October 1, 2008

"As creepy and inappropriate as this singing is -- it’s not as bad as what Obama is actually proposing..."

Jim Lindgren tries to figure out what to think about that ludicrous, appalling video of children singing to the glory of Obama.



I'd like to say something about it too, but I can't force myself through even the first minute. I gag on treacle. But some people seem to think we should be deeply disturbed by this video. Lindgren links to Roger Simon, who says:
Watching this video has disturbed me more than almost anything I have seen in recent years. It is the kind of exploitation of children that reminds me of Young Pioneer Camps I saw when visiting the Soviet Union in the Eighties. You could say, as some have, that this is much like what happens with children in churches and synagogues across America, but this is about a political figure — one of two current presidential candidates and the one leading in the polls.
Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh was saying:
Basically the lyrics were, "Yes, we can, lift each other up in peace and love and hope. Change. Change!" You know, I watched the video. I did not see any Little Red Book with Obama quotations in there, the, "Yes, We Can Manual." You're talking about Chairman Mao, right? I did not see any of that. "Yes, we can. Nations all joined as one! Sing for joy. Sing for peace. Courage, justice, hope, peace, love, hope, change, change!" Kids 5 to 12. Little crumb-crunchers, skulls full of mush being polluted and perverted by a bunch of Hollywood pro-Obamaite liberals.
Rush wasn't buying too deeply into the notion that it looks like communism. (And he's always on the lookout for communism.) He was going on about the Hollywood liberals who poured resources into making a video that was supposed to look like a charming small-town community effort.

My main impression -- and, again, I can't bear to watch the whole thing -- is that soft-hearted liberals love to think of Obama as the embodiment of the ideal of racial harmony, and then, in that vein, it seems appropriate for children to sing a hymn to racial harmony. It's much the same idea as the old "Yes We Can" video. The error lies not in the worship of a man, but in the facile belief that a mere man can embody an ideal.

118 comments:

Sprezzatura said...

I still think the prayer one is worse.

I got through a lot more of this one, though I still didn't make it to the end.

Palladian said...

I don't think anyone has actually been able to watch it to the end, including the people who made it.

Ken B said...

Let's not forget this is being linked to approvingly from the official Obama site.

former law student said...

You mean pajamas media panjandrum Roger L. Simon. Roger Simon is the Chief Political Columnist of Politico, and formerly was a columnist for the Sun-Times.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

There is a Roger Simon on Politico - the one you r talking about is Roger L Simon.

Sprezzatura said...

...linked to approvingly from the official Obama site

A very lawyerly statement. Don't forget that the BHO campaign didn't create or approve this.

This was put on an open forum where the most fervent BHO fans hangout. And, now the more left brain BHO fans don't need to be bothered by these folks since they've seen the Palin fans.

Unknown said...

If you can get away with being an idiot, and for some reason that seems to happen a lot, then you'll probably be one.

I think recent cultural and political events, and especially when the two merge, would bear that out.

Peter V. Bella said...

GAG!!! This gets more and more insipid and ridiculous as time goes on.

Unknown said...

Oh, give it up. The I-just-can't-bear-to-make-it-to-the-end-it's-so-awful theme in the last week is itself painful. And childish.

What conservatives are missing is that it doesn't have anything to do with Obama. Like he said in his DNC speech, it hasn't been about him at all. It's about us. It's about us so vehemently disgusted with George W. Bush and the Republican Party (and I'm an Independent, mind you), that we are orgasmic over having a real chance to take power away from those cronies.

Kerry should have been able to do it, but he lacked the charisma to motivate the masses and the country was still a little scared by the culture of fear the Bush Administration created. I wasn't excited about Kerry. I, like the Economist, voted for him "with a heavy heart." I never gave him a cent of my money, wore his stickers, or did anything to actively support him. I sorta just checked the box and hoped for the best.

Obama is different because the country is fed up. Truthfully, it could have been Hillary. Had she won, I would give her money, too. I like her fine. The reason she didn't resonate was not because she wasn't black (everyone needs to drop this affirmative action nonsense), it's because she was Clinton. Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton is a scary proposition. She can hardly embody change. I would have favored her strongly for VP pick and possible P in the future.

