Friday, December 29, 2006
Person of the Year: Natalie Maines
Being one of the oldest political blogs on the Net comes with its responsibilities, none of which we take seriously. But this year we've interrupted our holiday drinking to recognize our Person of the Year.
Our choice is not an obvious one. She's not a politician, a business leader, or an educator. She doesn't cure disease, clothe or feed the poor (well, maybe she does, who knows?), and she didn't expose the meanness and shallowness of the President to an entire nation.
But Natalie Maines did something precious few Americans did: she spoke up, then stuck to her guns:
Instead we got more of the same sort of disingenuous toadying that allowed a small group of delusional ideologues and pathological liars to lead the country into a disastrous, unnecessary war, and hurtling towards financial ruin.
In other words, one little slip of a girl has more heart and more stones than the entire mainstream news media. And for that, Natalie Maines is 201k's Person of the Year for 2006.
Our choice is not an obvious one. She's not a politician, a business leader, or an educator. She doesn't cure disease, clothe or feed the poor (well, maybe she does, who knows?), and she didn't expose the meanness and shallowness of the President to an entire nation.
But Natalie Maines did something precious few Americans did: she spoke up, then stuck to her guns:
- Now that she's truly notorious, having told a London audience in 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas," Maines has one regret: the apology she offered George W. Bush at the onset of her infamy. "I apologized for disrespecting the office of the President," says Maines. "But I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever."
"If people are going to ask me to apologize based on who I am," says Maines, "I don't know what to do about that. I can't change who I am."
As proof, the first single from the Dixie Chicks' new album, Taking the Long Way (out May 23), is called Not Ready to Make Nice. It is, as one country radio programmer says, "a four-minute f___-you to the format and our listeners. I like the Chicks, and I won't play it."
...it's tough to deny that by gambling their careers, three Texas women have the biggest balls in American music.
Instead we got more of the same sort of disingenuous toadying that allowed a small group of delusional ideologues and pathological liars to lead the country into a disastrous, unnecessary war, and hurtling towards financial ruin.
In other words, one little slip of a girl has more heart and more stones than the entire mainstream news media. And for that, Natalie Maines is 201k's Person of the Year for 2006.
