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DON’T QUESTION IT

Dixie Chick Natalie Maines on patriotism, 2003:

I guess on some level I feel like me speaking out, not only that particular statement, but here today, is the most patriotic thing I can do.

Dixie Chick Natalie Maines on patriotism, 2006:

I don’t understand the necessity for patriotism. Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country … I don’t see why people care about patriotism.

As Thomas Jefferson said: “Not caring about patriotism is the ... er ... greatest form of patriotism.”

UPDATE. Maines is from Lubbock, Texas. I spotted a Fiat 850 Spider rusting among other vehicles in someone’s front yard on Lubbock’s outskirts about 15 years ago. Anyone know if it’s still there?

Posted by Tim B. on 06/17/2006 at 10:11 AM
  1. Does this mean that she doesn’t support the troops if they don’t not shoot their officers?

    Posted by andycanuck on 2006 06 17 at 10:20 AM • permalink

  2. Well Natalie, had you been fortunate enough to have been born in Iraq someone would have shoved a 60mm mortar round into that gaping maw of yours the first time you popped off.  What an utter dolt. She’s almost as ridiculously nasty as Miranda Divide.  Does she really think she’d like where she lives if no one had bothered to protect it in the 1st place?  She should be paying British taxes.

    Posted by Texas Bob on 2006 06 17 at 10:23 AM • permalink

  3. Natalie hasn’t been the same, since that ‘run in’ with that bull. Actually she wanted the relationship to continue, the bull is the one that stamped out, NO.

    Posted by El Cid on 2006 06 17 at 10:24 AM • permalink

  4. The common wisdom about Natalie Maines is that she is a big mouth who never got along with anybody anywhere.  Like all big mouths, she should be (and would be in polite society) ignored.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2006 06 17 at 10:27 AM • permalink

  5. I think that is my favorite of Jefferson’s quotes.

    Posted by aaron_ on 2006 06 17 at 10:27 AM • permalink

  6. “It was the bullying and the scare factor,” shudders banjo and guitar player Robison. “It was like the McCarthy days, and it was almost like the country was unrecognisable.”

    Quick tell us WHICH McCarthy? And if you guessed Eugene, you are absolutely correct, it was almost like the country was unrecognisable.

    Posted by El Cid on 2006 06 17 at 10:33 AM • permalink

  7. Wow!  Talk about memories.  I bought a Fiat 850 Spyder for my wife in 1970.  It was a 5-speed manual, and she rode the clutch and lugged it around town in the higher gears so much she wore out the clutch in under 30,000 and burned out the valves at about the same time. 

    I pulled the engine (only one motor mount, as I remember) and went to replace the valves when I discovered I didn’t have any valve guides small enough.  I had to borrow a set from a guy who repaired small gas engines (Tecumseh, etc).  The intakes were about the size of a dime and the exhausts about the size of a nickel.

    It ran well enough (although you really should have a mechanic on duty 24/7) but I just couldn’t convince the wife to drop to a lower gear when driving around town.  So, I sold it (cheap) to my brother-in-law and bought her something with an automatic.

    The brother-in-law was only slightly a better driver, but the car was no longer my problem.  Last time I saw it (around 1973) it was sitting alongsied a two-lane blacktop in Western Illinois, but I suppose someone may have managed to drag it to Texas somehow.

    ;->=

    Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2006 06 17 at 10:34 AM • permalink

  8. Tim ... Fiats and ferrous oxide are synonymous ... you’re off better looking in Lubbock for a pile of rust ...

    Posted by Stevo on 2006 06 17 at 10:37 AM • permalink

  9. Fix It Again, Tony.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2006 06 17 at 10:44 AM • permalink

  10. Oops ... forgot ... my cousin in the Shire in southern Sydney has a late 60s Fiat Spyder convertible ... he restored it, and of course, it is red.  Funny thing is, he’s a motor mechanic, but the car spends more time being repaired than on the road ... must be an Italian thing ... temperamental ...

    Posted by Stevo on 2006 06 17 at 10:56 AM • permalink

  11. Natalie the short (and wider) version: “Hey, if ‘patriotism’ won’t bring in the bucks, screw patriotism…”

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 06 17 at 11:08 AM • permalink

  12. Too right, richard.  Pandering and projection seem to go hand in hand with leftie artists.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 06 17 at 11:11 AM • permalink

  13. I’ve owned two 850’s and I prefer to describe them as an “adventure” to drive than to suggest they are some form of Catholic punishment that requires you to get down on your hands and knees weekly and pray to them. OK - well maybe more than weekly….

