By Mac McCann
On March 10, 2003, history was made; careers were destroyed. I didn’t fully understand it at the time (being in third grade, after all) but I knew it was bad. The Dixie Chicks ruined their own careers. How? By rightfully denouncing what would go on to be one of the greatest foreign policy blunders in American history.
In front of a London audience, lead singer Natalie Maines unapologetically explained: “We do not want this war, this violence. And we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” That didn’t go over well for them. Death threats. Boycotts. Exclusion. Still to this day, the Dixie Chicks remain canceled — for denouncing adisastrous war.
And the people behind that war? The architects of that horrific foreign policy disaster? The leaders behind the decisions that left a region in chaos still raging today? Well, George W. Bush is watching football with celebrities.
The man whose administration sanctioned torture and unprecedented expansions of government overreach enjoyed the Cowboys-Packers game in Jerry Jones’ private suite alongside Ellen DeGeneres.
The thin lines of being canceled or not these days are arbitrary. But the problem isn’t necessarily “cancel culture”; it’s that we’re canceling the wrong people. Our society always seems to be cushioning the blows for community members who already have more than enough pillows. Ellen DeGeneres’ recent afternoon with W. Bush at the Cowboys’ game is a perfect example.
Men, especially white men like me, too often seem to fail forward, to fall upward. Bush spent asignificant part of his career fighting against LGBTQ rights for people like Ellen. But Ellen, a self-proclaimed “gay Hollywood liberal,” doesn’t hold Bush’s past animosity against the former president. Of course, it’s much easier to get along with the rich and powerful when you’re well, rich and powerful.
The power of friendship allows Ellen to forgive George W. Bush’s past mistakes. But it shouldn’t. If anyone else performed their job as destructively and inadequately as President Bush handled his two terms in office, they would be ashamed to be seen in public. And joking around with someone who left the economy in shambles on his way out of office isn’t a good look for a wealthy TV star at a time when countless Americans struggle with student loans and debt.
Immigrants and refugees aren’t relaxing in NFL suite with celebrities. Sure, it would’ve been incredibly awkward for Ellen to give up those beautiful box tickets even if the guy next to her destabilized an entire region.
Which football team you like is the type of differences Americans can and should overcome. Even tax policy and transportation, those can be debated civilly between Americans across the political spectrum. But Bush’s human rights record —like the presidents before and after him-—shouldn’t be considered simply small differences of opinions between friends.
A few years after the London incident, in 2006, Maines explained that she had only one regret. “I apologized for disrespecting the office of the presidency,” Maines told Time. “But I don’t feel that way anymore. I don’t feel he is owed any respect whatsoever.”
We need to draw the line somewhere. Victims of Bush’s decisions got water-boarded; Bush got water colors. Bush’s human rights records should at least get him shunned from cutesy moments in football suites with fun celebrities, if we can’t actually punish him. How will we ever put an end to the U.S.’s human rights violations if we don’t hold those responsible accountable for their actions?
McCann is a social media strategist based in Austin whose journalism has appeared in dozens of publications. Follow him on Twitter @MacMcCannTX.