Not-so-cute incident

My wife and daughter like country music (I like the outlaws and Dwight Yoakam, but some of the more middle of the road stuff fills me with inertia), and so that's what's typically on the radio around the house. Yesterday, my daughter asked me why her favorite group, the Dixie Chicks, weren't played anymore. So, there I was, having to explain that the Dixie Chicks had said they didn't like the president, and since the owners of most of the radio station are of the same political party as the president, they won't let anyone play the Dixie Chicks anymore. (The wife and I have confirmed this with chats with the DJs and station personnel - not to mention the swath of articles that came out when it first happened.) I then told her that this usually doesn't happen in American, and when it does, it usually means something needs to be fixed. As you have to with kids, I reassured her I did think it was going to be fixed, and that we could still play their CDs around the house.

Still, I hope we can get back to the better American I remember. And I do have hope for that. Jackson Browne wrote this song back when Ronnie and the boys where doing much the same thing, and we recovered from that. (Emphasis mine.)

For America
by Jackson Browne

As if I really didn't understand
That I was just another part of their plan
I went off looking for the promise
Believing in the Motherland
And from the comfort of a dreamer's bed
And the safety of my own head
I went on speaking of the future
While other people fought and bled

The kid I was when I first left home
Was looking for his freedom and a life of his own
But the freedom that he found wasn't quite as sweet
When the truth was known
I have prayed for America
I was made for America
It's in my blood and in my bones
By the dawn's early light
By all I know is right
We're going to reap what we have sown

As if freedom was a question of might
As if loyalty was black and white
You hear people say it all the time-
My country wrong or right
I want to know what that's got to do
With what it takes to find out what's true
With everyone from the President on down
Trying to keep it from you

The thing I wonder about the Dads and Moms
Who send their sons to the Vietnams
Will they really think their way of life
Has been protected as the next war comes?
I have prayed for America
I was made for America
Her shining dream plays in my mind
By the rockets red glare
A generation's blank stare
We better wake her up this time

The kid I was when I first left home
Was looking for his freedom and a life of his own
But the freedom that he found wasn't quite a sweet
When the truth was known
I have prayed for America
I was made for America
I can't let go till she comes around
Until the land of the free
Is awake and can see
And until her conscience has been found