Comments on Meet the New Dixie Chicks
Freedom.
Freedom of Speech is one of the freedoms and liberties we Americans hold dear.
Americans will never live in Fear, but will stand up for our rights and liberties and show that we are made of sterner stuff than those who Fear want.
And that we stand for Truth, Justice, and the American Middle Class way of life, no matter what the ultra-rich want.
International terminal gift shops at all US airports should sell "I Did Not Vote For Bush" t-shirts. They'd clean up.
When traveling abroad I always wear a t-shirt saying "I did not vote for Bush". It gets you laid and free booze.
It was an international tournament which takes place in different host countires on, presumably, a rotation, so would the same act be insulting if the host country had been, say, France?What if it had been held in someplace neutral like Swizterland or an International House of Pancakes?
I think the bridge federation or whatever they're called trying to grind their own members under their wheels is more un-American than expressing hatred for Bush could ever be.
What a bitter bunch.
I'm particularly disturbed by this quote:
It calls for a one-year suspension from federation events, including the World Bridge Olympiad next year in Beijing; a one-year probation after that suspension; 200 hours of community service “that furthers the interests of organized bridge”; and an apology drafted by the federation’s lawyer.
It would also require them to write a statement telling “who broached the idea of displaying the sign, when the idea was adopted, etc.”
They have to 'name names' and sign an apology they didn't even write? Welcome to the New World Order.
Natalie @7, there's a name for this. It's McCarthyism.
i don't see anyplace where the organization is attempting to squelch the freedom of speech. politicizing a non-political event could be considered rude. what's difficult about that?
these players felt it was worth it to get a certain message across. now the organizers have to deal with issues they really didn't want to.
and for what? because they want people to know something about them. "we didn't vote for bush." that just means, please don't hate us personally, or, we're not idiots. a more inspiring message would be, "End the occupation," or "stop torture", or, "bring the troops home safely."
or maybe they just wanted some free booze.
@8 - I was going to say that, but then McCarthy didn't have to get up off his knees and take his sponsor's phallus out of his mouth in order to issue a statement decrying uppity underlings. That's the difference, I think.
@9: Controversy over choice of forum and the bridge organization's tacit support of the players' political views would be rationally debatable and possibly defensible positions. However, the US Bridge Federation didn't cite those normal, sane reasons for their actions. They chose to support their discipline by citing China's hostility towards free speech, a laughably bizarre justification for an American organization to try and squelch the rights of its American members.
You would think they were busted for sneaking that man at far right into the tournament rather than their political stance.
it is somewhat surprising they'd think the chinese found this offensive. i'm pretty sure most of them didn't vote for bush either.
Well, considering the Chinese Government owns about a Gazillion U.S. dollars worth of our foreign debt, I suppose not wanting to piss them off would be some sort of rationalization -
- if it weren't for the fact this is a freaking "federation" devoted to a boring card game.
I mean, if this were the American Banking Society, or The Association of Bridge Players Who Work At The Federal Reserve, then MAYBE I could understand their sense of dismay...
They can't go to the World Bridge Olympiad? Whoa, dude, that's harsh!
Hey, I know, let's start our own bridge foundation. Drag bridge - now there's an idea whose time has come. Dan can host.
What the fuck? The Stranger isn't pro-Chinese? You had me fooled! Half your Slog articles are in support of pro-Communist Corporate bullshit aimed at putting down democracy. Isn't China your model culture? Go figure!?!
If anyone wants to e-mail the board of directors and the president of the federation personally to tell them how stupid they are, a quick google search found that their e-mail addresses are still up on the web, here: http://usbf.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=97&Itemid=57 . Personally, I'd rather send the women a statement of support, but had to settle for pointing and laughing at the board of directors.
I'm sure the e-mail addresses will be gone as soon as they check their e-mail and can contact their webmaster, so act now while there's still a chance they might read it!
You can voice your opinion to Jan Martel, President of the USBF at:
Postal Address
1511 Portola Street
CA 95616 Davis
Telephone
+1-530-758 4088
Fax
+1-901-398 7754
Email
usbf.president@acbl.org
janmartel@comcast.net
Web site
http://www.usbf.org/
I'm currently living in China and can assure people that Bush isn't any more popular here than the rest of the world. I can't imagine that the Chinese government would be seriously upset by this, they love to point out the very real problems with the U.S (as well as some fictitious one's) to draw attention away from their own very real problem
In case it's not clear I'm strongly imposed to both Chinese Dictatorship and the Bush dictatorship. After spending the last two years in China I do appreciate the fact that we atleast can criticize Bush, I would hate for that to change.
Maybe the ladies were looking to get laid? At any rate, they should be bowling with balls like that.
And I'd bet the Chinese gubment is just fine and dandy with expressions of criticism of other countries.
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