Phil Robertson - Duck Dynasty

[letzrockexpress]

Not really. Shut Up and Sing was the strong sentiment of their fan base and the name of a documentary. Trailer above, full movie here: Shut Up & Sing on Vimeo

I see. Had you made the post I was referring to I could say, oh, ok... because, well, you're a bit more evolved.

 

[aristotle]

Natalie Maines attended three colleges in three years for a total of four semsters, and despite getting a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, she dropped out before completion of the diploma program. Not smart.

Phil Robertson has a bachelors degree in physical education and a masters degree in education. Smart.

At the height of the Dixie Chicks' popularity, Natalie Maines flushed down the toilet her career and the careers of her bandmates with an incredibly ill-timed and stupid political statement made on foreign soil. Since then, her and the Dixie Chicks' record and merchandising sales have been a scant fraction of what it was. Natalie's most recent album, Mother, debuted on the Billboard Top 200 chart at #7, but 6 weeks later it has fallen to #99. Emily and Martie's duo effort, Court Yard Hounds, debuted on the Top 200 at #7, but has steadily fallen over the past 12 weeks on the chart to #192. The single from the album, Amelita, debuted two weeks ago #70, and there it sits for the second week.

At the height of Phil's multi-million dollar Duck Commander duck hunting business, he expanded into deer hunting supplies, sold three reality televisions shows, and marketed related merchandise from Duck Dynasty and Duck Commander underwear to bobbleheads to camouflaged Segways to posters, watches, toy trucks, camo chairs, clothing, jewellery and even bottle openers, worth $400 million a year, of which the family splits ten percent of that, plus $200,000 per episode of the show.

Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas Album is currently #5 on the Billboard Top 200 (up from #16 last week), #3 on the Digital Album chart (up from #15 last week), and #1 on the Billboard Top Country (up from #2 last week) and #1 Top Holiday Albums charts (was #1 last week).

Entrepreneurship as practiced by Phil Robertson should be celebrated. He did build his own companies, slowly over decades and without government assistance insofar as I can ascertain. Phil's rags-to-riches success would have made Horatio Alger cheer.

In a similar vein, we lost a local entrepreneur here in central Kentucky recently. RJ Corman of railroad fame passed away in August.

The ballad of Richard Jay Corman - Fortune Management

 

[letzrockexpress]

And I am stating this with NO Male Chauvinistic characterization whatsoever.............

Oh, of course not....

 

[letzrockexpress]

Entrepreneurship as practiced by Phil Robertson should be celebrated. He did build his own companies, slowly over decades and without government assistance insofar as I can ascertain. Phil's rags-to-riches success would have made Horatio Alger cheer.

In a similar vein, we lost a local entrepreneur here in central Kentucky recently. www.kentucky.com/2013/12/03/2967661/rj-corman-estate-worth-an

Donald Trump built an empire too. He started with a mere $250,000.. but in comparison he did much the same thing. He is worth more than a Billion... Good for Phil and Don.

 

[Brisco]

If you want to measure his success in dollars and cents ( yeah I know, most of us do) I guess that is impressive. He is marketing it to dopes anyhow.

Liberal Thinking at it's finest................JUDGING other people in General.

I happen to own a Camouflage Jacket just exactly as the ones Duck Dynasty markets.........does that make me a Dope too???

Oooops.............Don't answer that..............

Natalie Maines made a stand for something she believed. Foreign soil? Why is that more offensive than if she said it at the Alamo Dome? If that correlates to the sale of this guy's stuff then that just proves my point about who buys it.

Because she would have never never had the Guts to say what she did in front of a Bunch of "Texans". From what has been said in the past over this.........Her and the Girls had been talking with French Reporters earlier that day and there was a huge sentiment against Bush and the War in Iraq. So when she got in front of a bunch French Wussies..........NOT American Patriots..........she played the Crowd as it wanted to be played. And...........it Cost Her Dearly..........Do you Really THINK she would have gotten the reception she got over in France over those 12 Little Words if she had Uttered those 12 Little Words at The Alama Dome?????

Probably Not...................That whole Group would've Probably had to have an Armed Escort out of Texas if she had said those words here in Texas first.....................

 

[Turtle]

Being smart and being smart enough to jump through someone else's hoops is not the same thing. It doesn't necessarily translate.

No, it doesn't, but in this case it appears that it does. If she had stayed in school long enough to get a degree, it might have taught her that jumping through someone else's hoops might be the best way to get what you want, instead of wanting to get everything based on emotions. It might have taught her that what she was about to say, where she was about to say it, wasn't the smartest thing to say at the time.

