Though you wouldn't know it with all the coverage and adulation the Dixie Chicks have got after their public criticism of President Bush, the country trio may have lost some fans. (Though they may have gained some, too. Time will tell if the fans gained are the kind who buy albums and attend concerts.)

The Pensacola News-Journal's Mark O'Brien warns of a chilled reception in that area when the Chicks' next album comes out.

"(Pensacolians) tuned out the Chicks, turned off by their politics and style. Program directors at local stations predict few requests for their music when the Texas trio issue Taking the Long Way in May. That's fine with me, especially because fans still can purchase music the radio doesn't play.

The Chicks exercised their constitutional right to free speech, and fans exercised their constitutional right to stop listening to what was one of country music's brightest, hottest acts."

O'Brien's advice is the same as Aerosmith's two decades ago: Let the music do the talking. It sounds like good advice. Most music fans don't mix politics and music.

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