We have been discussing the propriety of public schools putting on worshipful performances about President Barack Obama. While I voted for him and support many of his policies, it does concern me to see children enlisted in such performances, which are not the norm in American education or politics. While some extreme conservatives have been campaigning on this issue, I do believe that there is a legitimate objection to the use of children to sing the praises of political leaders.
There are the lyrics of one of the videos published from these schools:
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Yeah, haha, haha.
Alright, come on now, here we go;
You know we gotta get Barack and all of his crew
In the White House so they can prove that
In their hearts they know what to do
And that includes Michelle and the kiddies too
[kids chanting] “There is not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.”
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
[Chant at end of song – unintelligible
Another song includes such lyrics as:
Barack Obama there is none higher
Other politicians should call me sire
To burn my kingdom you must use fire
I create change till I retire!Democratic Party come correct
Our cuts are on time our rhymes connect
Got the right to vote and will elect
Others can’t feel us but give us respect
That strikes me as significantly over-the-top. I expect that, if such a song was performed about George Bush (defending us and our families), liberals would be equally upset over the use of children to lionize a conservative leader.
I have long objected to how this country is increasingly deifying our presidents through elaborate inaugurations and unquestioned loyalty. I spend a lot of time pushing civics in schools, particularly elementary schools. This is not a valuable civics lesson. These songs advance the same type of cult of personality. It is not the civics lesson that I would want kids to learn. Indeed, it is precisely the opposite lesson. Kids should view a president as a citizen leader who carries out the will of the people — not our divine protector and national father. Citizens, not the President, protect our rights and our future.
The hard-right voices who denounced Obama’s speech to the nation’s children were clearly alarmist and unhinged, here. Moreover, Obama is legitimately a figure for discussion and inspiration in the schools. However, we should recognize that some of these videos cross the line and tend to politicize our public schools. Putting aside the fact that conservatives and Republicans send their kids to public schools too, school administrators should not make adoration of a leader part of the curriculum.
For the story, click here.
Sig Heil, Sig Heil, Off to Concentration Camps we go.
Prof. Turley:
“Kids should view a president as a citizen leader who carries out the will of the people — not our divine protector and national father. Citizens, not the President, protect our rights and our future.”
You are absolutely right. As a conservative, I would have been very upset if children were singing the praises of Ronald Reagan and I knew about such songs.
It is totally against the principles of this country to have children singing praises to the president.
AY:
In the tone of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the NAZI’s had a sign outside one or more of their concentration camps that said “Work Makes Freedom”
These songs are inappropriate for schoolchildren to be singing. what were their creators and perpetrators thinking. Teaching Civics is about helping students understand the working s of their government, its history and their future role as citizens. It should never be hagiography of those in power, but teach that it is our right to speak truth to power.
All oaths of allegiance, including the infamous pledge of allegiance (because of which as a child I repeatedly declared my attachment to God and country) should be banned in public schools.
For a democracy to function we require informed citizens who are able to discern fact from fiction. I agree with Mike S. that one of our most precious rights is to speak truth to power. We cannot do this if we don’t know how to discern truth because we have been propagandized to blind belief in our leaders as both children and adults.
“We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children”
What does it mean to “believe” in Rarack Obama? Belief is often used in religious context but what part does a nebulous belief play when assessing a political leader. In this context, unquestioning belief is a disaster.
Does Obama love every child and their mother? Again, this is an attribute often ascribed to God, but does it make sense of a politician? I submit that sending young people to die in a bogus, unwinnable war is not proof of love of children or their mother. I also submit that opposing attempts to get these same children and their mother’s adequate health care, housing and a living wage has nothing to do with love.
I must question the “change” he is building. If by change we mean solidyfying and expanding the antiConstitutional policies of GWB, then sure, there’s been change but it’s been for the worse.
Instead of signing these words, students should be studying whether they are accurate.
The second song clearly draws from the apocolyptic christian tradition of burning down the world to “save” it. This song also portrays Obama as a biblical king. As such it runs smack into separation of church and state. By also forcing children to pretend everyone is a Democrat, this does violence to reality and to those children whose family have made other political choices. Certainly, the favortism of one party over the other many political options cannot be acceptable in a school.
