Letters

The Dixie Chicks Hit Back

When the Dixie Chicks took their politics with them onto a London stage in 2003, the Texas trio violated an unwritten code of country music. Our coverage of their comeback brought boos from fans who feel they've been betrayed and applause from a newfound audience ardent in its support of free speech

Thank you for your story "In the Line of Fire" [May 29], on how the Dixie Chicks are sticking by their political principles. In a day and age when too many people do the easy thing rather than the right thing, I am glad these women haven't backed down but have become stronger. I love their music. Although their songs are personal, they speak to a broad audience. I hope the Chicks keep singing, playing, writing and staying true to themselves.

MARCIA J. SARGENT Laguna Beach, Calif.

It's a sad situation when simply stating a dislike for the President gets you booed, boycotted and branded a radical and unpatriotic. With Bush's approval rating down to around 30%, I guess that leaves the other 70% of the nation radical and unpatriotic as well--and the Dixie Chicks in good company.

JOSHUA KLEIN Oak Park, Ill.

There is nothing that Nashville or its conservative fans hate more than originality. As soon as the Dixie Chicks expressed an original thought, they were treading on shaky ground. I can't believe Johnny Cash would support any foolish demonstrations against people for speaking freely. That's something we are supposed to be defending on the other side of the world.

J. BARRETT WOLF Harpursville, N.Y.

I value freedom of speech, but as the wife of a sailor who just came back from a six-month deployment, I think it's about time we started looking at both sides of the coin. I am proud of my husband for defending the country and the Constitution, and I am even more proud to live in a country in which political dissent is not viewed as treason. The Dixie Chicks were foolish, however, if they didn't expect repercussions for alienating their core audience by insulting the President while performing in a foreign country. Country-music listeners are well within their rights to stop buying the Dixie Chicks' albums and boycott radio stations that play them.

LEE MCGOWAN Norfolk, Va.

After the Dixie Chicks got in trouble, I promptly went out and purchased their CD Top of the World--and I loved it. I'm going to buy Taking the Long Way as well. I suspect there are many others who like me were first drawn to the Dixie Chicks by their courage and honesty in speaking out against the war and stayed with them because of those same qualities in their music.

MARLENE MONTOOTH Portland, Ore.

TIME's cover photo seems to show Natalie Maines' bandmates holding her around the waist as if they're trying to restrain her. If they would cover her mouth, the Chicks might get some of their fans back.

DAN MAY Mason, Mich.

I thank the Dixie Chicks for bravely stating what so many of us are afraid to say for fear of being branded as unpatriotic. I am a 71-year-old American, a veteran and former teacher of U.S. history. I am ashamed of what the President has done to this country and our standing in the world. I am extremely disappointed in the Democratic Party for failing to stand up to President Bush when doing so would have made a difference. We are a long way from what this country used to be all about.

DON BABB San Dimas, Calif.

Some entertainers overestimate the value of their popularity. Stardom does not give the Dixie Chicks the right to spew their political views to people who are paying to hear them perform. If politics is more important to them than their music, they should run for office. Count me among the many who will never forget their indiscretion at a time when the country needed unity.

DAN SHILLINGBURG Canal Winchester, Ohio

I am from Texas and share the Dixie Chicks' embarrassment about our President. Our country boasts of its diversity and freedom, but those advantages seem to be fading fast. The Dixie Chicks' dedication to their values rather than their pocketbooks is a breath of fresh air. Polls show a huge majority of the country agree with them. Americans should rise above the book-burning mentality. We have witnessed how censorship has harmed countries we are ostensibly trying to liberate.

BRENDA WILLIAMS Asheville, N.C.

Outsourcing the O.R.

America's health-care system has been suffering for years, but the new fad of traveling overseas for elective surgery is a sign of collapse [May 29]. Outsourcing has cost American manufacturing workers their jobs. If it takes hold in the medical world, U.S. hospitals and physicians will have their profits cut. Legislators and health-care professionals must awaken to the severity of the crisis Americans are in. Without adequate health care for middle- to lower-income citizens, more patients will take the opportunity to pay less by outsourcing.

DAYLE M. TOWARNICKY Westerville, Ohio

Your story quoted health-care economist Uwe Reinhardt, who said that medical outsourcing "has the potential of doing to the U.S. health-care system what the Japanese auto industry did to American carmakers." Such comments are typical of so-called experts who pontificate while others try to repair a flawed but high-quality system. Reinhardt seems blissfully unaware of the difficulties doctors and hospitals face in delivering quality care to our patients. True, our health-care system needs better transparency so patients can make informed choices. We need to run efficient operating rooms and hospitals. But we are able to achieve those goals much more often than consumers are led to believe. High-quality health care does exist throughout the U.S.--most of the time within a few miles of our homes. I'm staying here if I need surgery!

PATRICK E. DALY, M.D. Oshkosh, Wis.

Americans have finally cottoned on to what most foreigners living here already know. As an Indian studying in the U.S., I find even the most minor dental work prohibitively expensive and have scheduled medical procedures in line with vacations back home. Going to India for elective surgery is a very viable option: it's cheaper, Indian health care is world class, and the postoperative care is next to unbeatable. I was happy to read that Americans are finally discovering that good health care is not something only the affluent or insured can enjoy.

MEKHALA SAMSI Houston

Of course elective surgery is cheaper in India. Do the U.S.-trained surgeons there spend $100,000 a year on medical liability insurance? If malpractice occurs, can patients win enormous damage awards? Are local attorneys allowed to enter in a business-type contingency-fees partnership with a client, rather than charge ethical fees as all other professionals do? If I hadn't had to pay a fortune for professional insurance, I would have neither practiced the customary (but expensive) "defensive medicine" nor charged the fees I did. And I would have slept much better during my off-call nights. By the way, how do you say ambulance chaser in Hindi?

JOSEPH J. NEUSCHATZ, M.D. Port Jefferson, N.Y.

Nowhere in your story does it mention the real reason Americans cannot afford surgery in our hospitals. Health-care costs are rising despite the ever championed cause of tort reform, because of failed risky investments made by the insurance industry. Our well-lobbied legislators turn a blind eye as campaign fund raisers pass the buck to the health-care system and blame malpractice damages for skyrocketing costs.

MICHAEL EBER West Bloomfield, Mich.

TIME's table comparing the prices for medical procedures in the U.S. and Asian countries showed that U.S. hospitals charge uninsured patients twice what they bill an insurance company for the identical procedure on an insured patient. That lamentable and unethical practice should be the shame of hospital administrators everywhere. In effect, they put the screws to those who can least afford it.

ELMER FUNKHOUSER Concord, Mass.

Empathic Medicine

"Teaching Doctors to Care" [May 29] reported on medical students' learning about the frustrations of the chronically ill. It is clear to anyone with a lick of common sense that doctors who are aware of patients' whole experience are able to provide better care and also save money. The HMO-dominated, profit-driven medical community is blind to the long-term costs of not resolving patients' health issues because it is so overly focused on the cost of a single test.

ADAM SIGNORE Medway, Mass.

Until a doctor understands how a disease affects a patient's social life, daily routines, family interactions and anxieties, she or he does not really know that disease. A physician can gain credibility with patients and their families by asking how a disease is affecting their personal lives. Patients will feel understood and will be more likely to comply with the doctor's suggestions and instructions.

LOREN J. BARTELS, M.D. Tampa, Fla.

Immigration Anxiety All Over

In "Bush is Smart on the Border -- and the G.O.P. Isn't" [May 29], columnist Joe Klein stated that the Republicans most opposed to accommodating illegal immigrants are "white, Southern and Western, suburban and rural, working class." But Klein ought to be aware that right in New York City there is strong opposition to making it easier for illegals to become citizens. New Yorkers can spot a scam, and this one is huge.

GAHAN HASKINS New York City

Klein missed the point. The objection we have to illegal immigrants is that they have intentionally broken important laws of this country. No democracy can long survive and no individual freedoms will long exist when the government condones lawbreaking. If our immigration laws are unsatisfactory, then change the laws, but don't encourage making a mockery of them.

ROBERT L. CRAGG Maple Glen, Pa.

As a 61-year-old African American, I agree with the Republicans on illegal immigration. When people choose to ignore immigration procedures, it is a slap in the face to those from various countries who came to the U.S. legally. This is one African American who wants the borders strengthened and the immigrant quotas adhered to. I was incensed when I heard some people compare the protests by Mexicans and other Latinos to our civil rights movement. Why aren't Mexicans protesting to demand that President Vicente Fox make changes in their home country?

BARBARA KELLY Richmond, Va.

Of Illness and Morality

TIME's Interview with evangelist Franklin Graham [May 29] astonished me. He seems to believe that diseases such as cancer and leprosy are the result of "a sinful lifestyle." In Jesus' day no one knew of the existence of bacteria and carcinogens, so many put the cause down to sinful behavior, but now we know better. To say illnesses are due to sin is ridiculous and degrading to those who suffer from them.

SARAH JANE GILMOUR East Lansing, Mich.

How dare that self-righteous evangelist even hint that Jesus would heal people with AIDS and tell them, "Go and sin no more." I ask Graham, What sin did a newborn commit to come into this world with HIV? What sin did the thousands of Christian women whose breast cancer was diagnosed last year commit? Some may pat Graham on the back for lobbying President Bush to provide funding in the fight against AIDS. Graham's comments, however, were hurtful and unfair in implying that anyone with a disease has sinned in some way.

ELENA MARTIN Houston

Thank you for the Interview with Graham. I am thrilled that you had the guts to print something positive and uplifting when it seems that about all we can read in the news is negative.

STEWART H. ROBINSON Springfield, Mo.

Like Canaries in a Coal Mine

I was shocked to learn from "Bye Bye Birdies" [May 15] that climate change may be killing migratory birds. I had no idea there was a link between declining bird populations and global warming. The death of even a single bird because of environmental factors can be linked to the fate of human beings, since we all depend on the health of our ecosystem.

TADASHI KAWABE Fukuoka, Japan