January 18, 2011

"Sarah Palin, she won't listen to their bunk. Sarah Palin's coming south to hunt some skunk."



Via Andrew Sullivan, who calls this "a fantastic nugget of hathos." I call it awesome. I do think "hunt some skunk" is an inappropriate metaphor after the Tucson massacre (though this performance predates that).

I got to Sullivan through the commenter 1jpb, who said: "Sully's got some funny stuff up. And, it's very civil (as it is when cons mock the BHO tribute videos)."

Singing to the glory of politicians should always appear ridiculous if not repulsive. Let's remember the classic benchmark of absurdity:



FROM THE COMMENTS: EDH says: "Notice, the 'Sarah Palin Battle Hymn' shares a martial theme if not metaphor with Amy Chua's 'Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.'"

82 comments:

PaulV said...

Based on tune of John Brown's Body

garage mahal said...

Singing to the glory of politicians should always appear ridiculous if not repulsive.

But, in this case, you think it's awesome. Wonder why.

Lincolntf said...

The Palin one is...ummmm..."quaint", but the Obama one is just creepy. There's something discordant about a bunch of 8-year olds telling Obama that they're proud of his accomplishments.
The President of the U.S. being patronized by the Garanimals set, now that's Change you can believe in.

Anonymous said...

She drives the liberals insane
Although they'd rather take the train.
Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm,
Sarah Louise Palin.

Roux said...

Of course there is a difference. The adults although funny and strange are adults. The kids are being directed by adults to sing praises to a newly elected POTUS. It would be just as strange were it "mmm, mmm, mmm, George W Bush".

Toad Trend said...

OK I'm going with Garage on this one. I mean ANY song that glorifies a politician to me is ultra weird.

At first, I laughed a rather nervous laugh...I quickly transitioned to pity. Pity didn't last, I got the feeling you get right before the doctor asks you to turn your head and cough...

I do believe I am damaged for the remainder of today.

wv - surat

Give you an Ann surat 11.

coketown said...

Garage is under the impression that things can't be both ridiculous and awesome, thus rendering I Love Lucy non-existent.

The Crack Emcee said...

Just imagine, those kids are going to grow up and learn how they were manipulated to worship a loser.

Another generation of rebels in the making.

Nihimon said...

There is a world of difference between adults freely choosing to sing Sarah Palin's praises, and children being indoctrinated by public employees to sing Obama's praises.

jimspice said...

With the Bible prominently featured in the foreground there, can I assume we are now allowed to make the "savior" and "second coming" jokes? Strike that last one. These people would have problems counting to one, let alone two.

Anonymous said...

God, watching those little Germans professing their devotion to Hitler - surely because their teacher-furher threatened to blow them up at the press of a button if they didn't comply - is just sickening.

ricpic said...

Inculcating children in the cult of Head Punk worship is so repulsive, so antithetical to the American ethos that simply broadcasting it over and over without comment in the run-up to 2012 would bury Barry's ass. It doesn't even take any imagination Pubbies, ya hear?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Kudos to Althouse..

traditionalguy said...

That was a knock off of a marching song sung by troops Sherman's marching through Georgia. One verse announces that the goal of the march is "They will hang Jeff Davis to a tree". Patton's 3rd Army's was goal driving through France was to "Go to Berlin ...and personally shoot that paper hanging son of a bitch". Leaders announce goals, and these followers are listening.

Wince said...

"I do think 'hunt some skunk' is an inappropriate metaphor after the Tucson massacre..."

Notice, the "Sarah Palin Battle Hymn" shares a martial theme if not metaphor with Amy Chua's "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother."

To mellow Andrew out, tell him the skunk Palin is hunting is herbal.

Lucien said...

But the kids were not coerced into singing. "If you don't want to sing along you don't have to. No Pressure." (Said the teacher, eying the little red button.)


WV: iking (I shit you not.)

Fred4Pres said...

Sullivan is just pulling out the last of his hair over this. I love it.

garage mahal said...

Out of the Mouths of Babes.

Our country’s stood beside us
People have sent us aid.
Katrina could not stop us, our hopes will never fade.
Congress, Bush and FEMA
People across our land
Together have come to rebuild us and we join them hand-in-hand!

Katrina Kids T SHIRTS!. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not T Shirts!


[Wondering if this will make it past the filter. ]

prairie wind said...

Let's remember the classic benchmark of absurdity

I think you meant to say "bunkmark."

