"Natalie from the Dixie Chicks could have said what she said before 9-11 and no one would have cared"

This quote by John Mellencamp is referring to the controversy surrounding Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks when she made a declaration in 2003 slamming President George W. Bush. The statement caused a big backlash from the general public and the band was blacklisted from country radio stations. Mellencamp is suggesting that if Maines had made the same declaration before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it would not have been as controversial. He is indicating that the political climate in the United States changed dramatically after 9/11, and that individuals were more conscious criticism of the president. He is likewise recommending that the general public was more going to accept criticism of the president prior to 9/11, and that Maines' declaration would not have actually been as questionable if it had been made prior to the attacks. Mellencamp's quote is a suggestion of how much the world altered after 9/11, and how much more delicate people became to criticism of the president.