Pop artists and censorship of anti-war efforts

I’m glad that there is finally some coverage of popular media artists who are coming to the defense of the Dixie Chicks. There appears to be a coordinated effort to keep them off the air (which, given that Clear Channel owns so many of the radio stations in the country is actually possible), and they have received all sorts of harassment, including death threats. This because Natalie Maines actually suggested she was embarrassed by the actions of our president. Even Bruce Springsteen has weighed in. Mike Peters’ has a sharp editorial cartoon (4/28/03 if it’s no longer at this site). Also powerful is Tim Robbins’ speech before the National Press Club on April 15th. Even Entertainment Weekly has commented on the stupidity and anti-Americanness of stifling such airing of political opinion. (I won’t link to them, however, because they just took the odious step of making their site no longer accessible for free.)