Unknown said...

The Palin one seems probably as much in fun as admiration. I doubt those people take themselves and their effort 100% seriously.

The one for The Zero was dead serious. which is why it was juxtaposed with tributes to Der Fuhrer, Stalin, and Mao so often.

As Florida noted, scary.

PS The tune is, "Battle Hymn of the Republic". Hanging Jeff Davis and John Brown came later.

Jon said...

The Palin tribute song is merely goofy, whereas the BHO tribute song was creepy. The difference is that the former involves adults praising a private citizen, whereas the the latter involved schoolchildren praising the nation's Leader.

Lance said...

@garage 1/18/11 1:14 PM

I agree garage, rounding up kids to sing praises to Bush and FEMA is every bit as wrong as rounding up kids to sing praises to Obama.

Alex said...

Remember kids, no pressure! Really, don't pay attention to that man with the red button...

BJM said...

@garage

Althouse speaks for herself, however I find the Obama example much more egregious as children are being used as political pawns, and we know how the left hates it when that happens.

OLBERMANN: How about the self-esteem of young girls who were trotted out onto the political stage by a mother who treats them like props? When does somebody tell mothers or fathers that that is not acceptable?

Once again a glaring example of the left's double standards and bringing teh crazy.

The left relies on the decency and good behavior of those they attack and/or bully.

Note to the left: We're fresh out of cheeks to turn after Tucson.

You think the TEA party was hard to take? You've awaken an army of Davids.

buwaya said...

Political songs were common in 10th century US elections. People would print party songbooks. This one seems very much like those of the antique genre.

Here is one in a similar spirit-

http://dig.lib.niu.edu/message/songs/jackson.html

Word was porra - Multicultural (but yet retaining a degree of civility appropriate to small children and delicate grannies) dismissal of A. Sullivan - Vete a la porra !

Anonymous said...

" ...whereas the the latter involved schoolchildren praising the nation's Leader."

It's just sickening watching this. It's positively Stalinist.

Is it any wonder our resident Marxist GarageMahal sees nothing wrong with this.

What's next ... statues of Obama in every rotary? Walls plastered with his image?

Special salutes?

2012 cannot come quicly enough and it will be a good day for America when this douchebag is frogmarched from our White House and swept into the dustbin of history.

God that's going to be a great day.

bagoh20 said...

I had no idea that Meadehouse was so musically inclined. Well done you guys!

ken in tx said...

Sorry, John Brown's body lies a moldering in the grave came before the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Lance said...

Patton's 3rd Army's was goal driving through France was to "Go to Berlin ...and personally shoot that paper hanging son of a bitch".

First, that wasn't the 3rd Army's goal, that's a quote from Gen. Patton himself. And second, I can't find a reference for it. The only reference I can find is some dude asserting he said it on Omaha beach in July of '44, but he doesn't provide any documentation.

Richard Dolan said...

I especially liked the line in the refrain: "And when she gets to Washington, it'll be cold as hell."

Interesting exercise in channeling Dante there while debunking the global warming fanatics (or whatever it's called this week), don't you think? Blame it all on Stanley Fish -- by getting the Tea Party's attention, he's turned them into sly devotees of medieval Italian poetry. NYT readers will explode at the thought.

garage mahal said...

Once again a glaring example of the left's double standards and bringing teh crazy.

So what did you think of the "Katrina Kids" hailing FEMA and Bush. Let me guess, it was different because, well, just because. But they are wearing T shirts, which as we know is like Hitler marching Poland.

Fred4Pres said...

How to respond to so called "conservatives' criticizing the right.

Call them what they are: liars.

sakredkow said...

Awesome. Thoroughly lovable.

Hagar said...

"We will hang Jeff Davis from a sour apple tree ...."

"John Brown's baby had a pimple on his nose ...."

Jon said...

@garage

That katrina Kids song is creepy too, but not as much as the Obama Kids song because a) The former doesn't single Bush out for praise, and b) there was no actual cult of personality around Bush in the society at large (as of course there was with Obama), and most teachers are lefties, so there was no real basis for concern that schools across the country were indoctrinating kids with Bush worship.

garage mahal said...

Ah. I see.

Anonymous said...

"So what did you think of the "Katrina Kids" hailing FEMA and Bush."

We thought it was fucking creepy too. What is your point?

Do you now think it's creepy when Obama is doing it?

