I don't know if there's a country song called When You're In A Hole, You'd Better Stop Digging, but if there is, the Dixie Chicks might want to adopt it as their signature tune:
"The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism," Maines resumes, through gritted teeth. "Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country… I don't see why people care about patriotism."
Some much-needed perspective from one of my favourite music bloggers, who's been looking back on the original fracas
It’s necessary to recall the actual context in which the fateful remark was made. This is a tall order for most of those multi-millionaire brainiacs who work in the media and do the kinds of powder-puff interviews that the Chicks have been treated to recently...
This never had anything to do with "free speech." No one in the U.S. government tried to silence the Dixie Chicks. Congress passed no law with respect to their right to make inane statements from here to eternity. Neither did any violent thugs try to chase them off of any stage. Instead, private citizens, who found their statements and attitudes to be immature, obnoxious and repulsive, chose not to spend their money on them anymore. This included private owners of country radio stations who decided that their business was altogether better off not purveying Dixie Chick product.
...As for those morons who sent death-threats and otherwise disgusting messages to the Chicks, they displayed plenty regarding their own lack of character by doing so, but they are not representative of the greater mass of ordinary people whose chief reaction to the whole controversy was to raise their eyebrows and hold their noses.