These actions run counter to any good educational philosophy. I hope someone will talk with the people who decided this was a good idea and that there is a chance for children and adults alike to debate both the content or these songs and their use on children.
Wow.
That’s as much a Nazi a behavioral tool as anything the Neocons have ever used. Who the #$%& does Obama think he is?
Except for referencing them as required to teach civics and history, there should be no partisan political speech allowed in schools as promulgated by the staff. Period.
One party is the party of greed and war criminals. One party is the party of greed and using health care as weapon against our own populace to keep their corporate masters happy.
I say screw ‘em all at this point. It’s time to throw out the bathwater, baby and all.
Yeah. It’s time for a third party. And a fourth and a fifth and a sixth . . .
Or maybe it’s time to just start busting heads?
Because that’s how this all ends.
This combined with his earlier capitulation to the drug companies shows Obama is Bush with a different guy holding his leash, but both want to Emperor. And both have been actively subverting our GUARANTEED Constitutional Rights.
Screw them and screw that.
Either the two party system goes away and accountability and the Rule of Law restored or it will all go away in a bloody anarchic mess in which anyone stupid enough to proudly proclaim they are from either party and they are here to help us will be eaten alive along with the corporate and lobbyist douche bags pulling their strings.
On live television.
Most people forget that after the French hit this wall, it wasn’t over when the beheadings ended. France remained in anarchy for several years after Marie was given the cake she earned. But unlike then, we have broadcast media. Just think of the ratings! Rupert is drooling right now like a vampire in a blood bank just waiting for Washington to finish killing itself.
And these are the kinds of songs they’ll be singing in the background while Rome burns. Jingoistic, devotional, semi-worshipful horse shit.
Buddha,
This is bad, very bad, but unless there’s any reason to believe that Obama encouraged this, blaming him is just an extension of the deifying him that JT was talking about. (Loki’s still a god after all). The corollary to credit where credit is due needs to be blame where blame is due.
And the blame falls squarely in the past. When the teachers received their education. In my opinion the current crop of President as King is the the natural result of the indoctrination of the idea of Founding Fathers as Saints and Heroes. Let’s not forget about the Pledge of allegiance, the general white washing of U.S. history, etc.
The question isn’t who does President Obama think he is, but who do WE think he is.
Gyges,
Perhaps.
But if you think this kind of think is done without knowledge, you must trust pols more than I. Do I think he gave the order proper? Probably not. Do I think he has hirelings under his control that did? Most certainly. Did they do so without his approval? I doubt it. Didn’t someone have to write the song? Who placed the order and penned it? Would a media savvy President like Obama allow a song about him to be sung in government operated schools without his direct approval or the approval of a proxy? I think not.
Although I see your point philosophically, this didn’t happen in a vacuum. It couldn’t have by the nature of the scope and the subject matter.
Gyges,
I am going to look into this question. I tend to agree with Buddha. Obama has been adept at using propaganda. Remember JT’s post on “the ask” in exchange for getting an arts grant? The Pentagon is still planting their experts to speak on “news” programs even thought this is illegal. It bears research and I’ll try to get a good answer to this question and hope others will also look into it.
Buddha,
So President Obama is aware enough of the lesson plans of every single teacher in the country that he could encourage or prevent a handful (by my count 3 famous examples, so let’s say 100 or so, which given the number of teachers in the country is a SMALL percentage) of teachers to do songs in his honor?
That means that the administration would have to send their wishes down through layers of bureaucracy (Federal, state, county, and city governments, as well as the local school districts down through the principals) WITHOUT someone that opposed his wishes getting a hold of the message to report to the press. Nixon couldn’t even get his trusted high level folks to keep mum about Water-gate, and he didn’t have people like Murdock’s employees pouring over every word\memo\etc. looking for anything to hype up.
We don’t even need Occam’s razor for this one, his butter knife would do.
Gyges,
You misunderstand the way bureaucracy operates. What you describe is a criminal cover up with Nixon – an inherently unstable enterprise that only grows more unstable over time. This is a propaganda operation, effectively pysops being run on citizens. Because it is not a crime proper, it 1) doesn’t attract as much attention and 2) doesn’t require as much scrutiny or effort to push through. All that would need to be done would be to circulate the song and hope there would be enough adopters (blind Obama-nauts) to make it effective. It’s an active crime versus a passive conditioning technique. As far as ease of execution and complexity goes, it’s apples and oranges. Even if only 20% of the teachers choose to use it, that equates to (based on the 2002 number of 28,450,000 million enrolled primary school students in the US), that’s still 5,690,000 students indoctrinated. At 5% it’s 1,422,500.
So look at the numbers and back away from the butter knife.
I was taught to respect the President and the Presidency. I have no problem with kids singing a song expressing the thought that they wish Obama well. I have even fewer problems with minority kids admiring the first black president. The real problem is all the American idiots who refuse to accept Obama as a President we should respect. They need to get over it, and stop the endless cycle of cynical, disrespectful anti-Obama rhetoric.
I lived with George Bush as president for eight years, and never worried about a school being named after him (Stockton, CA). Where was the uproar about George W. Bush elementary school? Lost in the hypocrisy of the right wing. If you actually made similar comments about this school, Mr. Turley, I will withdraw my comment.
Randy Macon, after reading the lyrics here, I say they cross the line into indoctrination. Naming a school after a president or other political figure doesn’t have the same effect on the minds of the young.
I have a number of problems with the lyrics. First, they are cult songs. Second, they mischaracterize the role of the president. Third, the grammar and rhyming are terrible. That being said, I believe that the semi-idolatrous nature of the songs is attributable in large part to the overwhelming sense of exhilaration that must have been felt by the black community at large over the election of Pres. Obama. After all, it was an event that most of us did not believe would take place in our lifetimes. For many blacks, it may be considered the most significant milestone since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. If one seeks some historical perspective, one need only read some of the literature published following the death of George Washington. I anticipate that the excitement will gradually fade. In the meantime, the songs will provide fodder to the wingnuts who were outraged that the president would have the temerity to even visit with school children.
Mike A.,
I disagree with you (almost never happens!). As a women had Hillary Clinton become president and these types of songs had been made about her, my first reaction would have been to get the barf bag and secondly, I would come out strongly against them. It certainly would be amazing to have a woman president in the same way it is amazing to have a black president. To me, these songs do not show pride in the election of a black man as president, they show the indoctrination of children to “love” a leader, pure and simple. In a way you are also assuming that every black person likes and voted for Obama and does not currently question his actions. If Ms. Clinton had been elected, this woman would be wommaning the barricades to oppose her policies. It was a real accomplishment for this nation to step out of racial hatred and elect a black president. That fact means a lot to me. But another fact remains, the policies of this particular black man are destroying our Constitution. The last thing we need is cult songs to anyone, black, white, male or female who engages in this.
The first issue here is that the lyrics of these songs are highly inappropriate and would be embarassing in any context. Putting them in an educational setting goes way beyond the pale of inappropriateness. However, given the sheer stupidity of the lyrics I can’t believe they were initiated onhigh by this Administration. Forget whether you approve of them or not and just look at the fact that they are just not that stupid a group of people and these songs are unbelievably ridiculous. Certainly anyone planning a propaganda campaign would use much more subtlety, even the Fundamentalists Wingnuts. I’m sure these were put together by someone in State or local government who had a serious case of kiss-ass and a more serious case of dumb.
Buddha,
You missed a central part of my argument. People are actively looking for anything to make Obama look bad. Look at the reaction to his stay in school speech, or that program that encouraged people to volunteer via popular media (which was in the works long before Obama was elected), or his trip to get the Olympics in Chicago.
It’s not just a matter of getting it to the Pro-Obama teachers, it’s a matter of getting it to the pro-Obama teachers without the rabid anti-Obama crowd finding out.
Strike that, it’s a matter of getting it to that pro-Obama teachers without the anti-Obama crowd, the starved for their 15 min. of fame crowd, the starved for cash crowd, the whistle-blower crowd, and the just plain gossips crowd from finding out.
If there was ANY hint of this coming from the administration don’t you think we’d have heard about it by now? We heard about that stupid phone call from a mid level NEA official. And that wasn’t even this blatantly pro-Obama, just pro things Obama (and the majority of people) is pro.
Plus as Mike said, that song isn’t the work of some mastermind, it’s a hack of a music teacher got together with a hack of a civics teacher to write a song.