Garage, unlike you, we're only too happy to criticize George W. Bush when he's wrong.

You have proven a stubborn unwillingness to judge Barack Obama on his own merits. That says a lot about you.

George W. Bush did a horrid job in the Katrina episode. He should have gone down to Louisiana and taken command of the entire operation away from both Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco and kicked both their asses to the curb. Democrats ran the Katrina operation and George W. Bush let them.

Big. Fucking. Mistake. No amount of PR was going to change that.

Union teachers coercing students forced to be in their classroms into singing praises for Dear Leader is fucking sicking ... and Barack Hussein Obama should tell teachers to stop fucing doing it.

That you can't bring yourself to criticize it tells everyone what a piece of human shit you are and what the Democrat Party is made of.

KCFleming said...

I tought Sully's momma woulda been a little younger n' that (whatever his provenance).

Alex said...

so garage - do you think there was ever an attempt to mass indoctrinate kids to the Bush cult of personality?

Cite please.

bagoh20 said...

"So what did you think of the "Katrina Kids" hailing FEMA and Bush."

It is different when they are singing the truth. And you curiously edited out that they were praising Congress too. I notice you do that a lot, the editing out of inconvenient truth. There is a word for that......maybe SATAN!

bagoh20 said...

"I got to Sullivan through the commenter 1jpb..."

How embarrassing for 1jpb.

Kirk Parker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ann Althouse said...

"But, in this case, you think it's awesome. Wonder why."

Because it's just 2 unpretentious adults sincerely expressing a political opinion with a certain amount of humor and down-home style. Think about how it could be a deliberate parody, and if you found out that was the case, you'd be full of admiration for the people who made it. That is, it would be quite hard for actors to pull this off, in a "Mighty Wind"-type performance. So there is a real charm to it.

Using children, by contrast, makes me sick.

Alex said...

Professor - if these 2 "down home" types were lefties you would not be charmed.

Fen said...

Be gentle, peeps. Garage needs the Tu Quo to keep his reality from crashing down around him. We don't want another Loughner or Fuller running amok.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I just heard on the News about a school shooting in CA..

Any chance the left will blame Sarah Palin?

Kirk Parker said...

garage,

What did I think of the FEMA song? Disgusting and pathetic, of course. Why do you even need to ask.

The T-shirts? Not so bad, all they say is "XYZ kids visit the White House". No worse than a kid wearing an "O" t-shirt. (Unless it's an Oprah "O", then it's way creepy, as Crack will no doubt back me up on!)


And Florida? Maybe you really are a moby--Bush (as metonymy for the entire executive branch) had not the slightest bit of authority to "take command of the entire operation away from" the locals. Have some principles, dude!

Fred4Pres said...

This is completely off topic, other than it involves a President of the United States.

But it is made out of awesome.

H/T to the Corner for finding this gem.

Beldar said...

Prof. A wrote, "I do think 'hunt some skunk' is an inappropriate metaphor after the Tucson massacre (though this performance predates that)."

Why are you comparing Congresswoman Giffords to a skunk?

If you're not, then the "hunting skunk" metaphor doesn't have anything to do with her shooting.

Why are you giving in to political correctness in re-writing your standards for appropriate and inappropriate behavior? (If you're just pretending to find it inappropriate, as part of a broader mockery of political correctness, then I apologize for being too dense to see the joke.)

Roger J. said...

Small point of order: for the president to take charge of the Katrina mess in NOLA and LA, he would have had to invoke the insurrection act--He talked about that issue in his book--the insurrection act is not a recourse readily available for any president of any party.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

That's some hilarious shit Fred.. thanks.

1775OGG said...

The Nazis anthem was titled "Horst Wessel Lied. The Commies had their own anthem, probably about their Comintern. However, since Obama has nothing similar, TTBOMK, here's my attempt to rectify that omission, enjoy or not, IRDKTM.

The song is done in the same kind of spirit as Adolf's followers, using a deceased comrade as the focus of the anthem, titled "The Diana Oughton Lied," (a.k.a. Flags Raised Skyward). Unfortunately, this only has lyrics and needs music to make it a proper(?) anthem for Obama.

