CMA (Country Music) Awards Just Made Fun Of Obamacare In Their Opening Number.....

[global1]

this is really in poor taste and uncalled for. They ought to issue an apology to the President. It wasn't funny at all.

[liberal N proud]

1. One more reason to not listen to Country Music

[Link Speed]

3. That ain't Country

Pop pablum is what it is.

Go to YouTube and check out Billie Joe Shaver - that's Country.

[Hayabusa]

78. I've taken to calling it "Nashville Pop" personally.

[demwing]

53. only needed one reason to begin

Country sucks ass

[muntrv]

2. Another reason I don't watch the CMAs.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

4. well, when the Dixie Chicks made their comments

were you demanding that they apologize? many here were not...

sP

[global1]

5. Weren't The Dixie Chicks Kind Of Blacklisted From Country Music After That?......

I remember there was a big controversy. I'm sure there were calls for them to apologize. Whatever happened?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

10. it just seems to be the sort of double standard that

the music industry applied to the Chicks is being applied here. you either believe in free speech or you do not. the chicks had every right to say what they thought and not have to apologize for it... and country music is now displaying it's own double standard where this matter is concerned... is DU?

sP

OnEdit : right on cue... The Chicks were the next song on the iPhone...

[Earth_First]

18. +1 nt

[xmas74]

13. Look for the documentary Shut Up and Sing

It's about the aftermath of Natalie Maine's comments.

[Keefer]

77. There is a difference, in my view.

The Dixie Chicks made fun of the president. These two made fun of a website. I don't agree with it, but there is a difference.

[quinnox]

6. huh? what do you expect, it is the country music awards

country music and right wing politics go together like flies on shit. If you are waiting for an apology, don't hold your breath!

[RKP5637]

30. +1, n/t

[delta17]

36. Steve Earle is a badass country singer and a liberal. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

40. I've never watched the CMAs. Do they even recognize alt-country folks like Steve Earle?

There are a lot of folks I consider on that musical wavelength, that I like alot.. Jay Farrar/Son Volt, James McMurtry...

But of course music all munges together... walk far enough in one direction in Country, you get to Rockabilly or even punk. Walk another direction and you smack into the Grateful Dead.

However, I always thought the CMAs were pretty limited in scope. To mostly the parts of Country that don't particularly appeal to me.

[delta17]

43. Not a chance.

They barely even acknowledge people like Alan Jackson anymore. I like some of the music, but the industry is all about selling an image.

[Erose999]

76. They didn't even recognize him when his singles were getting up to #2 on the charts back in the '80s

The CMA's are just a recording industry circle jerk. What passes for "country" now is just Nickelback with some shitty steel guitar playing looped in to it.

[IDemo]

45. +1,000

Steve Earle and the Red Dirt sound is what country should have evolved into by now.

[Dawson Leery]

39. Actually, County "Music" is "flies on s**t".

[kelliekat44]

7. Sorry, i love country music but I don't watch the CMA and I don't like the politics of some of the

country performers but i still love the music. I don't buy it, but i listen to it on the radio and Pandora. Clint Black and Darius Rucker are among my favorites.

[Ranchemp.]

9. Darius Rucker is great,

I loved him when he was with Hootie and the Blowfish, favorite song was Let Her Cry.

[IDemo]

47. I liked his cover of "Wagon Wheel"

Still love Old Crow Medicine Show's better, though

[Ranchemp.]

8. Dixie Chicks did pretty much the same thing when Boosh was in office,

did you demand an apology then?
Not that I disagreed with the Dixie Chicks, but.........

[Kingofalldems]

17. Dixie Chicks were blackballed

Did you forget?

[Ranchemp.]

22. Nope.

But that's irrelevent to this conversation.
Our side will demand an apology, just like back then the RW demanded an apology.\
Round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows.

[Kingofalldems]

26. Huge difference. These people will not suffer.

Both sides are not the same.

[Ranchemp.]

28. Ok.

[kcr]

35. Well it isn't irrelevant since you brought them up.

The fact they were blackballed makes it quite a bit different. If they're going to blackball the Dixie Chicks I think it makes them hypocrites.

[Ranchemp.]

71. I didn't initially bring them up, someone else did.

[spanone]

54. yep. still are.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

12. Context?

Was it an artist? A comedian? Jeff Foxworthy (not a comedian)?

