In a move to get the last word in, President Bush announced he would issue executive order POTAS/07-00029 today, canceling the Dixie Chicks five Grammy awards.
According to White House spokesperson Dana Perino, "The President wanted to make sure that Americans did not get the wrong message."
When pressed to explain further, Perino offered, "The President feels that dissing decisions made by the Decider shouldn't be tolerated no matter how much we might or might not like their music. They say they don't want to make nice, so here's some not making nice in your face."
The Dixie Chicks weren't available to respond, but a spokesperson indicated, "The 'Chicks' won't be giving up any of their Grammys and if the President wants them, he'll have to pry them from their cold dead hands."
This war of words appears to be a continuation of past conflicts say experts.
Ralph Cantafioso, Senior Conflict Watcher for the Institute for Conflict Watching in Poughkeepsie, NY, advised, "The President never lets anything go. That's his trademark. Even if it's groundless or false, he's one to see things through. He does this by staying the course. Or, as we've seen, by having one of his staff shoot you in the face or lie to Congress."
Many feel that, with the Dixie Chicks' resounding Grammy haul of Grammy hardware at the Grammys, they had won their battle with the President. They also point out the President's low standing in the polls, the loss of control of the Congress and the Senate, and the mess in Iraq - all suggest this is so.
Still, as long as the President is the President, he remains steadfast in his position that those who "aren't with him, are agin him."
Later in a CPAC interview, while discussing his ongoing feud with the music industry, the President said, "It's like a possum in the grass. He lies there sleeping or napping acting as if he's dead or something. But we all know that playing possum is just that - playing possum. I know it, the Chixie Chicks know it. It's a well known fact that's well known. Another fact is that I'm like that possum. So watch out Chicksie Dicksies or whatever you call yourselves these days. I don't know pop music. I'm more of a jug band fella myself. Heh, heh, heh. Stay the course."
Whether this war of words is over, whether the Dixie Chicks had the last say, whether the President will move on or possum-like leap up from his slumber and bite, it's hard to say. The Dixie Chicks do have their Grammys. The President does have his executive order privileges. White House legal counsel, in between Scooter Libby testimony, are researching whether the President can take away someone's Grammys. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already indicated there will be no executive orders passed by this Congress.
"President Bush may be the Decider, or was the Decider, but Congress, under my watch, will be the Undecider, so he may as well just settle back and let nature take its course," offed Pelosi. "This Congress won't be doing anything least ways taking away anyone's Grammys."
In other news, the International Association for Men and Manly Things (IAMMT) announced today that they were planning to sue the Grammys for sex discrimination. The IAMMT feels that the show should either create a new awards show called the 'Grampys' or change the name of the current awards show to the 'Grammy and Grampys', honoring grandfatherly men and grandmotherly women at the same time.
