Agreed but I liked Braveheart enough to look past that

Well first of all, I'm not English - I'm British, and so are you. Scotland, which now exists only in the past and the overactive imaginations of people who've watched Braveheart too many times, has been British for several hundred years and now is the time to grow up and accept it.

There's a reason why countries merge and grow, and that is: they're better off that way; be grateful.

For a man who is a faithful Christian, Mel Gibson shocks me time and time again with his perverse love of gruesome violence, first in Braveheart (which was good), Passion of the Christ (not going to bother) to Apocalypto (ridiculous levels of violence, see jaguar ripping man's face off). Really not a movie for people who detest senseless violence.

Good points, theo. I do love some Al Green and if I only knew how to fancy html link to that Soul Train performance, then it would be linked here.

But my tolerance for actors such as Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson runs roughly proportional to how much of their particular political message is intertwined with their work. Mel Gibson of Mad Max, fine. Mel Gibson of Braveheart or le Passion, pretty unbearable.

Which brings me back around to the Chicks. A thinking artist is aware both of their audience and how they wish to inspire, move, or disturb their audience. The Chicks seemed and still seem genuinely shocked that their core of conservative Southern country music yay-hoos and lesser yay-hoos didn't follow their scorn of the Fearless Leader.

Why were they surprised? Like Keith and Greenwood, are they in a happy country bubble?