Natalie Maines made a stand for something she believed. Foreign soil? Why is that more offensive than if she said it at the Alamo Dome?

Because she directed her criticism of the US and the president towards "y'all" on foreign soil, and did so based on the protests and outrage in that country and especially at the theater over the impending invasion of Iraq. That smacks a little too closely of treason for many Americans and it immediately brought to mind the treason that Jane Fonda perpetrated on foreign soil during Viet Nam.

I do think it's ironic that she toppled the Dixie Chicks when they were on top of the world, during their Top of the World Tour. And, did it at the Sheperd's Bush Empire Theater.

 

[letzrockexpress]

Liberal Thinking at it's finest................JUDGING other people in General.

Not sure how that's liberal thinking but then I'm not sure what defines liberal thinking.

I happen to own a Camouflage Jacket just exactly as the ones Duck Dynasty markets.........does that make me a Dope too???

I don't know, does it? I wasn't speaking of the products per se', just the way they are promoted.

Do you Really THINK she would have gotten the reception she got over in France over those 12 Little Words if she had Uttered those 12 Little Words at The Alama Dome?????

Probably Not...................That whole Group would've Probably had to have an Armed Escort out of Texas if she had said those words here in Texas first.....................

Beats me.. Sounds a little intolerant though...

How about that lateral file? How much?

 

[letzrockexpress]

No, it doesn't, but in this case it appears that it does. If she had stayed in school long enough to get a degree, it might have taught her that jumping through someone else's hoops might be the best way to get what you want, instead of wanting to get everything based on emotions. It might have taught her that what she was about to say, where she was about to say it, wasn't the smartest thing to say at the time.

Not measurable.

Because she directed her criticism of the US and the president towards "y'all" on foreign soil, and did so based on the protests and outrage in that country and especially at the theater over the impending invasion of Iraq. That smacks a little too closely of treason for many Americans and it immediately brought to mind the treason that Jane Fonda perpetrated on foreign soil during Viet Nam.

I do think it's ironic that she toppled the Dixie Chicks when they were on top of the world, during their Top of the World Tour. And, did it at the Sheperd's Bush Empire Theater.

Treason? Nope. Don't think so.

trea.son: the crime of trying to overthrow your country's government or of helping your country's enemies during war

 

[x06col]

Oh, of course not....

The only real problem I see with this is......the interviewer when granted the interview, didn't make sure they would like the answers to the questions.

Moral: If you think you may not like the answer.....don't ask the question.

 

[Turtle]

Not measurable.

Actually it is. She was given a full ride scholarship to Berklee, at the time worth about $63,000 per semester. She walked away from that for three backup vocal gigs on records that her father produced, which is incredibly stupid.

Treason? Nope. Don't think so.

A very large segment of the America population disagrees with you. People at home were criticizing the war and Bush, and everyone viewed that as the right of free speech. But when you go to a foreign country and do it, everything changes.

trea.son: the crime of trying to overthrow your country's government or of helping your country's enemies during war

More or less, but it's actually defined in the US Constitution as in levying War against the US, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. When you're in a foreign country who is against the war, and you state that you're with them "on the good side" during a time of war, and you criticize the US and its president in the same statement, then you are by definition adhering to the enemies of the US, and by extension giving them aid. The American people took a swift, dim view of that.

 

[WanderngFool]

One thing is for sure with this whole kerfuffle. Messing with the Tea Party when it comes to the national debt or health care or the debt ceiling or gay marriage or legalization of marijuana is one thing, but when you go messing with their favorite tv show Thems Fightin' Words!!!

 

[Pilgrim]

The only real problem I see with this is......the interviewer when granted the interview, didn't make sure they would like the answers to the questions.

Moral: If you think you may not like the answer.....don't ask the question.

The interviewer was from GQ - and it's highly likely that he and his handlers knew what questions they wanted to ask going in, and what answers they would get. They got exactly what they hoped for, and it's been a resounding success. When was the last time GQ got anywhere near this kind of publicity on a national scale? On top of that, hardly anyone had heard of this twerp that did the interview and article before he did Phil Robertson. This is the first home run GQ has hit in a long time.

 

[RLENT]

and that is what Cost HER....and those 2 Sisters their Musical Career.

If you were any more ill-informed it might be truly pitiable ... as it is, it's largely just hilarious:

As of 2012, Dixie Chicks had won 13 Grammy Awards, including five in 2007 for Taking the Long Way—which received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year—and "Not Ready to Make Nice", a single from that album. By May 2013, with 30.5 million certified albums sold, and sales of 27.2 million albums in the U.S. alone, they had become the top selling all-female band and biggest selling country group in the U.S. during the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991–present).

