On May 1st, 2003, with much of the normally sedate country music community outraged by Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines' critical dig at the President, filmmaker Christopher Fleeger began an odyssey across the country, interviewing protesters at concerts and radio stations. What emerged is a fascinating look at a distinctly American discourse on discourse itself. The film focuses on the people who were inspired to add their voices and views to this storm of controversy and captures a crucial moment when many Americans sought to battle dissenting voices, believing it was the highest form of patriotism.

With a vicious debate circulating around a simple question, whether or not it was proper for Natalie Maines to have criticized the President on foreign soil, one might expect to find homogenous sound bites - particularly in the conservative country music community. However, in the rich pageant of characters of 'Protesting the Dixie Chicks,' one begins to feel that the experiment of American civilization has been executed like the party game where a message is passed through whispers and arrives at its destination more than a little distorted. Time after time characters appear with a truly peculiar version of an otherwise predictable ideal. More than once you may find yourself seduced by the music of these American voices, be they charming or sinister.