Those fucking Chicks. I mean, really.

Once upon a time, there was a band whose lead singer, in the midst of a concert, told the audience she was embarrassed that the American President was from Texas. And, oh my, the shitstorm that ensued. Boycotts were organized, CDs were crushed, death threats were made, radio airplay took a hit, and so on.

And all those right-wing troglodytes? Oh, they couldn't have been happier, clapping their little paws with absolute glee over how they were going to punish those heretics. Oh, yeah, nobody disses their chimpster and gets away with it. It's clobberin' time, fer shure! And how did the Dixie Chicks react?

They laid low for a while, gathered themselves and came roaring back with a new album that is currently #1 on the U.S. charts. And how did the trogs react? Pretty much like this:

Country trio the Dixie Chicks, the darlings of Nashville until their singer criticized President Bush three years ago, opened at No. 1 on the U.S. charts on Wednesday with their first studio album since then, but sales were sharply lower.

"Taking The Long Way," their third chart-topper, sold 525,000 copies in the week ended May 28, according to tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. The figure ranks as one of the biggest openings of the year, and exceeds industry expectations by more than 100,000 copies.

But it paled against the 780,000 copies that their last studio release, "Home," sold during its first week in August 2002. It spent three weeks at No. 1, and has sold 5.8 million copies to date. In April another country trio, Rascal Flatts, opened at No. 1 with 722,000 copies of its new album.

Well, sure, say the trogs, it might be #1. But it's not the same kind of humongously, monstrous #1 that their last album was, so there. That'll teach those mouthy little sluts, won't it?

And on a totally unrelated note, don't forget that "no one hates like the left." But you already knew that, right?