As Nigel reported here on May 22, Natalie Maines wore a shirt with "F.U.T.K" during her May 21 performance at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Although I disagreed with her assessment of the war and Bush that caused all the original flap, the reaction was way overblown, and the self-righteous puds in the country industry and the grandstanding douchebags at Clear Channel who amplified fan "outrage" out of any semblance of reality, should be booted in the ass repeatedly.

Regarding Natalie Maines: I love that little shit! She can't keep her mouth shut to save her life, she absolutely cannot not refrain from agitating and instigating no matter what is at stake. She reminds me of myself. Also, as my brother mentioned yesterday, Toby Keith is just a novelty singer working up the jingoists into a lather and tilting at straw Chicks. Equating silly Natalie with evil babyraper Saddam Hussein is a bit, um, heavy-handed. No wonder she wore the shirt:

For WXTU Philadelphia assistant program director/music director Cadillac Jack, Maines' shirt was the show's only disappointment. "With all the patriotism in the air that night, it was a downer and completely unnecessary," he says. "I was disappointed with them yet again."

"Just when you think it's safe to add the Chicks back into rotation," KZKX Lincoln, Nebraska, PD Brian Jennings says. "Oh, Natalie, why do you make it so hard to love you?"

KSCS Dallas assistant PD/music director Chris Huff calls the awards show "a perfect opportunity for the Chicks to showcase their music, and unfortunately it's now all overshadowed by four letters. No one's talking about the song they performed. They're talking about the four letters Natalie chose to wear on her shirt. How anyone could believe such an act would be a prudent move is totally beyond me."

KTEX Brownsville, Texas, PD Jo-Jo Cerda says, "I was hoping that sometime soon we would be able to put this Dixie Chicks thing behind us. Unfortunately, the can of worms has just been reopened. I know a lot of KTEX listeners were ready to move on, but now there has been a national display against one of the more popular performers in our format. Maines might as well have taken another jab at Bush."

....In his concerts, Keith has been showing on big screens behind the stage the doctored photo of Maines and Saddam Hussein that began circulating on the Internet a few months ago after Maines criticized Bush. [Billboard]

Now Bush and Toby Keith are equivalent sacrosanct figures?? You radio paragons of virtue have the power to put it behind you - just put it behind you buttplug. If you are so enamored of rugged American individualism, then show the young woman some respect for standing up to the big Ford Truck shill - give her some respect for spunk, punk.

UPDATE
There's more - it's congenital or something:

The Chicks had to cancel Sunday's (June 1) show in Cleveland due to lead singer Natalie Maines' sore throat, but she told the sold-out Palace audience [the next night], "I am so glad I got my voice back for tonight. I had absolutely no voice yesterday--and I swear you could hear clapping from the Oval Office." It was the only time during the evening when boos could be heard from the crowd.[Launch]

It's like Tourette's Syndrome - she can't help herself.