For what it is worth I agree with Gyges, Randy and Mike Appleton.
IMHO this is old news being served up as raciest backlash.
These songs were not indoctrination, and they did not take place in civics class. Most of the songs cited were singular examples from performances/recitals celebrating Martin Luther King Day during Black History Month 2009. Given the historic election and President Obama’s grand Inaugural on January 20, 2009 (and especially if you were a child of “color” or “poor”) this was definitely something to sing about!
JT’s post links to the Big Hollywood site whose title post is “Elementary Epidemic: 11 Uncovered Videos Show School Children Performing Praises to Obama.” Please read the whole post there and all the crazy comments. This was an “uncovered” expose? These videos have been around for months!
Eleven is an “Epidemic”?
They (you know who they are) have been combing the internet and begging for submissions for any evidence that will fit their indoctrination meme! (I’m still revolted about how they twisted the NJ school children’s video.)
Many of the 11 videos referenced do not even mention President Obama by name, but are generic songs about “change” for the better, “hope” for the future, and that “Yes, you can” accomplish something and help others, no matter how humble your beginnings; not really anything to get your panties in a twist about!
IMHO the big news story this week involving our nation’s school children is that 50% of American children and 90% of African-American children will need at some time in their formative years to rely on Food Stamps. That to me is big news; school lunch for too many poor children today is their only reliable meal! Yet we, who believe in providing this necessity, have to fight the same fight each year for a “nutritious meal” to be budgeted and funded.
PS: The song the children performed “We Believe In Barack Obama” (that seems to be drawing the most attention) was by the group The Hush Sound; and here is a video of them live at the University of Illinois from October 2008.
Gyges,
I have two words for you and Mike that could sink your battleship. Blind distribution. You create a document/song/whatever. It’s tailored to a targeted audience and built to appeal to them. You don’t have to tell them where it comes from. You just have to release it into the wild and see how well it sticks. Simply e-mailing it from a dummy account or mass faxing would do. It is, after all, just a meme. A meme acts like a virus. You just cut it loose and see how well it thrives. I will stipulate it could have been a overzealous amateur, but the lyrics reek of professional propaganda skills. What you two see is clumsy execution, I see as subtle. There is no one to point the finder at. That’s the very best kind of propaganda. We are probably all right to some degree.
So sorry, I hope this link works or else just go to youtube and search The Hush Sound “We believe in Barack Obama”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdKpWS-m39s
or here The Hush Sound are performing the song in Florida:
SO what we have here is a confluence of coincidence making unintentional propaganda?
Not out of the question, but man oh man do I have to still say unlikely. That being said, getting hit by a meteor is unlikely too, but it has happened.
I believe in this instance if you are going to claim conspiracy you would have to point the finger at the right wing nut cases;
I just don’t see any evidence of purposeful (or for that matter unintentional) indoctrination. This one song cited, by The Hush Sound has been around and played in concert for well over a year; and so far only one video of school children singing it has surfaced.
CEJ,
You bring up a good point. Counter-ops. Given I know the origination of the song, it’s use as a counter tool is immediately apparent. The song is propaganda, no doubt about that, but really you are on to the core issue here. Who is promoting it as such?
Aye, propaganda can be a tangled web.
I doubt this is some grand cabal of the “cult of Obama”.
or of “right wingnuts”, it is a spontaneous outpouring of affection for the man by people who voted for him and are happy he won.
but it has no place in a public school system.
Inadvertent propaganda is still propaganda.
But no matter the cause, it seems we all agree this song is entirely inappropriate. No?
What I’m saying is this faux outrage and the “meme of indoctrination” is just being stirred up by the “right wing nuts” just to create fear and hate!
It also works(successfully) at keeping us from looking at the things we should be concerned about!
The “11 more videos” of the children singing are not news (children relying on FOOD Stamps is news) nor anything to be outraged about given the “crap” (pardon my crassness) that goes on the “education of our children”!
This is just “same old same old” let’s “milk this for all it is worth”- again this is not an “epidemic” nor is it the “tip of the iceberg” or the edge of the “slippery slope”!
PS: I’ll spare you the link to Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome” right now.