"Flags raised, marchers aligned
Onward we Blue Shirts progress noisily
Comrades shot by the Reds, wounded mended
Forward march with her spirit in our ranks

The way is free for our Blues
The way is free for our Forces
Millions hoping looking upward
Our new day breaks for Him and Her

Now the call is made our bugle blown
For us the struggle continues
Soon our victory shall be clear
Slaves no more the enemy gone

Flags raised, marchers aligned
We march silently strong steps
Comrades shot by the Reds, wounded mended
March to the end, we shall prevail

All hail The Messiah she never met
Her yearning unfulfilled then
The blast was meant for another
Changed now with hope for all"

So, hopefully, all of Obama's followers are now grateful that this one deficiency has been corrected.

bagoh20 said...

"I just heard on the News about a school shooting in CA.. "

Yea, just a few blocks from me in Gardena, CA. Some of my employees have kids in the school and they left work to get them. So far they have not been allowed in. Two people shot is what I heard so far.

Unknown said...

It is awesome, real country!

I think they're singing about the ethic that they think Sarah embodies, so to me it's fine. It's voluntary too, unlike the choirs of kids singing hymns to The One.

bagoh20 said...

Gardena, High School: Two kids shot, one critical, one serious. Reportedly an accident. A 15 year old had a gun, and is in custody.

Fred4Pres said...

Ed Koch defends Sarah Palin without agreeing with her policies.

Koch gets it.

Henry said...

Okay, skunk line is out. Queue the junk line:

Sarah Palin, she won't listen to their bunk,
Sarah Palin, she won't touch your junk,
Sarah Palin - she'll throw 'em all in jail,
And when she gets to Washington, it'll be cold as hell.

The jail / hell rhyme isn't so hot either.

Fen said...

when she gets to DC, the Libtards will bail

Fen said...

See, this is why GOP PR campaigns suck. We don't do the song and dance very well.

The Crack Emcee said...

So, bagoh20, you're in Gardena - where I first traveled, from 78th and Western in South Central, to buy comic books. Man, my friends and i considered that a long trip back then, into the forbidden wilds of
white folk's country. (We had to catch a bus on a freeway overpass, which we thought, naturally, was racist.)

I hope everything's O.K. at the school. 15 yr. old girl with a gun - in Gardena. Damn, how things change.

bagoh20 said...

Crack,

We're technically in West Compton.