Dixie Chicks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

10 years later, Dixie Chicks right all along - CNN.com

 

[Brisco]

If you were any more ill-informed it might be truly pitiable ... as it is, it's largely just hilarious:

"Ill Informed" FACTS from your own Links below...........

Dixie Chicks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maines' remark sparked intense criticism;[43] media commentators claimed that she should not criticize President Bush on foreign soil. Maines responded, "I said it there 'cause that's where I was."[44]

The comment by Maines angered many country music fans and was financially damaging. Following the uproar and the start of a boycott of Dixie Chicks' music, which, in turn, caused Dixie Chicks' cover of the Stevie Nicks song "Landslide" to fall sharply from No. 10 down to 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 in a single week. It dropped out of the entire chart the following week. Maines attempted to clarify matters on March 12 by saying, "I feel the President is ignoring the opinions of many in the U.S. and alienating the rest of the world."[45]

The statement failed to appease her critics, and Maines issued an apology on March 14: "As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect

In a September 2003 interview, band member Martie Maguire told the German magazine Der Spiegel: "We don't feel a part of the country scene any longer, it can't be our home anymore." She noted a lack of support from country stars..............

The same year, the American Red Cross refused a $1 million promotional partnership from Dixie Chicks.[64] The organization did not publicize the refusal; it was revealed by the Chicks themselves......

The Dixie Chicks controversy made it impossible for the American Red Cross to associate itself with the band because such association would have violated two of the founding principles of the organization: impartiality and neutrality ...

What has the band done since the Little Fat One ran her mouth??

Well.....Really..........Nothing of any Value.....Substance.....Etc.

Hell.......even this year....they chose NOT to Tour in America.........

On August 18, 2013, Dixie Chicks announced their first full length tour since 2007, the Long Time Gone Tour. The tour visited various cities across Canada in 013. The tour will also incorporate the C2C: Country to Country festival held in London during March 2014.

I'd pretty much say they are Country Music "Has Beens"......."Wash Outs".......that once had the World at Their Feet.............until that regretful day the Little Fat One.........


As for this:

10 years later, Dixie Chicks right all along - CNN.com

Like........Yeah.........Right...........This Guys "Commentarial OPINION carries a LOT of Weight with Main Stream America...........

Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com.

A Gay Sportswriter Commentating about has been Country Music Stars..........

We're really going to Pay Close attention to this................


Don't you have some Propaganda to attend to???

 

[RLENT]

More or less, but it's actually defined in the US Constitution as in levying War against the US, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. When you're in a foreign country who is against the war, and you state that you're with them "on the good side" during a time of war, and you criticize the US and its president in the same statement, then you are by definition adhering to the enemies of the US, and by extension giving them aid.

Not according to Supreme Court Justice Robert_H._Jackson (who was also the Chief US Prosecutor at Nuremburg) who wrote the majority opinion in Cramer v. United States:

... The forefathers also had suffered from disloyalty. Success of the Revolution had been threatened by the adherence of a considerable part of the population to the King. The Continental Congress adopted a resolution after a report by its 'Committee on Spies' which in effect declared that all persons residing within any colony owed allegiance to it, and that if any such persons adhered to the King of Great Britain, giving him aid and comfort, they were guilty of treason, and which urged the colonies to pass laws for punishment of such offenders 'as shall be provably attainted of open deed.' Many of the colonies complied, and a variety of laws, mostly modeled on English law, resulted. Some of the legislation in later years became so broad and loose as to make treason of mere utterance of opinion ...

... The idea that loyalty will ultimately be given to a government only so long as it deserves loyalty and that opposition to its abuses is not treason has made our government tolerant of opposition based on differences of opinion that in some parts of the world would have kept the hangman busy. But the basic law of treason in this country was framed by men who, as we have seen, were taught by experience and by history to fear abuse of the treason charge almost as much as they feared treason itself. The interplay in the Convention of their two fears accounts for the problem which faces us today ...

... The concern uppermost in the framers' minds, that mere mental attitudes or expressions should not be treason, influenced both definition of the crime and procedure for its trial ...

... Treason of adherence to an enemy was old in the law. It consisted of breaking allegiance to one's own King by forming an attachment to his enemy. Its scope was comprehensive, its requirements indeterminate. It might be predicated on intellecutal or emotional sympathy with the for, or merely lack of zeal in the cause of one's own country. That was not the kind of disloyalty the framers thought should constitute treason. They promptly accepted the proposal to restrict it to cases where also there was conduct which was 'giving them aid and comfort.'