McCain would have been okay if he would have remained the same person. If he would have convinced us that he could rise above his party still. He can't though. He sold out. He's changed to win the Presidency and he's changed in a bad way!

Palin brings new energy. I want to like her. If she were more moderate or knowledgable, I would. As for experience, well, where Obama doesn't have experience, he has knowledge. Let's face it; he's smarter than Palin. He can read about things and learn about them, where I don't trust Palin to do that.

My rant of the day.

BJK said...

Apparently, "Jesus Camp" is only acceptable when it's "Obama Camp."

blake said...

So, we have a guy schooled in subversive socialism, associated with socialist extremists, advocating socialism, silencing critics in a manner typical of communists, and whose supporters can't help but frame him in a fashion reminiscent of the great* communist dictators?

Eh. I'm sure he's just a left-leaning moderate.

*great meaning "large or immense"/we use it in the pejorative sense

bearbee said...

..is that soft-hearted liberals..

Soft-headed liberals

There is an arrogance that only a certain segment of the political spectrum wish peace and harmony.

The paragraph and lyrics below are from Obama's official campaign website. The video was produced by NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker, Holly Schiffer, Peter Rosenfeld, Darin Moran, Jean Martin, Andy Blumenthal, and Nick Phoenix.

DaLawGiver said...

Very similar to what you see in many evangelical churches on any Sunday in the south except instead of praising God or Jesus they praise Obama. Also the audience and song leader here get way more excited at the conclusion. The lady is so overcome she almost falls down.

Very slick, very sick.

Methadras said...

They are singing about a fraud. That fraud being Mr. Barely. Rush wasn't talking about Communism per se or how little children sang to their leaders, but how little children just happened to sing to their leaders like Mao, Hitler, Saddam, The Little North Korean Midget, et al. Little children singing to these particular (types) of leaders. Leftist leaders and now Mr. Barely gets his own choir charaded as a grass roots endeavor, but really is a slick communications propaganda piece funded by, you guessed it, fellow leftists. How quaint.

Trooper York said...

Was that the Cowsills?

Larry J said...

This will soon be followed by news reports of "Chairman Obama leads the happy workers in song."

bearbee said...

... it doesn't have anything to do with Obama. Like he said in his DNC speech, it hasn't been about him at all.

Thats why in the third grade, Obama wrote an essay titled, “I Want to Become President?"

I know, I know, every kid does that.

Maxine Weiss said...

Child Evangelism. It starts with the children. Jim Jones and the children of Guyana.....walking to their death en masse.....that would make a good counter attack ad !

"My children like to donate to a lot of causes"

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2007/10/using-kids-to-bypass-campaign-finance.html

chickelit said...

The kids remind me Sunday schoolers in the days of yore. They just replaced the words "Jesus", and "Lord", and "God" with Obama. But I guess that was intentional.

Anonymous said...

My main impression -- and, again, I can't bear to watch the whole thing -- is that soft-hearted liberals love to think of Obama as the embodiment of the ideal of racial harmony.

I feel the same way about Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

I'm a softie that way.

chickenlittle said...

The kids remind me Sunday schoolers in the days of yore. They just replaced the words "Jesus", and "Lord", and "God" with Obama. But I guess that was intentional.

Obama is for White folks who've gotten bored with Jesus.

It's been 2000 years of the same tired old guy.

It's time for change.

blake said...

All we have to do to make Obama songs is...well, you know.

Beth said...

God how I hate most child performances. I start singing "I don't like Mondays" and think dark thoughts when I have to submit to one.

What a treacly mess.

Beth said...

Trooper - unfair! Or were the Cowsills that bad? I can't remember.

Susan Cowsill lives in NOLA these days, and plays often at Carrollton Station. She's good, in a dBs, REM, Southern indie rock way. Her brother, Barry, died in or after Katrina -- it's a mystery, but his body washed up on the river's bank.

Hey, there's a future for these Obama kids!

Trooper York said...

I don't know, as I remember they were pretty bad. I remember seeing them on Lawrence Welk or maybe a Perry Como Christmas special.

Wasn't Kenny Rogers in the Cowsills before he opened his chicken restuarants?

Trooper York said...

Scratch that. Kenny was in the New Christy Minstrels who were also alot like these kids.

Then he went on to Kenny Rogers and the New Edition. I think Bobby Brown was in that.

Beth said...

There was a time I couldn't tell Kenny Rogers and Lionel Ritchie apart on the radio.

Now I'm envisioning the little Cowsills singing "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" -- thanks alot for that, Trooper.

chickelit said...

jdeeripper wrote: Obama is for White folks who've gotten bored with Jesus.

Jesus saves, Obama waives

MadisonMan said...

I stopped listening at after the first line sung. Retch. Hearing a kid sing in that wavery kid-voice type thing is only charming if it is your kid. Someone else's kid? Not so much.

If this had been at my neighbor's house (I don't live in Venice CA, thankfully), I would have left. If my wife and I had both been there, I would have been unable to look her in the eye for fear of bursting into laughter at the asburdity of it all.

Joe said...

Why is this such a big deal? Good grief, I had to sit through stuff worse than this for all my kids--thank God they're now out of elementary school.

miller said...

"Not directly produced by the hands of Bambi" != "innocuous"

Again, what exactly has Bambi accomplished that leads adults to laud him, and leads adults to brainwash their kids?

He's the Flim-Flam Man in a better suit.

Trooper York said...

Wait a minute, didn't they lose in the last round of America's Got Talent.

By the way the violin guys are gonna win. Theo will be pleased.

goesh said...

kissy kissy nice nice, poking Republicans into the gas chambers, chirping their ditties - auslander raus! well, that may be a bit extreme.....

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Wow. Was this filmed during the graduation ceremony at one of Barry's reeducation camps?

George M. Spencer said...

For the third and final time, I will again give the link to this NY Times story about Sen. Obama's cocoon-style, conveyor belt multi-billion plans for children, their families, neighborhoods, and cities.

These programs will involve coercing major corporations into literally sponsoring poor neighborhoods what he calls "Promise Neighborhoods."

It begins before children are born by sending their parents to "...Baby College, a nine-week parenting program that encourages parents to choose alternatives to corporal punishment and to read and talk more with their children. As students progress through an all-day prekindergarten and then through a charter school, they have continuous access to community supports like family counseling, after-school tutoring and a health clinic, all designed to mimic the often-invisible cocoon of support and nurturance that follows middle-class and upper-middle-class kids through their childhoods. The goal, in the end, is to produce children with the abilities and the character to survive adolescence in a high-poverty neighborhood, to make it to college and to graduate.

Think about those words..."continuous access..." It means 24/7 government involvement in "education."

'Nuff said.

Henry said...

Perfect. All it needs are subtitles.

Rose said...

On another site someone noted that this supposedly spontaneous event just happens to have Obama banners in the background, professional shooters and equipment, a STEADICAM, a music instructor, all the Obama t-shirts -

All I can say is I hope that they complied with all the child labor laws, that the kids all have work permits with the requisite health exam, that there was a studio teacher on set (a requirement), that every kid got paid (a requirement), and that all the rest of the letters of the law were followed, the same as I would have to do it I used kids in any commercial.

And I have to say it is revolting to use kids in this political way.

Anonymous said...

Achtung!!! Obama jugend!!

Homework Assignment:
get a download of...'Tomorrow Belongs To Me' from
"Cabaret" and compare and contrast with Obama youth chorale in 500 words or less.

Spencer said...

"The error lies not in the worship of a man, but in the facile belief that a mere man can embody an ideal"

I don't understand. Why is this an "error?"

ricpic said...

Come Obama, come exalted one, come slit our throats.

Unknown said...

Ah, I can't watch the whole thing. I just can't bear to watch the whole thing. A bunch of kids singing. How disgusting. No, how revolting! I am just sick to my stomach over this. Did I mention I can't bear to watch the whole thing!!! Oh this is just like those Leftist Leaders. You know, Hitler and Saddam. Those commies!

OMG and Obama is so trying to be a messiah. He thinks he's Jesus. Anyone who thinks otherwise just hasn't gotten the meme -- uh, memo -- on this issue. Evidence? Well, I don't need evidence. It's just obvious. People clearly worship him as a god.

If you are excited about your candidate, then you must think he's a god. That only make sense. Wait, uh, I guess I was excited about Bush and now Palin, but that's different! Focus, here. It's Obama who thinks he is the Messiah. How dare he, how DARE he claim he can turn water into wine!

I'm just sick to my stomach.

Anonymous said...

""The error lies not in the worship of a man, but in the facile belief that a mere man can embody an ideal"

I don't understand. Why is this an "error?"

Follow the link for your answer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNMVMNmrqJE

bleeper said...

A mere, empty suit, chain-smoking blank slate of a man.

Anonymous said...

Ann says, "My main impression...is that soft-hearted liberals love to think of Obama as the embodiment of the ideal of racial harmony, and then, in that vein, it seems appropriate for children to sing a hymn to racial harmony."

How does one square Ann's "impression" with the reality of Obama sitting himself and his kids in a pew for 20 years, to listen to the worst sort of racist rants one can imagine?

Smilin' Jack said...

LarsPorsena beat me to it--this just had to be inspired by "Cabaret": Tomorrow Belongs to Me

Alex said...

To be fair - if we denounce this, we must also denounce the brainwashing of the kids in "Jesus Camp". I abhor any brainwashing of kids period. I think parents should instill their values(but not extreme ones), but at the same time teach critical thinking skills. They should teach the kids to "question everything".

Unknown said...

Radical Logic,

Because conservatives like Althouse (though for some reason she feigns neutrality) don't like to see progressive people happy or excited about their leaders. They like to see progressive people upset and embittered by the status quo (i.e., Bush) and then crippled by that bitterness. It's only when progressives are bitter that conservatives can capitalize off of that (by painting them as bitter).

Now the bitterness is moving directions. The conservatives are bitter. Bitter by their impending election loss. Bitter that they can't impose their morality on everyone else with as much ease or support crony capitalist governments or willy-nilly invade other countries.

In sum, being hopeful that someone could rise above his own personal greed and selfishness to embody an ideal (even if he is not that ideal himself or a a messiah or superhuman) is beyond them because their leaders never do.

George M. Spencer said...

The music video is somewhat reminscent of GM's recent "green" ad in which a tall, slender friendly young black man with short hair and with an open collar talks to a multi-racial group of children about the nice, new car he has for them. Yay!

"I want to change..." "I want a hybrid..."

"Americans want something better and so do we."

"I want a better world."

(These are in the second, third, and fourth ads, not the first. Note the low camera angles and the creepy piano music and whistling....)

"That's an American Revolution!"

"I've heard the future! And it hums!"

Also, the good Perfessor linked a while back to a sweater-attired Gerald Ford campaign ad that used children on a sofa...It was Sept. 17. What a devious mastermind he was.

Henry said...

conservatives ... don't like to see progressive people happy or excited about their leaders

I'd settle for progressive people not being naive about means to ends, but I'm not a conservative.

Beth said...

One problem with the Cabaret comparison: Tomorrow Belongs to Me is a beautiful song. That's what makes it creepy.

This thing these kids are singing is just tripe. I don't find it creepy, I find it bad, musically.

bleeper said...

"Now the bitterness is moving directions." What? Please translate that from hopey-changey talk to standard English.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

conservatives ... don't like to see progressive people happy or excited about their leaders

Way back in the...ahem...olden days. If I saw someone tripping on acid ready to walk off the edge of a cliff, no matter how excited and happy they were, I would at least try to stop them from certain death.

I think we are going back to a previous thread about how conservatives veiw threats and how liberals are basically oblivious to danger.