It was a boy with the gun. One girl was shot in the head, one boy also seriously shot.
~~~~~~~~~

We had strict rules about selling the comics to black kids. You guys were never to get the comics that had been blessed under the floating pyramid. You only got the ones from the Feng Suia negative energy corner. That may explain issues in your life. We're sorry, it was a different time.

Trooper York said...

I kind of like the Obama song:

"MY BOLOGNA HAS A FIRST NAME
ITS O-B-A-M-A!"

Unknown said...

ken in sc said...

Sorry, John Brown's body lies a moldering in the grave came before the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

John Brown was mouldering in 1859, but I'm pretty sure the Union soldiers who sang about it, as well as hanging Jeff Davis, came later. If you have a source, I'll happily stand corrected.

ContraMan said...

I have developed this nervous twitch which my psychologist ascribes to an excess exposure to anything that enters my consciousness and eventually taking up a permanent parasitical residence there. Now, after repeated brain scans it has been determined that I have become allergic to Sarah Palin.

The only cure, I'm told, is a complete withdrawal from reading about her or listening to anyone who mentions her. Viewing her is completely out of the question.

As a result, I fear I have now joined the 52% of Americans who dislike her. It's not that I really dislike her in any personal or political sense, but it's difficult to suffer anyone whose constant and annoying presence in the public square is threatening one's very sanity. I suspect I am not alone on this.

PaulV said...

Note a lot of Palin problems with AK Republicans started when she tossed a corrupt R out of office and another into jail. Ds got along with her until she ran against Obama (TIC)

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

bagoh20,

Like Crack cares about any of your New Age lunacy...

And Crack, seriously, no comic stores in your neighborhood? I realize that's small potatoes on the scale of problems in your life, but it's still sad.

PaulV said...

Julia Ward Howe wrote Battle Hymn of Republic after listening to Union troops sing John's Brown Body. Her husband was one off the Secret Six who funded John Brown before Harper's Ferry massacre. He fled to Canada. Another of the Secret Six was a Republican who went to an asylum to avoid arrest.

Unknown said...

Fair enough. I stand corrected.

Anonymous said...

"He talked about that issue in his book--the insurrection act is not a recourse readily available for any president of any party."

Or, he could have just asked Nagin and Blanco to step aside. He didn't. And that was a huge mistake.

They would have responded in one of two ways:

1) They could have refused to step aside ... and then Bush would have made it clear to the press that they did that therefore Democrats should shoulder the blame for the mess or

2) They would have stepped aside and competent people could have taken charge of the operation.

Bush mishandled the affair by thinking that Democrats are competent. They aren't.

And he paid a huge political price for not thinking outside his box.

Famous Original Mike said...

Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Disgusting. Ugly. Vile.

If Republicans don't use that video in ads in 2012 then they don't deserve to win. All the RNC needs to do is play that video nonstop and we'll have a Republican president in 2013. That's it.

Robert W. said...

The feelings of many on the Left towards Palin is clearly not just mere dislike but absolutely is HATRED. If she were African American, what would be a good term to describe those with such feelings?

campy said...

annoying presence in the public square is threatening one's very sanity.

Even SP can't threaten what doesn't exist.

traditionalguy said...

The "they will hang Jeff Davis to a tree" stanza is in John Brown's Body that Julia Ward Howe happened to overhear Union soldiers marching cadence to it. The soldiers had made up and added stanzas as the could think of one. So Julia made up a new Religious Hymn out of her creative mind. Her Battle Hymn was often credited with winning the war effort. Let's hope this latest stanzas do the trick again.

MadisonMan said...

Using children, by contrast, makes me sick.

I agree. And then I don't. Should parents take their kids with them to political rallies, to show them what goes on, or because it is important to the parent? Or to abortion protests? Tea Party gatherings? I waver on that -- where else will they learn what their parents think, after all? But to passersby, it's certainly might seem exploitative. I don't think the kids will enjoy themselves, but so many things that parents do are important but not meant for a child's enjoyment. You could probably just have a talk about it at home.

Think of the children!!

MadisonMan said...

BTW If it's as cold as hell when Sarah Palin gets to DC, per the lyrics, does that mean it never happens? As in It'll be a cold day in Hell when that happens? Or does that mean it won't be cold at all in DC, but hot, but as cold as hell, which isn't very cold at all?

Fen said...

It means Algore is in town peddling his snake oil.

traditionalguy said...

MM...Among the North Georgia mountain folks the word Hell is also pronounced Hale. I believe the song's chorus implies that Obama's hot money party will be stopped cold when Sarah's Alaskan Express blows into town.

Anonymous said...

"Should parents take their kids with them to political rallies ..."

Perhaps not ones where Democrat whackjobs are going to be at threatening people with death. Or town hall meetings where Democrats have brought their union thugs in to ensure order.

But besides that, yes, parents should educate their kids in how politics works and bring them to rallies. Absolutely nothing exploitative about that.

Teachers should Goddamned well be outlawed from doing what they are doing to those children in that video. We don't teach our fucking children to "praise Dear Leader" by God.

It's child abuse.

And if I ever catch my kid's teacher doing that kind of shit to my kid they can expect me to beat the living fuck out of them the moment they step off school property.

Make it a point to know where your kids teacher lives and this kind of shit doesn't happen.

Cedarford said...

Yeah, a quaint yokel lauds Goddess Palin as setting those darn elitists straight!
No different really than Jesse Jackson's crowd in the 80s cheering "You go, Jesse. You keep a speakin' Truth to the Man!"
And like Jesse's supporters, Sarah's rationalize that if people are pissed off at Sarah, why she deserves to be President.

I met an old Jesse Jackson for President supporter as a young guy in the early 90s. I asked why on Earth he supported someone with minimal qualifications. His rationale was Jesse made the Man, the Power - all upset.

Alex said...

Florida - you make an excellent point. Not all politics is created equal. While not all tea partiers are nice people, in general you will not see vile stuff at a TP rally. You will not see kafiyehs, "Down with America" signs, "Death to Jews" signs, and so on. So the idea of moral equivalence between left-wing rallies and TP rallies is FALSE.

Cedarford said...

Fred4Pres said...
Ed Koch defends Sarah Palin without agreeing with her policies.

Koch gets it.

=================
Not really. Koch the Jewish Mayor of NYC regularly had to trot out and defend other parts of his Dem Party "diversity base" in NYC.
That meant considerable time after 1st criticizing Jesse, of lapping Jackson's balls. Pleasing the black base.

Koch gets how the game is played.

Ann Althouse said...

I blogged that LBJ buying pants thing back in '07.