I’ve never cared about what most celebrities believe politically. I usually judge them by their talent and acting ability, and politics doesn’t usually enter in. Of course I make fun of Barbra Streisand, some due to her political views, but mainly because I don’t like anything she’s done. Often topping the list of politically charged celebrities lately are the Dixie Chicks. Now nominated for five Grammy awards, (at the time that I write this, the Grammy Awards have yet to take place) they’ve been catapulted into the limelight again, more for their anti-Bush rhetoric than their music.

Many media outlets have jumped on the chance to once again report on their favorite “bad girls” of country music. Even though they’ve been in the media spotlight for a while, everything has been reignited with their Grammy nomination. While I won’t start throwing well-deserved aspersions about the liberal media, the Dixie Chicks have enjoyed gaining great publicity from their political rantings, while they were supposed to be serious musicians.

The Dixie Chicks threw themselves into the political spotlight in 2003, when on tour in Britain promoting their album “Top of the world,” lead singer Natalie Maines commented to the crowd “Just so you know, we are ashamed the president of the United States is from the state of Texas.” The girls came home to a very unhappy listener base, and were surprised to find their former fans getting rid of their Dixie Chicks merchandise.

After taking three years to formulate and release their first new album after their jump into the partisan side of music, they’ve changed their style quite a bit, moving towards more country-rock to appeal more to the ones that aren’t quite as likely to be offended by their political babblings, even though Maines was quoted as saying “We'd rather be the rock stars of country than the lame-asses of rock.” Yet again, they contradicted themselves “We never in a million years knew people were listening to what we said. Like Emily said, we never use the stage as a place to preach our political beliefs or spiritual beliefs. And we still won't. And that's not what I was doing that night either. It seemed odd to not mention anything about what was going on, granted I mentioned it in the wrong way,” Maines said in 2003.

Despite their claims that they wouldn’t “use the stage as a place to preach our political beliefs or spiritual beliefs,” the Dixie Chicks performed in numerous “Vote for Change” concerts with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, REM, and Dave Matthews. Even though the concerts were attended quite well, they failed to pull the results the performers were hoping for. For instance, they gave six “Vote for Change” concerts in Ohio, which much to the performer’s chagrin, still went to President Bush in 2004.

Mickey Hart, former Grateful Dead member had a few words about politically charged music now. “I think people are paranoid. I think that if they speak out, they think they're gonna get whacked by the government. It's pretty oppressive now. Look at the Dixie Chicks. They got whacked.” There is much evidence that even though they’ve been outspoken against the current administration, the Dixie Chicks are still alive, selling records, and performing at the Grammy Awards show illustrates that they are far from having been “whacked.” Hart also illustrates with his quote that drugs are bad.

When asked about the Dixie Chicks’ commentary, he said “The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind. 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 ... Freedom is a two-way street. 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.”

I’ve never regarded them as good musicians, because I’ve always thought they were terrible. I’ve never liked their songs, I’ve never liked their voices, and I can vaguely remember a time whenever I heard “Goodbye Earl” that my ambitions would turn to making a real-life enactment of Grand Theft Auto 3. The fact remains that even though I regard them going overseas to begin their bashing of our President as cowardly, if I liked their music, I’d likely still listen to it. Luckily for me, that won’t be a problem with the Dixie Chicks anytime soon.