To ban artists from the radio sets this nation back decades to the dark and ugly days of McCarthyism. I find it amazing that a mere 800 people can voice their disagreement with Natalie Maines’ statement to a radio station, and they remove their music from the airwaves, yet the same radio station ignores the 8,000 people who air their voices in disagreement with their policy of short and limited playlists. There were many people offended by Toby Keith and now Darryl Worley’s "Have You Forgotten." Have there been any demands to have their music removed from the airwaves? No, they are just as entitled to air their opinions, and those people who disagree with them simply flip the station, do not buy their music or attend their concerts. Just as there are some people that were offended by Natalie Maines’ remark, there are others that were not offended, and those people should be afforded the same rights, and those that do not wish to hear The Chicks are free to flip the station. Radio stations may be owned privately, however, the actual airwaves belong to the public according to the FCC laws.

The freedom of speech is a two-way street and is not a randomly selective one. Anything to the contrary is what is truly ‘UN-American,’ ‘unpatriotic’ and ‘treasonous.’ I can rattle off hundreds of quotations throughout history from philosophers, great statesmen, diplomats, and war heroes, who say that debate, dissent, and questioning and challenging authority is a natural human instinct, and necessary for the ongoing evolution and existence of mankind. To put it another way, during the Civil War, which side was ‘more’ American, the north or the south? Were both sides not just as American? Today, do we view either side as not being American? No matter which side of the issues that face us today you are on, the one thing we all agree on unanimously, is the well being of our troops and the hope they will return safely to their loved ones. To disagree with the policy and reason they are there, has nothing to do with not supporting our troops. Our soldiers do not make policy and send themselves off to war. These are two very separate issues, and to think one has anything to do with the other  is illogical and purely insane.

Mr. Malone is very correct in his statements that blanket assumptions are not only arrogant, but incorrect and rarely reflect any majority. The ‘powers that own’ are constantly trying to dissect, pinpoint, profile and put us all into neat little slots with their endless research, polls and assorted surveys. They haven’t gotten it right yet, we’re a slippery bunch of very diverse creatures that defy being pigeonholed as anything in particular. They merely keep perpetuating the very stereotype they are trying to rid country music of, one of those stereotypes being that the country music audience is historically and notoriously ultra-conservative. Perhaps at one time it was historically true, but it hasn’t been that way for at least three decades, and has been even less the case within the past few years. There are segments that are politically conservative to varying degrees, segments that are liberal to varying degrees, and there’s yet another segment, most likely the largest one, that are neither and fall somewhere in the middle.

I suggest you read Mr. Malone’s statements and give them careful thought. Think about the past and the reason teachers were given something called tenure. Think about the suffragettes who fought for the rights of women to have a voice in this government. Think about the Civil Rights Movement in the 60's. Think about losing a job because your personal opinions differed with those of your boss. Think about being harassed, having rocks thrown through your window, until you were forced to leave your home simply because your personal opinions differed with those of your neighbors. Think about what it would do to your family, to your children, to have your name slandered by a group of hateful people simply because they disagreed with your personal opinions. Think about someone hauling you off in the middle of the night for an opinion you posted on a message board. Soldiers may need to defend those rights every so often, but it is the American people who are ultimately responsible for protecting them on a daily basis. Natalie Maines is just the beginning. Where is America heading if these attempts to permanently stifle voices of dissent, and opposing viewpoints are treated with such hateful intolerance? It ceases to be America.

Mr. Bill C. Malone’s statements: