Good point on the incongruity between the Kristofferson tribute and the vitriol that began and ended the show. Johnny Cash was at the peak of his mainstream popularity when he came out against the Vietnam war. Lord knows he would’ve been Dixie Chicked if the media climate of 2003 had been around back then. They lionize him for all that he stood for while they cut down those who stand for those things today.

Once somebody is dead, you can do that. Check your kid’s history books. They’ll tell all about Martin Luther King’s civil rights leadership, and his assassination, but always skip the last couple of years of his life, when he spoke out against the war. My fifth and sixth grade students read that speech in Social Studies, and write about how he uses the gospel to make his case for ending the war.

That’s right, the gospel. I teach in a religious school. I even go to church and teach religious ed as a volunteer to public school students in the evenings. I’m opposed to war because of my faith; they’re inseparable in my understanding of Christ’s message. Foxworthy and other’s insistence that being a church-goer and pro-war are inseparable when they are actually contradictory in Christian theology borders is more than just ignorant. It’s a perversion of Christ’s message that borders on blasphemy.

That’s all for now. I’m getting splinters in my feet from the soap box!

I’ve heard no blowback (well, except this thread) from Foxworthy’s comments as you might from, say, Don Imus. Sure Don Imus was a dick that finally got what he deserved but there were consequences to his comments and the media was quick to bring those consequences to bear.

Foxworthy feels comfortable to alienate a broad segment of the American public he deems not real country fans (war protestors, Agnostics, Dixie Chicks fans) and nothing happens. The producers of the show let him go on with this rant and the media sees it and apparently is unfazed when a hick is a prick. For as down-to-earth and real as Foxworthy was trying to paint country music he sure made it come off as elitist and delusional. And if you disagree with anything Foxworthy or the rest of the flag wavers say, well, you’re just politically correct. For all tat swagger they sure seem thin-skinned to disagreement.

And all of this narrow minded bullshit on a night when one of the most open minded and Liberal members of the country music legacy (and one of the few that actually wore a uniform) was honored, Kris Kristofferson.

As for this: “I’m glad Foxworthy has a hit to pimp again. Doesn’t have to drag out the redneck jokes.” What’s negative about that? I was naive enough to think it had freed him up enough so he wouldn’t have to rely on redneck jokes.

He didn’t lose me until the jokes about Faith Hill and Dolly Parton. I actually criticized him bashing chicks before he bashed The Chicks.

I’m sorry, but if you think the Dixie Chicks and Stonewall Jackson comments were good-natured jovial kidding, you simply weren’t paying attention. And there is nothing hypocritical about criticizing Foxworthy for his horrid performance. Given people like me were the target of his “serious speech” at the end, it’s a form of self-defense. Thank God I have a blog now so I don’t have to scream at the television like I did during the 2003 CMT and ACM awards. It’s a relief to know I’m not alone in my disgust for his shameful performance.

Foxworthy isn’t writing the book on country crap, but he is taking direction on their marketing plan.

And any young artist that watches the CMT to “take the temperature of the country music audience” has one strike against them already.

One things certain, I think this thread puts to rest that country music fans aren’t thoughtful…well you two anyways.

I agree that country music isn’t the house band to the GOP as well. I personally like to keep my politics and music seperate.

Like I said in my above comment, Foxworthy wasn’t doing anything different than what other comedians do on other awards shows. He wasn’t attacking artists, he was simply using tongue in cheek humor to garner a few laughs from the audience. The same kind of jovial kidding that goes on among friends, except this time he was basing his jokes on stereotypes of the situation, hence my comment about people needing to grow thicker skin.

I never said it was okay for Foxworthy to attack anyone, which is where our difference of opinion arises, I don’t believe he was attacking anyone and I’m sorry that you felt he was. I also never said that anyone should shut up, just quit attacking those that you disagree with, it comes off as entirely hypocritical.