[global1]

14. The Hosts Of The Show - Brad Pasley and Carrie Underwood...

I'm sure before long a clip will be posted on You Tube or it will be featured on Fox, CNN and MSNBC.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

15. And what did they say? nt

[godai]

16. Joking about slow website.

Kerry Underwood/Brad Paisley. Hardly worth getting upset about.

[Ranchemp.]

24. Definitely nothing to get upset about.

Especially since it's true, the website was/is slow, at least the last time I checked it was.

It was all done in good humor.

[a kennedy]

50. and they mentioned that only 6 people signed up the first day.

[richmwill]

33. A joke about the website being slow? My God- They should be flogged! (n/t)

[razorman]

65. Agreed. I am finding it hard to get worked up about this.

As far as it being in poor taste, or apologies being owed, get a grip. It was actually pretty mild teasing; making fun of a government program. As far as I could see, they didn't get personal toward President Obama, or racist or really offensive, so I won't let this upset me. I do not and will not own any Brad Paisley or Carrie Underwood music. But neither do I own any Dixie Chicks stuff. But, that is simply because I am not a fan of what passes as "country" music these days. It pretty much degenerated into "pop lite" decades ago.
I am sure that many of my friends here on DU who are angry about this spoof were happy when one of the Dixie Chicks insulted President Bush. I suppose it depends on whose ox is being gored.
Making fun of politicians and their work is one of the rights we enjoy as Americans. Also, life is too short to spend it pissed off.

[alp227]

70. Ironically, Paisley actually SUPPORTED Obama in 2008 and has performed at the WH

But he's regressed, with that crappy "Accidental Racist" song with LL Cool J and now this. In 2009 Paisley recorded the song "Welcome to the Future" as a tribute to the Obama 2008 campaign.

[diabeticman]

19. For those of us not watching or don't have cable what was the "joke"?

[godai]

20. A skit about the slow website. n/t

[Bradical79]

21. If it was just a joke about the website

like someone above me stated, then I don't see what there is to apologize about.

[skypilot]

56. Is it just me...

...or does there seem to be some kind of country music award show on TV every few months?

[Aristus]

23. Justifying my decision never to listen to that whiny twangy bullshit.

'Real American music', my ass...

Give me jazz and rock and roll anyday...

[tavernier]

49. Just play it backwards

Your wife will return, your dog will live, and you'll get your job back. (Sorry... old joke)

[a kennedy]

51. ha ha, I get it.

[tavernier]

52. My hubby calls it

goat-ropin' music.

[Dawson Leery]

25. 2 years ago, the Paisley/Underwood (the bimbo couple)

brought racist Hank Jr. on stage for a standing ovation from the country klan. The same bastards condemned and ended the Dixie Chicks career for saying much less. So yes, the country "music" establishment can drop dead.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

27. Why the hue and...

...cry?

[ZombieHorde]

29. I have been warning people about the horrors of the CMA for years now. nt

[Tanuki]

31. Brad Paisley is a Democrat and performed at President Obama's inauguration. n/t

[mainstreetonce]

32. I know they made fun of Obamacare but

Brad Paisley who did it was a big Obama supporter during the election. I would not be surprised if he checked it out with the President first.

[B2G]

64. Why would it need to be 'checked out with the President' first?

Are we living in a dicatorship?

Sometimes I'm shocked by what I read.

[mainstreetonce]

67. No need

I just think Brad may have discussed it because he is an Obama fan.

[delta17]

34. They made fun of the website.

It wasn't that big a deal. I don't think this is going to be anywhere near the top of the President's list of concerns. This was poking fun, not the vicious hatred that Hank Jr. spews.

[840high]

37. No big deal.

[Dawson Leery]

38. They would never had mocked a bad policy of a Republican President.

Country "musicians" would do a favor if they choked on knives.

[Are_grits_groceries]

41. Are you as outraged at

Kimmel, Leno, Stewart, Colbert, Conan, and Fallon?
They have all made jokes about Obamacare and on more than one night. Are you demanding that they apologize to President Obama?

[global1]

44. They Are Comics And Political Humorists.....

they do political humor all the time and are pretty much equal opportunity cut-ups. You should also include Letterman and Ferguson in this group and SNL. Political humor has been part of their job. I kind of always expect this kind of humor from this group.