Go ahead. Step off of the cliff following the Obama rainbow. I don't feel like stopping you anymore. Just don't drag me over the edge with you.

Anonymous said...

Beth, we agree on that. I have been thinking about how bad it is. I have also already said how creepy I think it is and why.

Alex said...

dust bunny:

You are filled with bitterness about not wanting to trippily walk off that Obamatron cliff!

Hoosier Daddy said...

Obama is for White folks who've gotten bored with Jesus.

It's been 2000 years of the same tired old guy.

It's time for change.


That has to be one of the most clarifying comments that I have seen regarding the damn near adoration this guy has from his followers.

That would make a great T-shirt

kentuckyliz said...

Actually there is a song in our church hymnal that would be perfect for the Obama (pbuh) campaign.

God Has Chosen Me by Bernadette Farrell

1. God has chosen me, God has chosen me
to bring good news to the poor.
God has chosen me, God has chosen me
to bring new sight to those searching for light:
God has chosen me, chosen me:

Refrain
And to tell the world that God's kingdom is near,
to remove oppression and breakdown fear,
yes, God's time is near, God's time is near,
God's time is near, God's time is near.

2. God has chosen me, God has chosen me
to set alight a new fire.
God has chosen me, God has chosen me
to bring to birth a new kingdom on earth:
God has chosen me, chosen me:
(Refrain)

3. God is calling me, God is calling me
in all whose cry is unheard.
God is calling me, God is calling me
to raise up the voice with no power or choice:
God is calling me, calling me:
(Refrain)

It's actually quite a nice song, I have a zippy recorded version, 4-part a cappella with bongos.

Oregon Catholic Press. The leader in horrid church music.

Alex said...

beth - you seem very contradictory. On one hand you blasted the 12 flip-flopping Republicans on Monday. But you also trashed the bailout bill. I don't know where you stand.

Harwood said...

The error lies not in the worship of a man, but in the facile belief that a mere man can embody an ideal.
---
So it's OK to worship Obama as long as we don't hold any "facile beliefs" about him?

Alex said...

harwood - we just ask you to think critically about Obama. Have you?

Der Hahn said...

Because conservatives like Althouse (though for some reason she feigns neutrality) don't like to see progressive people happy or excited about their leaders.

Conservatives know what happens when 'progressive people' get excited about their leaders.

Henry said...

Beth, I think you put your finger on something that many don't get about Althouse.

Althouse is an aesthete -- and a conservative one at that. She considers art important and she holds it to a high standard. Truth requires beauty.

There is a subset of the commenters here, mostly drive-by, who express shock and disdain that Ann -- and many of her commenters -- dissect (and mock) how ideas are presented instead of awarding prizes for good intentions.

I think the people that "get" Althouse tend to be people that "get" art and prefer it to politics.

Beth said...

alex, I trashed their rationale, as did many people, including conservative pundits. Work that one out for yourself.

And what does that have to do with not liking squeaky children singing bad music?

George M. Spencer said...

Ha.ha...

Someone's created a response to the Obama kids song.

Here are the McCain kids singing a song to McCain.

There's even a line in there about gays in the midwest.

Hoosier Daddy said...

This thing these kids are singing is just tripe. I don't find it creepy, I find it bad, musically.

Is it me or are the pro-Obama supporters missing the point? It's not a critique of the kids singing skills. We're not talking the Boston Children's Choir here. It's the fact that you have a bunch of little kids singing the praises and glory of a political candidate. Seriously, that doesn't strike any of you as a little bit too Dear Leaderish?

Alex said...

beth - but if it gets a good result, why care that they flip-flopped because of Pelosi's speech? I for one don't care how Congress arrives at a good decision. It's like a sausage factory - don't inspect the innards.

Alex said...

Is it me or are the pro-Obama supporters missing the point? It's not a critique of the kids singing skills. We're not talking the Boston Children's Choir here. It's the fact that you have a bunch of little kids singing the praises and glory of a political candidate. Seriously, that doesn't strike any of you as a little bit too Dear Leaderish?

