Also from ToledoBlade:
Jay Leno was put in the awkward position Tuesday night of having to listen to guest Bill Maher put down country music, minutes before Rodney Atkins made his debut on the "Tonight Show."

Maher rambled on about the Dixie Chicks and what a good album they had and how it deserved all the Grammys it received. He then added that "the only use I have for country music is to make fun of it."

The comment got absolutely no response from the audience, and Leno looked extremely uncomfortable.

Atkins later took the stage and performed "Watching You," his recent No. 1. He wanted to respond directly to Maher, but instead sang, then released a statement after the show. "I was proud to sing a song about family values, my life, and what this format is all about. This guy was purposely bashing Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Martina McBride, Dolly Parton, and all the great artists that influenced my life’s direction. ... Everyone does have the freedom of speech, but they should sometimes think before they actually exercise that right."

Leno apologized to Atkins and invited him back, saying, "You are a class act." "

Sounds like Leno would rather have Rodney back than Maher! I can't believe that there are people out there that *still* put down country music and have the totally wrong idea as to what country music is all about. I had the same problem in an Advertising class I took about 10 years ago in college...we had to do an advertising campaign, and we chose women's shaving cream..well, at the time, one of the popular songs was Deana Carter's "Did I Shave My Legs For This"...I had what I thought was the perfect campaign...a tie in between that song and the shaving cream...a contest to win a trip to see Deana Carter in concert. But one of the others in the group took over the *whole* project and never even consulted with us about what she was doing. Sorry, but when I'm working on a GROUP project, I like to actually be a part of the group and know what's going on! She didn't even let anyone proof read the finished report...we did get a 94 on it, but it would have been higher if not for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. The girl who took over was from Puerto Rico, so English wasn't exactly her native language...