I just did not expect - when I sat down to watch the Country Music Awards show that the hosts of the program - both country singers themselves and not comics - would target the President and ACA (aka Obamacare) on a show broadcasting (I'm sure) to a wide audience of Americans - about honoring their own in country music. It was out of place and disrespectful. It was a political statement of sorts that appeared to me to be meant to send a negative message (albeit subliminal). I did not think it was funny. It was biting and hurtful.

I read comments above in this thread about the Dixie Chicks comments about the war and G.W.Bush. I learned later from Wikipedia that those comments weren't made on the CMA awards show - but at a concert in London.

Here's the passage from Wikipedia that I read:

During a London concert ten days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Maines said, "we don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States [George W. Bush] is from Texas".[1] The positive reaction to this statement from the British audience contrasted with the boycotts that ensued in the U.S., where the band was assaulted by talk-show conservatives,[2] while their albums were discarded in public protest.

My beef is that this was so-called misplace humor not fitting for a country music awards show.

[Are_grits_groceries]

58. Oh please.

Do you watch other awards shows? They make fun of everything. Are you going to be outraged at them too??

And I don't need lectures from you about the Dixie Chicks. I watched country music videos when they were first starting. They caught my eye with their first song and I kept up with them ever since. I have supported them through the years.

I watched the skit. It was pretty benign as far as making fun goes. My beef was that it wasn't a very good skit. Neither Brad nor Carrie carried it off well and they are pros on stage. I don't think they were enamored of it but they gave it a go. It looked like somebody's half-assed idea that was thrown together and thrown in at the last minute.

As far as what is fitting for a country music awards show, I didn't know there were rules. They have had a wide variety of presentations on them. I don't like all of them, but that goes for any awards show.

[onenote]

66. I guess you've never watched the CMAs, or the Oscars, or any other award show before

[Dawson Leery]

75. Country is conservative. They would never mock a Republican President

and/or his policies.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

42. CMA's and country music today are both jokes. Just playing to their

Audience which I am sure skews white, southern, and GOP.

[B Calm]

46. Willie Nelson is a Mike Malloy fan.

[jmowreader]

48. "New Country" is hard-right Jesus music sung with a Southern accent

What the hell did you expect?

[Are_grits_groceries]

59. No it's not.

If you listen to certain stations with a religious bent, you will hear Jesus songs. They are few and far between in new country.
The only song I have heard that was very religious that was played on country stations was 'Change' by Rascal Flatts. I'm sure there are others, but cheatin' songs and tornado songs have them outnumbered. There will be mentions of God or Jesus in songs, but that's in passing.

New country is pop music with a twang. Most of it is by 'cute country' boys many of whom will disappear after one hit. A lot of what I hear is dreck, but there are good songs and artists among the crap.

If you think it's all hard-right Jesus music then you need to listen to the Pistol Annies.

[RockaFowler]

55. Here is the skit

It was pretty bad:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/watch-brad-paisley-carrie-underwood-spoof-obamacare-at-the-cmas/

I think mainly because both of them are such bad actors

[Decaffeinated]

57. Lordy lordy.. I may faint!

A skit about a slow website! Won't someone think of the children?!

[Bonduel]

60. I thought it was funny

What they were poking fun at is basically true. The website is slow, it is down a lot, and it is very frustrating to work with. I think we need to get thicker skin and learn to laugh at ourselves a bit.

By the way, I do love country and I still listen to the Dixie Chicks.

[geek tragedy]

61. Country music is played, produced, and purchased by the Tea Party base.

So, this is not surprising, any more than finding hip-hop stars talking trash about Republicans.

[Puzzledtraveller]

62. Issue an apology to the president?

[B2G]

63. Oh please.

They were poking fun at the website, not Obama himself. I saw some of the outraged tweets. Some people need to grow a thicker skin.

[bigwillq]

68. Apology? Really? It's a joke.

It might not have been funny but jokes are made about politicians and policies all the time.

[bullwinkle428]

69. Don't get mad - get even, like Charlie Pierce!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023995927

[godai]

72. If you didn't watch, you missed this.

[Purveyor]

73. I've seen or heard clips of this segment at least 6 times already this morning, in fact I woke up

to the "Obamacare by morning" skit.

[Erose999]

74. Didn't Paisely endorse Obama during the campaign? I really think Paisley should shut up and play.

Note that I didn't say "sing". His songwriting is terrible. He's a good guitar player, thats about it.