You know it's a sad day for pop culture when...

...these are your headlines:
" 'Norbit' rules box office with $33M debut"
"Chicks rule the Grammys"

The "Norbit" comment speaks for itself, one would think, but as for the Grammys please don't misunderstand -- the Dixie Chicks are very talented musicians. Was "The Long Way" worth five statues? Negatory. Last week, experts were predicting a Chick-littered awards show because it was the music industry's year to "make a statement."

I don't know about you, but I'm not sure I'd want to win a Grammy Award out of principle. I would want to win because I'm the best of the bunch. How many of us can name another song off the Chicks' album aside from "Not Ready to Make Nice"? And yet it won the ALBUM category. This CD was not that critically acclaimed, you must remember -- certainly not like fellow nominee "Futuresex/Lovesounds."

It's insulting, really, the more you think about it. The Grammys are supposed to be apolitical when compared to the Oscars. Just as insulting was the completely over-the-top introduction of the Chicks' performance, in which "brave" was the least-superfluous adjective used to describe them. Their one popular single from the recent release is a big "up yours" to anyone who dismissed them after they declared in a foreign country how ashamed they were of President Bush (wow ... bravery indeed ... wonder why that sentiment didn't come up in their Houston concert?).

Whether it was stupid of them to make those statements all that time ago is neither here nor there. What you need to remember is that the Chicks lost their fan base, and what made them buzz-worthy again was a bitter, self-indulgent political statement. This Grammy recognition will likely be the Dixie Chicks' swan song. Propped up as anti-war symbols by music industry puppeteers, and with few original, loyal fans, where can they go from here?

In other news, this commentary on all the Anna Nicole Smith hoopla is one of the few articles actually worth reading.