up your local station and ask why?

'PEACE NOT WAR' [www.peace-not-war.org][double cd compilation] WAR TIMES 'Reports From the Opposition' [Bay Area Compilation] AZEEM 'George Bush Is A Gangsta' BEASTY BOYS 'In A World Gone Mad' CHUCK D & FINE ARTS MILITIA 'Twisted Sense of God' CHUCK D & FINE ARTS
MILITIA 'Twisted Sense of God pt 2' COMPANY OF PROPHETS 'Hush' [War Times LP] CONSOLIDATED 'We Gotta Have Peace' CRACK EMCEE 'Hoeing For George' CRACK EMCEE
'Red, White & Blue' DEAD PREZ 'Know Your Enemy' DEAD PREZ & The COUP 'Get Up' DEAD PREZ 'Revolution' DIGITAL UNDERGROUND, PARIS, SWAY & TECH 'Time For Peace' DILATED PEOPLES 'War' DJ DISORIENTALIST 'Occident & Emergency' DJ SPINNA 'Fly or Burn' DJ VADIM 'Pacifist' DJ VADIM 'Ghetto Rebel' FELONIOUS 'Protest' FUNDAMENTAL 'Rape [Tactic of War]' GOAPELE 'Red, White and Blue'[War Times LP] HANNIFAH WALIDAH 'Soldierman'[War Times LP] JAHI 'Neva The Same' JAZZY JEFF AND RAHIEM 'My People' J-LIVE 'Satisfied' JURASSIC 5 'Freedom' KNOWN ASSOCIATES 'World So Cold' KOS 'Heaven Only Knows' KRS-ONE'World Peace' KRS-ONE'Stop The Violence' ME'SHELL NDEGEOCELLO 'God Bless America' MICHAEL FRANTI
& SPEARHEAD 'We Can Bomb The World to Pieces' MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD 'Water Pistol Man' MICHAEL FRANTI & DISPOSABLE HEROES 'Satanic Reverses' MR LIF 'Home of the Brave' MUD FAMILY 'Peace Not War' NAS 'Rule' NAS & JAY-Z 'Rule'rmx NAS'My Country' NO THE PIPER 'God Bless America' PARIS 'What Would You Do?' PUBLIC ENEMY 'Son of a Bush' PUBLIC ENEMY 'Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos' RED GUARD 'United We Stand' [War Times LP] SAUL WILLIAMS 'Not In Our Name' SAUL WILLIAMS 'Anti-War Freestyle' SAMANTHA LIAPES 'Masters of War' [War Times LP] TALIB KWELI 'The Proud' 

http://www.daveyd.com/commentarydixiechicks.html  ##

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