Bush finally weighs in on the Dixie Chicks, thinks its just a complaint about record sales

PRESIDENT SPEAKS ON DIXIE CHICKS' COMMENT As everyone most probably knows by now, there has been much controversy over a comment made by Natalie Maines from the Dixie Chicks about being ashamed that the president is from their home state of Texas. In an interview with Tom Brokaw, President Bush spoke his mind about freedom of speech, using the incident as an example. "The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind," said Bush. "They can say what they want to say. They shouldn't have their feelings hurt just because some people don't want to buy their records when they speak out. You know, freedom is a two-way street. But I don't really care what the Dixie Chicks said. I want to do what I think is right for the American people, and if some singers or Hollywood stars feel like speaking out, that's fine. That's the great thing about America. It stands in stark contrast to Iraq, by the way." Either Bush is clueless or he is being deliberately deceptive because the complaints from the Chicks have nothing to do with record sales (which have been just fine thank you) but from threats on the lives of them and their families. What does Mr. Bush think of that? Is that an acceptable form of behavior in the "Land of the Free"? You know, I think Mr. Bush could go a long way towards reversing the rising trend of violent threats towards dissent if he were to simply state that such actions were not acceptable to him and that he considered them un-American. It might not completely stop the yahoos. But it might get the rest of the country to turn against the yahoos as much as they might turn against people like the Chicks. But then that might require him to actually believe those things, so don't look for him to do it any time soon.