This thread, and the subject matter it contains, the variety of opinions on it, and the freedom to express all of them openly, is why I love the US and the free and open democratic process.

My father, not the worlds greatest thinker, but a keen observer of social anthropology, put it this way: "If two people look the same, talk the same, and think the same, one of 'em ain't necessary."

That makes the Dixie Chicks, agree with them or not, idiots or not, unpatriotic or not, eminently necessary.

I stand corrected, I was not aware of the apology from 3 years ago. I did find this pretty funny snippet of a fake apology on Snopes.com tho:

As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I now realize that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect.

I hope everyone understands, I'm just a young girl who grew up in Texas. As far back as I can remember, I heard people say they were ashamed of President Clinton. I saw bumper stickers calling him everything from a pothead to a murderer. I heard people on the radio and tv like Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott bad mouthing the President and ridiculing his wife and daughter at every opportunity.

I heard LOTS of people disrespecting the President. So I guess I just assumed it was acceptable behavior.

But now, thanks to the thousands of angry people who want radio stations to boycott our music because criticizing the President is unpatriotic, I realize it's wrong to have a liberal opinion if you're a country music artist. I guess I should have thought about that before deciding to play music that attracts hypocritical red necks.

I also realize now that I'm supposed to just sing and look cute so our fans won't have anything to upset them while they're cheating on their wives or getting in drunken bar fights or driving around in their pickup trucks shooting highway signs and small animals.

And most important of all, I realize that it's wrong for a celebrity to voice a political opinion, unless they're Charlie Daniels, Clint Black, Merle Haggard, Barbara Mandrell, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, Travis Tritt, Hank Williams Jr, Amy Grant, Larry Gatlin, Crystal Gayle, Reba McEntire, Lee Greenwood, Lorrie Morgan, Anita Bryant, Mike Oldfield, Ted Nugent, Wayne Newton, Dick Clark, Jay Leno, Drew Carey, Dixie Carter, Victoria Jackson, Charleton Heston, Fred Thompson, Ben Stein, Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Bo Derek, Rick Schroeder, George Will, Pat Buchanan, Bill O'Reilly, Joe Rogan, Delta Burke, Robert Conrad or Jesse Ventura.

God Bless America,
Natalie

Here's the snopes link:

Well, I believe in the democratic process, but I'd prefer the state in which I live to be a republic rather than a monarchy. So I'm a democrat AND a republican.... GO PEROT!!!!

Or something.

In principle I agree, in practice the idea of a President Beckham makes me want to slash my wrists.

The problem is that McCain has to suck up to the religious right nutballs in order to get Republican backing fo 08. He hadn't done so until recently, and one can only hope that he is doing it simply because it has to be done if he wants to get elected, and not because he has all of a sudden become a born again bushophile. I guess it's a bit of a gamble that someone would have to make before voting for him - is the real (i.e., the guy of the last 10 years) McCain going to be in the White House, or will he continue to let religious nutballs dictate policy?

No one that the Dems can offer could unite the country, and unless someone steps up from the Repub side I can't see any alternative to McCain (as far as a pres that both sides could get along with).

BTW, I am talking about this McCain when I say the 'McCain of the last 10 years'. He is anti abortion and pro intelligent design but I can live with a couple of bad ideas when weighed against the good stuff (campaign finance, etc).

If Rudy Giuliani decides to run then that could be ok as well, I think he'd have a decent amount of democratic support too.