In their minds, conservatives have worshiped Bush as "Dear leader" for 8 years and they want to do the same. That their meme is false is irrelevant to them.

knox said...

Why is this such a big deal? Good grief, I had to sit through stuff worse than this for all my kids--thank God they're now out of elementary school.

OK, maybe this will help: remember yourself as child. Now imagine yourself, as a child, singing like that about a political leader.

If you still don't get it... if you can actually put yourself in the shoes of those kids and think it's perfectly normal, then I would submit that you must have been a weird kid.

Also, if it helps, imagine kids singing like this about McCain or Palin, even Biden. That should get across how absurd the cult of Obama is.

Obama is so trying to be a messiah. He thinks he's Jesus.

I don't think his opponents think that "he thinks he's Jesus." But when he says he's going to "Stop Global Warming In Ten Years" (just heard him say that in a speech this morning) or that he's going to restore the planet's faith in the United States--well, that sounds more than a little grandiose.

Just because you can't hear it, doesn't mean the rest of us can't.

BJM said...

Henry, well said.

MadisonMan said...

It's the fact that you have a bunch of little kids singing the praises and glory of a political candidate. Seriously, that doesn't strike any of you as a little bit too Dear Leaderish?

It strikes me that the parents of the children are idiots. On many levels.

Methadras said...

Alex said...

dust bunny:

You are filled with bitterness about not wanting to trippily walk off that Obamatron cliff!


Oh, you mean like in that Skittles commercial were three teens are sitting on the top of a rainbow eating Skittles until one of them says "What if this rainbow really doesn't exist..." and then a rainbow trapdoor opens and he falls to his death while the other two just look down at him falling to his death. This was an actual commercial and is representative to me of those that believe in Mr. Barely and the rainbow goodness he is providing. Have a nice day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUmXhCmVaQg

Methadras said...

Alex said...

beth - you seem very contradictory. On one hand you blasted the 12 flip-flopping Republicans on Monday. But you also trashed the bailout bill. I don't know where you stand.


That's called progressive nuance.

Alex said...

methadras:

Hasn't Obama promised many rainbows to us?

Alex said...

That's called progressive nuance.

Nuanced to within an a pico-meter of a quark.

Methadras said...

Der Hahn said...

Because conservatives like Althouse (though for some reason she feigns neutrality) don't like to see progressive people happy or excited about their leaders.

Conservatives know what happens when 'progressive people' get excited about their leaders.


I guess there will be a jogging tour to the wall, eh?

Alex said...

BTW, I am impressed with my own brilliance at times.

zeek said...

From the Hillary Clinton as Big Brother video to this, the Obama cult are just living in Bizarro World.

Why don't they have a little girl read a rocket countdown while we see a video of John McCain singing Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran in the background.

KCFleming said...

"squeaky children singing bad music"

Ha!

blake said...

Actually, in defense of children singing, this is a remarkably moving effort, warbling voices and all.

Peter V. Bella said...

I'm surprsed there was not a curved sign on the wall behind the kids:

Welfare will set you free.

Unknown said...

knox:

You are right. Obama is the first and only presidential candidate to ever make grandiose claims.

Also, considering the fact that many conservatives don't even believe in global warming, his promise to end it in 10 years isn't grandiose at all. It's 10 years more than is needed.

Harwood said...

Alex said... harwood - we just ask you to think critically about Obama. Have you?
---
alex, you condescending craphead: we ask you to bite our backside.

blake said...

Also, considering the fact that many conservatives don't even believe in global warming, his promise to end it in 10 years isn't grandiose at all. It's 10 years more than is needed.

Actually, it's twenty years more than is needed.

I can make the tide go out in 12 hours, too.

Unknown said...

That is quite possibly the worst music I've heard in my life. Wow. That should be child abuse just for making them sing such non-musical music.