    Posted by Renate on 2006 06 17 at 11:16 AM • permalink

  14. I don’t understand the necessity for patriotism. Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country … I don’t see why people care about patriotism.

    Professor Maines may be confusing patriotism with nationalism, or could even be expressing a preference for parochialism over the idea of the nation as a civil society having certain unifying features that transcend merely local characteristics and affinities. Or she could just be as dumb as a stump.

    Posted by paco on 2006 06 17 at 11:38 AM • permalink

  15. Dumb as a stump ...

    Posted by Stevo on 2006 06 17 at 11:41 AM • permalink

  16. Found Inside Armadillo, Texas?

    Posted by Pat Patterson on 2006 06 17 at 11:49 AM • permalink

  17. Why do you have to be a patriot?

    If you turn the other cheek to the thugs, he gets you, but then goes on to get the next guy too, until he runs into a patriot.

    Being a patriot is feeling called on to do something about the matter.

    If you don’t like the Iraq policy in question, the right target is the policy, not the patriot.

    It’s nice if you don’t actively undermine the policy, however ; that is, making it harder for it to work than it otherwise would be.

    Be a little selective about how you disagree.  That would show patriotism too.

    Posted by rhhardin on 2006 06 17 at 12:15 PM • permalink

  18. I vote stump.

    Posted by kcom on 2006 06 17 at 12:24 PM • permalink

  19. Are rocks dumber than stumps? If they are…I’m goin’ with rocks.

    Posted by El Cid on 2006 06 17 at 12:35 PM • permalink

  20. Well if its a stump, that’s one mighty large knot hole.

    And to think I actually used to enjoy their music. Now when I see a photo of Maines all I’d like to do is see if I really could shove a whole canoe in that bear cave she calls a mouth.

    Posted by Texas Bob on 2006 06 17 at 12:58 PM • permalink

  21. 1.  It is now the reverse of the Samuel Johnson quote, to wit:  “The last refuge of a scoundrel is ANTI-patriotism”.
    2.  The greatest thing about the old 850 Spyder is it could go anywhere, I used to wander around the upper Cascades where only dirt bikers and serious Jeeps went, and the that little guy would just go.  High ground clearance and a rear engine.  And unlike VW’s, it actually had a heater… Fun, but really slow.

    Posted by Cliff on 2006 06 17 at 01:21 PM • permalink

  22. Hmmm
    Maines in close proximity to a 60mm mortar.  Eliminationism achieved.  Target rich.

    Andycanuck.  The only thing she supports is the local donut shop.  A symbiotic relationship of sorts.

    Posted by yojimbo on 2006 06 17 at 02:12 PM • permalink

  23. Maines & Co once again make their remarks for foreign consumption. How are those concert ticket sales going stateside, girls? Hmmmmm? Oh, not that great, you say? That’s too bad. Well, I’m sure these fresh quotes will help tremendously. Or, maybe, just maybe, you could try this: Shut Up and Sing.

    Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2006 06 17 at 02:51 PM • permalink

  24. Natalie must have been consulted on the new Superman flick.  S-man now stands for “truth, justice, and ....” fluffy things?
    The new PC Superman

    Posted by Patricia on 2006 06 17 at 03:05 PM • permalink

  25. I spotted a Fiat 850 Spider rusting among other vehicles in someone’s front yard on Lubbock’s outskirts about 15 years ago. Anyone know if it’s still there?

    I’ve never been to Texas, but my brother-in-law has a disassembled Triumph GT6 stored behind his dad’s garage.

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2006 06 17 at 03:20 PM • permalink

  26. “Truth and Justice and all that is Good.”

    Patricia, you have depressed me with that link.  Even Supes is pc and boring now…?

    Posted by ushie on 2006 06 17 at 03:33 PM • permalink

  27. “Truth and Justice and all that is Good.”

    So they’re saying that “the American Way” = “all that is good.”

