"He was asked about the end of the war in Iraq, and he said, 'Freedom is a beautiful thing and these people now have a right to speak and we've given them that'," recalls Maines. "It was everything he should have said when he was asked about us." That might be a bit much to expect, don't you think? But it would have looked much better had Bush been magnanimous about it.

As I have said all along that I disagreee with Maines' original statement: it was pandering to the crowd in England and in poor taste on the verge of war. But it also wasn't that big a deal. It never should have blossomed into a feeding frenzy, the media bans were completely unwarranted and dispicable, and the issue was clearly wrung for all it was worth by pro-war, pro-Bush, and those who wanted to avail themselves of these feelings (Clear Channel) elements.

I have no problem with individual radio stations reacting (wussing out) to legitimate complaints by actual listeners, but sweeping bans across hundreds of stations by corporate fiat in hope of currying political favor is reason alone to break up the chains. And for Keith and other country music establishment elements to latch on to this to rouse the rabble is worse pandering than the original Chicks' statement.

I still think Maines has problems with coherency but I admire her gumption, and for the Chicks to turn this into a free speech matter is perspicacious and more legitimate than not, given the treatment they have received. Rock on Chickies.

For some perspective on how this issue gripped the nation, check out the 433 comments on the subject on this post, the 146 comments posted here as recently as this month, and another 132 posted here.