But it's just funny watching the wingnuts and loons of the Republican Party turn white with fear at the singing of six year olds. I think the terror you're experiencing is actually terror about an Obama presidency, and not the silly little tykes and their hopelessly idealistic parents. You're looking at the calendar, checking the polls, and crapping your pants.

Don't worry; McCain has a few tricks up his sleeve, yet. There's the Palin debate, and two more debates with Obama. The outcome is completely uncertain.

You know what scares me? My Pentecostal co-worker, who homeschools his kids because the pulbic schools expose his kids to "demons." And teaches his kids that Palestinians don't have souls and according to the bible, all of the West Bank belongs to Israel, and that to take it, Israel should simply slaughter every living Palestinian.

That's pretty much standard fare on the right. Nobody worked up about that?

Jim said...

verso -

"Truth squads" threatening to bring down the law on criticisms of Obama...Brownshirts trying to shut down criticism on the radio...The "halo" photography on Obama campaign materials...His own seal...His own coin...The list goes on...

The cult of personality surrounding Obama is not dissimilar to that which seemed harmless enough in the beginning, and was supported by (in Stalin's words) "useful idiots" like yourself. The problem is that this sort of thing has led to:

20 million dead Russians...6 million dead Jews...50+ million dead Chinese....unknown millions of dead North Koreans...

yeah...funny..."Cults of personality" are just a gas!

..or was it gas chamber?

Freeman Hunt said...

You know what scares me? My Pentecostal co-worker, who homeschools his kids because the pulbic schools expose his kids to "demons." And teaches his kids that Palestinians don't have souls and according to the bible, all of the West Bank belongs to Israel, and that to take it, Israel should simply slaughter every living Palestinian.

That's pretty much standard fare on the right.


If you actually think that, your ignorance is staggering. As is your probable dishonesty in claiming that your Pentecostal co-worker teaches his children that Palestinians do not have souls.

Was this guy recently promoted over you or something?

Unknown said...

Hmm. Guess I overestimated some of your understanding of the American system. You see, we have three branches of government: (1) Legislative; (2) Executive; and (3) Judicial. Each plays a really important role. It's not all about the executive (though you might not realize that from the last 8 years we've undergone).

What makes Obama different from Hitler, Mao, Stalin, etc., other than the obvious that he's nothing like them, is that Obama is seeking to be elected by the democratic process. He's not trying to undermine the current political system or take over by revolution or coup d'etat.

Be careful with your analogies Jim et al. You don't want to look more foolish than you have to.

AllenS said...

Ob-La-Di, Obama

Lyrics by the Beatles and AllenS

a one and a two and a...

Barack has his elbows in the market place...
Michelle is the singer in a band...
Barack says to Michelle "Girl, I like your face"
And Michelle says this as she takes him by the hand...
Ob-la-di, Obama, life goes on, brah!...
Lala how the life goes on...
Ob-la-di, Obama, life goes on, brah!...
Lala how the life goes on.

Barack takes a convoy with the secret service to the jewelry store...
Buys a twenty carat golden ring... (Golden ring)
Takes it back to Michelle waiting at the door...
And as he gives it to her she begins to sing... (Sing)
Ob-la-di, Obama, life goes on, brah!...
Lala how the life goes on...
Ob-la-di, Obama, life goes on, brah!...
Lala how the life goes on.

In a couple of years they have moved into the White House,
With a couple of kids running in the yard,
Of Barack and Michelle... (Ha ha ha ha ha)

Happy ever after in the stock market place...
Barack lets the children lend a hand with Fanny and Freddy...
Miclelle stays at home and does her pretty face...
And in the evening she still sings it with the band...
Ob-la-di, Obama, life goes on, brah!...
Lala how the life goes on...
Ob-la-di, Obama, life goes on, brah!...
Lala how the life goes on.

In a couple of years they have built massive fortune,
With a couple of kids running in the yard,
Of Barack and Michelle... (Ha ha ha ha ha)

Happy ever after in the stock market place...
Michelle lets the children sell dividends...
Barack stays at home and does his pretty face...
And in the evening she's a singer with the band...
Ob-la-di, Obama, life goes on, brah!...
Lala how the life goes on...
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah!...
Lala how the life goes on.

veni vidi vici said...