    I’m cool with that.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2006 06 17 at 03:46 PM • permalink

  28. Feeble
    Italian
    Attempt at
    Transportation

    Posted by VKI on 2006 06 17 at 03:47 PM • permalink

  29. “Truth and Justice and all that is Good.”

    That’s one movie I won’t be watching until I can catch it on HBO in a hotel room.  And then only to cure my jet lag.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 06 17 at 04:07 PM • permalink

  30. I really, really pray that movie flops.  I have little hope left for our civilization; please give me bad box office so I can retain one sliver of hope.

    Posted by Patricia on 2006 06 17 at 04:31 PM • permalink

  31. I never did get the big deal about Superman. He’s practically indestructable—in order to get any drama into the story you have to bring in some Kryptonite. Dull.

    Likewise, I never did get what was the big deal about the Dixie Chicks. They are at best of middling talent and their biggest hit was a remake of a dreary Fleetwood Mac song. They’re like the Madonna of country pop. I’m guessing the only reason they stay in the news is the “outrage” of Natalie Maines’ commonplace “views.” Yawn.

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2006 06 17 at 04:31 PM • permalink

  32. Funny about Fiats.  I had a Fiat 1500 Spider back in the late 1960’s.  I put 60K miles on that thing and never had a problem at all.  Finally some lady ran a stop sign and just kept going.  I moved from the right lane to the middle lane to the left lane to the left turn lane and finally even into the median and she hit the side of the car right behind the door hard enough to bend the frame.  I got a scratched knee and a ruined car.  All my friends who had Fiats had problems with them but I never had any problems at all.  Just lucky, I guess.  I would love to have another one of those if I could be sure of the same kind of luck.  Drove well, rode well, handled well and would even start out in 5th gear from a dead stop.

    As for Natalie Maines, she should just STFU and go away.

    Posted by dick on 2006 06 17 at 04:40 PM • permalink

  33. A Fiat 850 Spyder was hands-down the worst car we ever owned. The 124 Spider we owned just before it was the most fun to drive. As long as it wasn’t raining, at which point the alternator left for vacation, or somewhere that we and the car weren’t.

    Dadblamed electrics…cheap knock-off copy of Joseph Lucas’ worst.

    Odd though, one of my favorites was the ‘61 Morris Minor convertible. At least it was easy to work on, and it never gave us any electrical trouble at all.

    Posted by steveH on 2006 06 17 at 05:49 PM • permalink

  34. I never did get what was the big deal about the Dixie Chicks.

    Great lead singer, they play in tune, musically interesting tunes.

    Imus played them all the time, so his sports reporter mixed in Dixie Chick songs onto loser’s locker room interview cuts.  As a result I heard a lot of them.

    Posted by rhhardin on 2006 06 17 at 06:30 PM • permalink

  35. Fix It Again, Tony. (and various others posted)

    Not that anyone’s going to care, but along that same line of thinking the standard German version is “Fehler In Allen Teilen” (failures in all parts)...

    Posted by PW on 2006 06 17 at 06:53 PM • permalink

  36. Andrea, I used to be a huge Superman fan, until my mid-teen years.  And then I read “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex”, by Larry Niven. 

    That’s when I Saw The Light, and understood The Awful Truth that Superman was a fake.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 06 17 at 07:42 PM • permalink

  37. *sigh*  see, stuff like this is why i ended up leaving texas: they started letting folks from michigan & massachusetts come in, with their fancy ideas and their newfangled laws and their rules about not drowning halfwit twits like maines at birth…...

    may as well make it official: change the name of the place to baja minnesota and get everyone together for a group hug.

    still, even though it’s now all “against the law” and stuff to beat some sense into that silly cow and her little band, texans can still shun them, which they do seem to be doing, don’t they. although it must be said this ain’t exactly showing the spirit of the alamo, it’s what’s left of what used to be texas. 

    as i said, “*sigh*”.


    as far as the fiat thing goes, having grown up in west texas, we know from not-so-good cars. only reason a fiat would be in lubbock texas is if the poor bastard who got stuck with it owner had somehow lost a bet; or was undergoing some bizarre initiation ritual.

    Posted by jimmy quest on 2006 06 17 at 09:11 PM • permalink

  38. … I don’t see why people care about patriotism.