'Aid and comfort' was defined by Lord Reading in the Casement trial comprehensively, as it should be, and yet probably with as much precision as the nature of the matter will permit: '... an act which strengthens or tends to strengthen the enemies of the King in the conduct of a war against the King, that is in law the giving of aid and comfort' and 'an act which weakens or tends to weaken the power of the King and of the country to resist or to attack the enemies of the King and the country ... is ... giving of aid and comfort.' Lord Reading explained it, as we think one must, in terms of an 'act.' It is not easy, if indeed possible, to think of a way in which 'aid and comfort' and be 'given' to an enemy except by some kind of action. Its very nature partakes of a deed or physical activity as opposed to a mental operation.

Thus the crime of treason consists of two elements: adherence to the enemy; and rendering him aid and comfort. A citizen intellectually or emotionally may favor the enemy and harbor sympathies or convictions disloyal to this country's policy or interest, but so long as he commits no act of aid and comfort to the enemy, there is no treason. On the other hand, a citizen may take actions, which do aid and comfort the enemy - making a speech critical of the government or opposing its measures, profiteering, striking in defense plants or essential work, and the hundred other things which impair our cohesion and diminish our strength - but if there is no adherence to the enemy in this, if there is no intent to betray, there is no treason.

Complete ruling, including majority and dissenting opinion:

FindLaw | Cases and Codes

The American people took a swift, dim view of that.

The American people are, quite often, idiots ...

 

[RLENT]

"Ill Informed" FACTS from your own Links below...

You're cherry-picking derogatory facts ... which have little real bearing on the validity of your premise which I was responding to:

"and that is what Cost HER....and those 2 Sisters their Musical Career."

Clearly, they still do have musical careers - so your original premise was false.

One might argue that their (existing) musical careers are not what they might have been - but that wasn't what you did.

What has the band done since the Little Fat One ran her mouth??

You ought to know - since it appears you at least made an effort to click the link and read some of it ... while apparently ignoring the parts that don't support your agenda ...

Well.....Really..........Nothing of any Value.....Substance.....Etc.

Let the beclownment continue:

On March 16, 2006, Dixie Chicks released the single "Not Ready to Make Nice" in advance of their upcoming album. Written by Dixie Chicks and songwriter Dan Wilson, it directly addressed the political controversy that had surrounded the group for the previous three years ...

Taking the Long Way debuted at number one on both the U.S. pop albums chart and the U.S. country albums chart, selling 526,000 copies in the first week (the year's second-best such total for any country act) and making it a gold record within its first week, despite having little or no airplay in areas that had once embraced them. The Chicks became the first female band in chart history to have three albums debut at No. 1.

How many boxes of paper clips do you figure you'd have to sell to generate the income they made off the album above ?

Hell.......even this year....they chose NOT to Tour in America...

Actually, that's not accurate either - but I suppose we can chalk that up to furniture salespeople from Hurst, TX being geographically-challenged and ignorant ...

(Hint: While it is not in 'Murreka, Canada is actually in North "America" ... Nimrod)

I'd pretty much say they are Country Music "Has Beens"......."Wash Outs".......that once had the World at Their Feet.............until that regretful day the Little Fat One.........

Well, I'd have to say I disagree - since they are still busy doing music (including country) ... and not flipping burgers ... or trying to hustle lateral files and used office chairs ...

As for this:

10 years later, Dixie Chicks right all along - CNN.com

Like........Yeah.........Right...........This Guys "Commentarial OPINION carries a LOT of Weight with Main Stream America ...

His opinion probably carries far more weight than yours ... after all, he works as a commentator for ESPN/CNN, and you're shuckin' manila folders in suburbia ...

And on the matter of the Iraq War, you are clearly in the minority ... by a landslide:

Popular opinion in the United States on the invasion of Iraq - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So it seems that by and large the majority of the people in the US might well agree with the premise of the article.

Don't you have some Propaganda to attend to?

Propaganda always plays second-fiddle to exposing and/or pointing out ignorance and stupidity ...

 

[letzrockexpress]

Actually it is. She was given a full ride scholarship to Berklee, at the time worth about $63,000 per semester. She walked away from that for three backup vocal gigs on records that her father produced, which is incredibly stupid.

