A Dolly Parton representative said that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is running for president, is not allowed to use Parton’s music during her campaign.
Warren used Parton’s “9 to 5” while launching her presidential run.
“We did not approve the request, and we do not approve requests like this of (a) political nature,” Parton’s manager, Danny Nozell, said by email.
He didn’t respond when asked whether Parton’s team would register a formal complaint about Warren’s use of the song without permission.
If Parton escalates the matter, there’s no shortage of precedent: The late Tom Petty reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), over the use of his song “American Girl” in her 2011 campaign, and former President George W. Bush got a similar letter from Petty over his choice of the singer’s “I Won’t Back Down” during the 2000 campaign.
The Warren campaign declined to comment on Nozell’s response regarding its use of “9 to 5.”
Parton’s song is about a worker “just barely gettin’ by, it’s all takin’ and no givin.'”
Later in the song, she sings: “There’s a better life, and you dream about it, don’t you? It’s a rich man’s game no matter what they call it, and you spend your life puttin’ money in his wallet.”
Parton has said in the past that she doesn’t engage in politics.
“I’ve got as many Republican friends as I’ve got Democrat friends and I just don’t like voicing my opinion on things. I’ve seen things before, like the Dixie Chicks. You can ruin a career for speaking out,” she told the Guardian. “I respect my audience too much for that, I respect myself too much for that. Of course, I have my own opinions, but that don’t mean I got to throw them out there because you’re going to [expletive] half the people.”
Asked if she was a feminist by the openly liberal outlet, she responded: “I don’t think … I mean, I must be if being a feminist means I’m all for women, yes.”
“But I don’t feel I have to march, hold up a sign or label myself. I think the way I have conducted my life and my business and myself speaks for itself. I don’t think of it as being a feminist. It’s not a label I have to put on myself. I’m just all for gals,” she added.
Democrats Vote in Favor of Illegal Voting
Democrats in the House on March 8 voted to oppose a measure lambasting illegal aliens’ voting in elections, a sharp reversal of a previous Republican attempt to discourage such practices.
The 228-197 vote marks a major reversal from when the GOP controlled the chamber about six months ago, according to the Washington Times. At the time Republicans voted to denounce illegal alien voting.
“We are prepared to open up the political process and let all of the people come in,” Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, told colleagues as he led opposition to the GOP measure.
The vote on illegal aliens came amid a broader bill dubbed the HR 1, or “For the People Act,” which purportedly aims at reducing the role of big money in politics, ensuring fair elections, and strengthening ethics standards, according to The Associated Press.
However, Republican lawmakers have slammed the bill as anti-democratic and unconstitutional.
“H.R. 1 is not only a bad bill, many provisions in it are unconstitutional,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) wrote on Twitter. “In summary, it forces states to restore voting rights of felons, endangers First Amendment rights, federalizes congressional redistricting, and turns the FEC into a partisan organization.”
Even if the latest measure on illegal alien voting passes, it will not have any practical effect. The bill will face strong opposition in the GOP-controlled Senate and federal law still states that illegal aliens are not legally allowed to vote in federal elections.
The Associated Press and Epoch Times reporter Bowen Xiao contributed to this report.