    I could not imagine waking up every day in a country I did not love. I’m sure Aussies can relate.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2006 06 17 at 10:15 PM • permalink

  39. “As for Natalie Maines, she should just STFU and go away.”

    I’ll second that with the slight adjustment of “sing” in place of “go away”. If I wanted to hear a great singer mouth idiotic politics, I’d go for Streisand and skip the DC altogether.

    Posted by JerryS on 2006 06 17 at 11:52 PM • permalink

  40. Who knew that the “wide open spaces” Maines was referring to in the DC song with that title, was Maines’ mouth?

    Posted by JerryS on 2006 06 17 at 11:54 PM • permalink

  41. “Great lead singer, they play in tune, musically interesting tunes.”

    Maines sings like a little girl in a school talent show, no one should get special kudoes for playing in tune any more than one should get a reward for not pooping in the street, and as for “musically interesting tunes,” you have got to be joking.

    Still, people have an unaccountable fascination with bland, dull, plodding, mediocre pop songs. They’ll listen to the Dixie Chicks or Madonna or that Britney Spears person bleat their three-minute jingles and act like they’ve been listening to Handel’s Messiah. And people wonder why I live alone.

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2006 06 18 at 12:16 AM • permalink

  42. Andrea; There’s still hope.  Get a Shirelles album quick.

    Posted by Pat Patterson on 2006 06 18 at 01:00 AM • permalink

  43. Aww, cut Fiat some slack. You gotta love a company with a sense of humor big enough to make a car called a Punto.

    Posted by Texas Bob on 2006 06 18 at 03:39 AM • permalink

  44. And they own Alfa Romeo, whose products are a welcome departure from boring, ubiquitous Teutonic efficiency.

    Posted by James Waterton on 2006 06 18 at 04:51 AM • permalink

  45. Dixie Chicks scored an own goal by starring on the ABC’s aptly titled “Saturday Night Country” last week..

    Posted by crash on 2006 06 18 at 08:53 AM • permalink

  46. We used to just hang, or burn, or skewer, or even in the not too distant past, shoot folk like that PC DC idiot.

    But, we had to go and get all “civilized” and gentlefied and now they’ve been breeding amongst themselves and spawning more of their ilk…and look at us now, ain’t we a happy bunch?

    Posted by Grimmy on 2006 06 18 at 09:47 AM • permalink

  47. Andrea Harris — I always figgered you for more of a “Red-Neck Woman” fan…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 06 18 at 09:53 PM • permalink

  48. #47: Andrea! He didn’t mean it! He overdid the mead-and-Everclear zombies and his brain got a little boiled, that’s all. Heh. Could have happened to anybody. Why, Wronwright got a little tight a couple of days ago and you should have heard the things he was saying about you. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but I think Hank Williams, Jr., and paddles figured into it. Let this be a lesson to you gentlemen: if you drink, don’t blog.

    Posted by paco on 2006 06 18 at 10:05 PM • permalink

  49. Natalie Maines . . . . is she the fat one?

    Posted by Oafish and Infantile on 2006 06 18 at 11:24 PM • permalink

  50. Paco — We talkin’ ‘bout the same Redneck Woman, bo?

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 06 19 at 12:38 AM • permalink

  51. #50: Yeah, I can see the character described in the lyrics as a kind of Nashville Boudicca; let’s hope the refined Andrea will appreciate the comparison.

    Posted by paco on 2006 06 19 at 08:52 AM • permalink

  52. Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country … I don’t see why people care about patriotism.

    Well, Maybe she should ask immigrants why they are more patriotic than those who take religious/economic and political freedoms for granted.

    Posted by tioedong on 2006 06 19 at 09:21 AM • permalink

  53. The Fiat probably landed in Lubbock by way of a Texas Tech coed whose daddy bought her the car because it was cute. I don’t think it will rust away because of the West Texas climate. Probably sand blasted from the dust storms.
    By the way Buddy Holley was from Lubbock and is honored there. Lubbock has a fairly rich history of songsters. But I doubt Natalie will ever achieve any status in that town.

    Posted by bc on 2006 06 19 at 10:36 AM • permalink

  54. Maines sings like a little girl in a school talent show….

    That nailed it.  Thank you, Andrea.

    Posted by Rittenhouse on 2006 06 21 at 11:41 PM • permalink

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