The Dixie Chicks don’t dislike controversy, they court it. A pop-country trio whose reputation for picking fights now has a greater lifespan than their music, they’re making the rounds again to promote another album and position themselves as the victims:

Ellen then pointed out how we are all living in a culture ‘where you say the wrong thing and you’re cancelled.’  

‘I think we were one of the first people to feel that cancel culture,’ Natalie said.

‘And I think what I said back then would not even be a thing today because it was really mild compared to what people say today.’

Natalie then made reference to social media and how quickly comments and ideas can be disseminated and ruin people’s lives.

Maines and the group had received serious criticism for her remark during a London show in which she stated: “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”

I distinctly remember this whole thing when it played out in 2o03. I was a newly-minted (but not very publicly vocal) republican, a long process, the last step of my transformation was forged in the fires of 9/11. The goodwill that followed the tragic terror attack just two years prior was already spent, in part because of attitudes like that of Natalie Maines and “the chicks.” They can try to rewrite history, but these mean girls were part of the rage mob in 2003 and they canceled their listeners first:

Instead of fighting for their old fans, the Dixie Chicks seem to be dismissing them.

On “60 Minutes” Ms. Maguire told Steve Kroft that their concerts weren’t typical country concerts. “When I looked out in the audience, I didn’t see rednecks,” she said. (Did her lip curl slightly as she pronounced the r-word?) “I saw a more progressive crowd.”

And in a Time magazine cover story she said the group would rather have “a smaller following of really cool people who get it,” as opposed to “people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith.” (It would seem Ms. McEntire got her revenge.) Perhaps there’s a difference between this attitude and simple snobbery, but you can’t blame country fans if they don’t much feel like splitting hairs.

They relished being the bullies — and made bank on it, releasing “Not Ready to Make Nice” in 2006 and embarking on a “come at me” press tour for the album. They also didn’t simply disagree with people, they bashed them. When asked about Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” Maines snottily replied “It’s ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant.” In 2016 she Tweeted:

There’s more:

You get the picture. So no, after over two decades of playing the bully and contributing to the atmosphere of severe tribal polarization, you don’t get to rewrite history 14 years later and market yourselves as “victims” because the early rage mob/cancel culture in which you participated is now (finally) being perceived in a negative light.

By the way, they did this on Ellen DeGeneres’ show, who is famously friends with Bush, demonstrating that Ellen continues to extend more grace to the outrage mob than they’ve ever extended to her and her friends. I write about this in my new book, Grace Canceled, available here.