Campaign Against the Dixie Chicks

Michael Ramirez’s April 29 editorial cartoon on the Dixie Chicks flap puts the matter of free speech in an interesting light. Ramirez, however, misses the real point. I don’t expect that the Chicks actually object to freedom of speech on the part of “fans,” but organized boycotts and phone-in campaigns to radio stations go well beyond this. By insisting that it is somehow unpatriotic to play artists’ songs on the radio or to buy their CDs, these actions represent a concerted effort by the right to punish and ultimately silence dissenting views on the part of entertainers.

These zealots are telling the rest of us: We don’t like these women and their opinions, so you shouldn’t listen to their music either. That’s not freedom of speech. That’s oppression.

Ted Waterhouse

San Luis Obispo

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It’s always hard to wade through the left-wing liberal whining and sniveling printed every day in the letters section. A common-sense cartoon from Ramirez is always a welcome sight. The Dixie Chicks cartoon was one of his greatest ever. Why readers continue to bow to whatever some singer or actor says is always a wonderment.

Bob Launius

Oxnard