The following article appeared in the August 2003 issue of Political Affairs,
the monthly journal of Communist Party USA:

Of Dixie Chicks and Chickenhawks

By Joel Wendland, Managing Editor of PA

Let's get a couple of things straight: burning books and sheet music, and
banning musicians and other artists, is the sort of thing fascists enjoyed doing
in Nazi Germany.  Burning cd's, running them over with tractors, or encouraging
children to stomp them into little pieces is not much different.  Today, right-
wing politicians getting mileage by bashing the country music trio the Dixie
Chicks is not much different in kind from what the fascists in Germany and Italy
did.  That is the basic truth.

I've never been a fan of the Dixie Chicks, but I've always supported people
courageous enough to stand for peace -- even in saying that one is ashamed of
the president.  In this case, being ashamed of an almost elected, bumbling,
lying, super-privileged, sexist, racist, fundamentalist, with pretensions to
global domination, is no crime.  It's only human.

Those who have attacked the Dixie Chicks are part of the crowd that prefers uni-
formity to plurality.  They want to erase all difference to preserve the facade
of religious and racial purity and the reality of the overwhelming power of the
rich.  They don't like to be confronted with the brutality of the deeds they
support.

They burn crosses and wield batons and pepper spray against civilians.  They
would fire 41 shots into an innocent in a heartbeat.  They steal pensions to
line their pockets.  They destroy thousands of lives in distant countries for
black gold.  They'll secretly fund a thug like Saddam Hussein and then later
send someone else's children to try to kill him.  They poison your water, the
air and your food to fatten the bottom line.

They'll kill an innocent person "legally" to get re-elected.  They'll get off
scot-free on a DUI charge or cocaine abuse (because of their race and riches),
but they'll demand that the poor and people of color get locked up for life.

They'll give you the finger for saying, "Stop bombing innocents over there," but
laugh as another thug bombs a woman's health clinic.  They also think it's funny
to use phrases like, "Nuke 'em all," or "It's war, civilians are bound to get
killed," or "put a single bullet in his head."

They are the ones who, when asked if they plan to join the service to fight for
their country, say, "I have a cyst on my butt," or "I prefer making millions in
the corporate world," or "Don't they already have enough poor people doing
that?"  They'd turn in their family and friends to the authorities for having
different opinions.

They are afraid when "those" people move into the neighborhood.  They say that
white people shouldn't have to compete against people of color (in a culture of
competition) for jobs, government contracts and university admissions.  "Those
jobs, contracts and admissions slots belong to us!" they say.

They try to destroy unions by pitting Black and Brown against white, Americans
against anyone else.  They are the ones who move jobs overseas and pressure eco-
nomically strangled governments to stop unions from organizing with lethal
force.  They'll sit idly by as their employees kill working-class leaders --
"Just for the Taste of It."

They are the ones who say the sick and the poor and the unemployed are to blame.
"Let's give more tax cuts to the rich."  They are the ones who demand billions
for armaments and nothing for more fair housing, for education, for health care,
for jobs, for clean air, for simple justice.

There's a lot of talk about traitors and the enemies of the American people.  If
the choice is between the Dixie Chicks and the Chickenhawks, thinking people
will take a closer look.

From their recent album, Home, the Dixie Chicks sing:

I believe in love
Love that's real, love that's strong
Love that lives on and on
Yes I believe in love

Not treasonous.  Not heroic.  Just human.


Retyped from paper magazine by Michael Sokolov.  Any typos are mine.