Buddha,
Gyges wrote: “So President Obama is aware enough of the lesson plans of every single teacher in the country that he could encourage or prevent a handful (by my count 3 famous examples, so let’s say 100 or so, which given the number of teachers in the country is a SMALL percentage) of teachers to do songs in his honor?
“That means that the administration would have to send their wishes down through layers of bureaucracy (Federal, state, county, and city governments, as well as the local school districts down through the principals) WITHOUT someone that opposed his wishes getting a hold of the message to report to the press.”
I’d have to agree with Gyges. I was a public school teacher for many years. I have a pretty good perspective of how things work in the field of education. I can’t imagine Obama or people in his administration being responsible for the singing of glory songs to our new president in public schools.
I can tell you this too: Lots of superintendents are clueless as to what goes on in the schools/classrooms under their supervision. I found that some administrators aren’t even interested in knowing as long as no parents or folks in their communities are making complaints.
We believe in Sara Palin
She loves you and she loves your mama
We believe in Sara Palin, yeah
With all the change she’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Sara Palin, yeah
” Sara Palin, there is none higher
Other politicians should call me siren of Syre
To burn my kingdom you must use fire
I create change till I retire!
Republican Party come correct
Our cuts are on time our rhymes connect
Got the right to vote and will elect
Others can’t feel us but give us respect
Nope, no propaganda or indoctrination here. wouldn’t bother me a bit to have my kid sing this stuff. CEJ, this is exactly what you are saying. Is this really O.K. with you?
Also I agree that the fact that so many children are falling into starvation. This absolutely is hitting disproportionately in the black community and it is criminal. It’s another reason why I object to saying Obama loves the children and their mothers. His economic policy would say otherwise.
Mike Appleton: “First, they are cult songs. Second, they mischaracterize the role of the president. Third, the grammar and rhyming are terrible.”
How about the choreography and the overall cinematic aesthetic? And what do you think Pope Benedict (former Hitler youth) would have to say?
Jill:
now that is “propoganda”. Sheeit, I wish the left did not hate her so much and think she is the devil. She really is not that much of a conservative, more like a warmed over populist with neo-theocratic leanings.
The more you guys revile her the more support she gets. Most on the right think “dam Palin is hated by the left she must be good”.
Can you layoff her and find an actual free market liberty loving conservative to hate? I want change but not her kind.
Byron,
You’ll notice I rarely mention Palin. That is because she IS the devil. And the 15% she appeals to are the particularly insane branch of the GOP. Do you honestly think that moron is competent to lead? Not just Alaska or the U.S., but anything? If she wasn’t hot, she’d be laughed off the damn stage – by BOTH sides – and you know it. Everything that comes out of her mouth is either a lie, propaganda, or pure outright craziness. You’re a boss. I’m a boss. Would you hire Sarah Palin? For anything critical to operations? I sure as hell wouldn’t. Now to be honest, I’ve never totally understood this particular saying of my grandfather, but he used it all the time in relation to pols. “I wouldn’t trust him/her in a shit house with a muzzle on.” I don’t know why exactly but that phrase really comes to mind when I see that narcissistic freak on TV. But cut her slack? No. She needs to be marginalized and relegated to selling real estate ASAP. That Jill used her for an example is mere coincidence. You put DeLay or Bachus or Cheney or Bush – any pols name you want – and it’s still propaganda. It’s actually worse than propaganda. It’s language geared to engender worship. It’s messianic and uses the language of That’s far more dangerous than mere lying. If you doubt this, look at the world around you and ask what has been done wrong in the name of slavish devotion. It’ll be a huge list you compile, my friend.
Elaine,
It’s not a matter of conscious adoption with this kind of propaganda. This type of propaganda works because a certain percentage will willing adopt it. The layers of the systems are irrelevant to this tactic. It’s a shotgun approach. You don’t need anyone but a teacher to bite at the bait. Some kinds of propaganda attacks work specifically because they lack normative structures. It’s called a diffusion attack. Because of the origination of the song, I’m more in the accidental propaganda camp now where I was in the purposeful before. But this could have just as easily been purposeful. And irregardless, propaganda is propaganda, accidental or not, and has no place in the classroom.