Maybe. Maybe not. Yes she left. She has since claimed many times she has no regrets about it. The thing is for every John Mayer or Elliot Easton who graduates from Berklee there are 100 more who we never heard of and probably never will. I know of an accomplished trombonist who attended a semi-prestigious music conservatory in Cincinnati and holds an advanced degree who eventually chose a very different path.

A very large segment of the America population disagrees with you.

I'm quite accustomed to being in this position. Disagree they may but it doesn't make them correct.

People at home were criticizing the war and Bush, and everyone viewed that as the right of free speech. But when you go to a foreign country and do it, everything changes.

So "they" say but I've never felt that way. That's a bunch of hogwash made up by some gungho war monger.

More or less, but it's actually defined in the US Constitution as in levying War against the US, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. When you're in a foreign country who is against the war, and you state that you're with them "on the good side" during a time of war, and you criticize the US and its president in the same statement, then you are by definition adhering to the enemies of the US, and by extension giving them aid. The American people took a swift, dim view of that.

Natalie's statement, any way you construe it, did not aid an enemy. That's absurd..

 

[letzrockexpress]

"Ill Informed" FACTS from your own Links below...........

Dixie Chicks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




What has the band done since the Little Fat One ran her mouth??

Well.....Really..........Nothing of any Value.....Substance.....Etc.

Hell.......even this year....they chose NOT to Tour in America.........





I'd pretty much say they are Country Music "Has Beens"......."Wash Outs".......that once had the World at Their Feet.............until that regretful day the Little Fat One.........


As for this:

10 years later, Dixie Chicks right all along - CNN.com

Like........Yeah.........Right...........This Guys "Commentarial OPINION carries a LOT of Weight with Main Stream America...........



A Gay Sportswriter Commentating about has been Country Music Stars..........

We're really going to Pay Close attention to this................


Don't you have some Propaganda to attend to???

The truth is they wouldn't likely be doing anything in mainstream country music today no matter what. Have you turned on the radio lately? That crap they push as country music is nothing more than watered down garbage pop with a little fake twang added. Other than few good musicians it's all garbage. Brad Paisley is about the only decent musician left. These clowns who stand up on stage and howl along to a recorded track are glorified karaoke singers. the real musicians have moved on to independent labels and the Americana movement. When is the last time you heard Marty Stuart or Willie Nelson on the radio? The money isn't in recording. It never really was but it's even worse now. The Dixie Chicks are just fine.Natalie, by her own admission, never considered herself country anyway. One of those sisters ( I forget their names) is married to Charlie Robison who has a great career going. she has no desire to tour anymore. Natalie lives in Malibu, married to a TV producer, and has no real need to tour anymore either. That London gaff happened a long time ago. In this 24/7 news world we live in, hardly anybody remembers or cares.

 

[aristotle]

Natalie Maines' comments made abroad were considered treasonous in the US court of public opinion. Not treason de jure, but treason de facto. The majority of her previous fan base were smart enough to realize her words sowed dissension at home during a time of war. War at its root is about survival.

In such a struggle, one doesn't undermine the home team without consequences. Maines' foolish words might have strengthened the resolve of our adversaries or weakened the resolve of our allies.

Granted, the war in Iraq was a lop-sided event. The United States has the advantage of military superiority is almost all scenarios. Because of this relative safety, war and its direct impact is an abstract exercise for most US residents. For the US military personnel who fight on our behalf, Maines' words could have inadvertently led to American casualties.

Reduced to simpler terms, it is a form of tribal betrayal. In earlier times, such actions often got settled at the gallows.

 

[letzrockexpress]

Natalie Maines' comments made abroad were considered treasonous in the US court of public opinion. Not treason de jure, but treason de facto. The majority of her previous fan base were smart enough to realize her words sowed dissension at home during a time of war. War at its root is about survival.

In such a struggle, one doesn't undermine the home team without consequences. Maines' foolish words might have strengthened the resolve of our adversaries or weakened the resolve of our allies.

Granted, the war in Iraq was a lop-sided event. The United States has the advantage of military superiority is almost all scenarios. Because of this relative safety, war and its direct impact is an abstract exercise for most US residents. For the US military personnel who fight on our behalf, Maines' words could have inadvertently led to American casualties.

Reduced to simpler terms, it is a form of tribal betrayal. In earlier times, such actions often got settled at the gallows.

Undermine the home team? Nonsense. Complete Absurdity. A downright foolish synopsis of what Natalie Maines said. The court of public opinion? Not hardly. Perhaps the court of redneck clowns who blindly follow a leader so long as he claims to be a conservative. This thread has clearly jumped the shark.