CEJ,
I do not disagree it’s being played after the fact as a counter, but I do disagree that it’s same old same old. This song is pure brainwash. The last time I heard something this offensive, it was in German. The teachers need to be made to stop and stop NOW. But as to the import? Yeah, it’s way down the list, but this is the story this thread is about. I’m not nearly as pissed off about this as I am about Obama still abusing the Separation of Powers Doctrine by still using the blatantly illegal signing statements. Or torture. Or the Patriot Act. Or the various Constitutional crimes. Not all gorillas weigh #400.
“language of worship.”
Buddha:
exactly, she should be marginalized. But it does seem that the more the left hates her the more the right embraces her.
“I wouldn’t trust him/her in a shit house with a muzzle on.”
what the heck does that mean? Shit house = outhouse? But what does the muzzle do? Locked away in the outhouse with a muzzle they still will figure out a way to screw you? Or bite you in the ass?
Your Grandfather was a more esoteric/enigmatic philosopher than even Kant!
Byron,
I used Sara Palin because she might possibly be a right wing female president. If people object to these verses being used to praise Sara Palin then to be consistent, people on the left, should object to this type of thing being sung about Obama. Indeed I might have put in Liz Cheney, my bet for a first female president. I didn’t make up the verses, I simply modified them with Palin instead of Obama. When you read the verses, whose change was a name (and one small other to rhyme), you said I was making propaganda, which indeed I was. So were the makers of the original lyrics. And that is/was my point exactly.
Jill:
I understand all of that, I was actually trying to make a joke and a point. Quit yanking on Palin, the more the left does the more the right likes her. I don’t want a Palin presidency.
If the left could just start saying how great she was and wonderful her ideas were the right would dump her like a hot potatoe (the Quail spelling)
Byron,
I think he meant pols would be content to eat feces if left to their own devices, but yes, this particular saying is one of his more enigmatic. I don’t know if he was obtuse as Kant, but he could certainly come hard out of left field at you. I didn’t just learn the Jedi Mind Trick from watching too much Groucho. I learned it from watching my grandfather. His Confusion Ray was a mighty weapon.
Buddha–
I daresay that accidential propaganda is quite different from an organized bureacratic imposition or implementation of a program. Maybe you’re implying its a kind of “punctuated equilibrium” of a non-biological nature. I’m not clear about where you’re saying this so-called propaganda originated. It’s very likely it came from the bottom levels of the educational pyramid.
***************
Byron–
I do hope Sarah Palin remains on the scene for a long time. She provides great fodder for comedians–and me with lots of poetic inspiration for light verse of a political nature. Here’s a little poem I wrote about her resignation speech. Do you recall the waterfowl honking in the background as Sarah blathered on about why she wouldn’t finish her term of office?
Sarah Palin’s Swan/Duck/Goose Song
Hithery dithery dock,
I’m list’ning to Sarah P. talk.
Her thinking is muddled.
The geese are befuddled.
They’ve started to gather and squawk.
Hithering withering wits,
She’s sending the geese into fits.
They’re honkin’ and flappin’.
She’s breathless and yappin’.
They think that the gov is a ditz.
Hithery plithery pluck,
The geese are all running amuck
As the gov blathers on.
Ah, but soon she’ll be gone.
They’re so glad she won’t be a lame duck!
I would find it difficult to follow Palin’s train of thought in many of her speeches–even if I had a GPS. In her case, a GPS would be a Global Prose Scrutablizer.
“I wouldn’t trust him/her in a shit house with a muzzle on.”
I’ll take a stab at this: A mussle is basically a strainer. Pols are known to do things ass backwards. So rather that place on the face, it is put on the ass and the shit is therefore strained. So the large chucks nestled on the ass become quite messy as there is no way for it to go out.
The shit house is where all the shit sits and the smell is, well, smelly.
Elaine,
Punctured equilibrium is exactly what I mean. And bottom up is exactly how this kind of propaganda usually works. At it’s most effective, the tactic can impact every level of an organization at once. As to the accidental nature of it? I have no issue accepting this was a song written by supporters at election time. That it has been subverted to an improper use was by accident/coincidence rather than purpose? I’ll admit it’s possible. But how did those people at the bottom of the pyramid find out about a song from what is essentially a local band? The very same kind of word of mouth network that got Obama elected. Do we all not share musical finds from time to time here at RIL? Let’s just say this is “organic propaganda” (e.g. spontaneously self-propagating). Let’s say it’s totally inadvertent. That doesn’t make it any less dangerous. Music is fundamentally an emotional (and mathematical) language. Parring it with words designed to influence is an inherently dangerous combination when the influence sought is political in nature. “Love To Love You, Baby” isn’t nearly as dangerous as “Deutcheland Uber Alles” or that jingoistic ultra right-wing crap that poorly educated redneck Toby Keith calls music. It can mask blatant falsehoods and manipulative language with the pure emotive appeal of music.
And I ask all of you this: What if the teachers were just giving the text of this song as a speech or as part of a lesson plan? Is that more or less dangerous? I think less dangerous, but conversely, also more blatantly offensive. It has nothing to hide behind.
Buddha–
I’m against indoctrination of any kind in schools. I agree that even though educators may not have looked at some of these songs as propagandistic in nature, that doesn’t make it is any less dangerous. I consider myself a liberal. I wouldn’t want teachers with a neocon leaning to indoctrinate my child or children in my community with their beliefs. It works both ways.
Besides, all this stuff is just a waste of valuable educational time.
Buddha:
“His Confusion Ray was a mighty weapon.”
That has got to be a classic line. Roflmao in spirit.
That muzzle in the outhouse, I am still thinking about that one.
Bob, Esq., Pope Benedict would likely complain that the music does not possess sufficiently martial passion.
ElaineM:
Brava!
BTW
Happy Guy Fawkes Day
Remember, remember the fifth of November.
Sleep tight, Washington.
Buddha–
Just the tiniest bit of historical humor: One must be vigilant and never let a Fawkes slip into a Protestant henhouse.
Mike Appleton:
Would you believe he’s the first Pope in my entire (lapsed) Catholic life that’s ever made me feel uncomfortable?
For a religion that prides itself on immaculateness, you’d think the guys in red would have picked someone who wasn’t in the Hitler Youth before sending out the white smoke.
One wonders if the wingnuts considered this date being Guy Fawkes Day when they planned the anti-healthcare reform, anti-government rally?
lottakatz–
“One wonders if the wingnuts considered this date being Guy Fawkes Day when they planned the anti-healthcare reform, anti-government rally?”
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I doubt it. That would indicate that they had some knowledge of history.
That Michele Bachmann is definitely one of the wingnuttiest folks in Congress.
Elaine,
I had wanted to address your feeling that the govt. would not know about these schoolchildren. While I cannot say they did in these particular cases, it would not surprise me. I try to help out with counter recruitment at the schools and local festivals. The military is quite interested in children and tracks them extensively. There’s a link to an article on some of that below. At my dingy local school board meeting and in run down auditorium there were 6 recruiters present. At local festivals the military likes to bring out the hummers and climb walls for 8 years old on up. See what you think.
“In the past few years, the military has mounted a virtual invasion into the lives of young Americans. Using data mining, stealth websites, career tests, and sophisticated marketing software, the Pentagon is harvesting and analyzing information on everything from high school students’ GPAs and SAT scores to which video games they play. Before an Army recruiter even picks up the phone to call a prospect…the soldier may know more about the kid’s habits than do his own parents.”
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/09/few-good-kids
Jill:
why is that a problem? Colgate does it as does Nickelodeon. Market analysis is not illegal and neither is marketing to a target audience. But I do agree that private records should be private.
In addition when marketing you put your best foot forward. They aren’t lying to these children, the military can be a very good career. Granted the down side is serious but everyone knows the down side is death and dismemberment.
My brother served as a Marine aviator for 20 years and was in 3 wars and had nary a scratch. He had a great career and saw the majority of the world and had some great and not so good experiences. He has many friends from his service years, a good retirement and the satisfaction of having served his country.
All in all not a bad testimonial to military service.
Byron,
This is a big problem because the data is collected under false pretense without parental permission or awareness. It is also used in ways that raise true moral questions. Because the recruiters know so much about children they can tailor the pitch to them. One girl was pitched how if she enlisted she wouldn’t be a burden to her (single) mom anymore. That was true because now she’s dead.
“All in all not a bad testimonial to military service.”
Byron,
Military service can be a good thing, except if you’re one of the more than 5,200 who have died in two unneeded wars, or perhaps their close relative.