This video ensures the invitation of those kids and their parents to the Obama inaugural in DC come January, which is probably all it was ever about, anyway.

knox said...

You are right. Obama is the first and only presidential candidate to ever make grandiose claims.

Yes, normal people recognize that candidates make wild claims all the time; yet, Obama and his worshipers fully believe Yes We Can! Sad, isn't it.

Also, considering the fact that many conservatives don't even believe in global warming, his promise to end it in 10 years isn't grandiose at all. It's 10 years more than is needed.

Many conservatives are, rightly skeptical about the predictions spouting from the Goracle about of The End Of Times. But given that most liberals DO Believe in AGW, this is a really nutty promise. Especially the magical invention of all these alternative fuels that somehow magically won't harm the planet at all.

George M. Spencer said...

Palin plays flute. Priceless.

She's the Pied Piper of conservatism.

Shanna said...

And teaches his kids that Palestinians don't have souls and according to the bible, all of the West Bank belongs to Israel, and that to take it, Israel should simply slaughter every living Palestinian.

That's pretty much standard fare on the right. Nobody worked up about that?


I grew up in the bible beltiest of the bible belt, and went to a church school in elementary school and there was nothing even close. Ever. You just have no clue if you think that's standard fare. Nobody but crazy people would believe that stuff.

Also, I'm calling BS, because there is no way in hell you are chatting with said fictional neighbor about his religion or any of that. So whatever.

I agree with MM. The parents are the idiots here.

kimsch said...

Hugo Chavez was elected under a democratic system. Fidel and Saddam pretended to...

John Anderson - I actually forgot about him. But it all came rushing back...

garage mahal said...

Many conservatives are, rightly skeptical about the predictions spouting from the Goracle about of The End Of Times. But given that most liberals DO Believe in AGW, this is a really nutty promise. Especially the magical invention of all these alternative fuels that somehow magically won't harm the planet at all.

I think most liberals look at Palin and her church where they talk of their own End of Times, Revelations, Prophecies, and how the Kingdom of Alaska will play a role as a Refuge State to the faithful. Contrast that with scientists with thermomers in their hands taking readings around the globe and measuring ice flows receding, and at least I can see why they would go with the scientists.

blake said...

I think most liberals look at Palin and her church where they talk of their own End of Times, Revelations, Prophecies, and how the Kingdom of Alaska will play a role as a Refuge State to the faithful. Contrast that with scientists with thermomers in their hands taking readings around the globe and measuring ice flows receding, and at least I can see why they would go with the scientists.

And yet, functionally, there's no difference in the thought process.

Methadras said...

Verso said...

You know what scares me? My Pentecostal co-worker, who homeschools his kids because the pulbic schools expose his kids to "demons." And teaches his kids that Palestinians don't have souls and according to the bible, all of the West Bank belongs to Israel, and that to take it, Israel should simply slaughter every living Palestinian.


Verso. You are frankly lying and full of shit. This doesn't scare you, instead you wished it scared you because this is nothing more than your projected fantasy as to how you view conservatives or religious conservatives. So you've made up this fiction to fit your ideological bent. If this is true, I defy you to provide this actually occurred or is actually occurring.

That's pretty much standard fare on the right. Nobody worked up about that?

Bub, you don't know the first thing about the right. You don't know the first thing about conservatives or conservatism. Save us your bullshit fiction for people who actually believe, liar.

garage mahal said...

And yet, functionally, there's no difference in the thought process.

Sure there is. Thousands of year old vague texts open to interpretation versus measuring instruments.

Jim said...

Mixalhs -

Careful with your attempts to refute my analogies because you'll only show your ignorance...

Attempting an armed Leftist revolution in this country would be the height of stupidity: the Right are the ones with all the guns. But surely you know that, and so does the Leftist power elite.

Either you've never studied Alinsky or you have and you are deceitfully feigning ignorance. Either way, your attempt to focus on the method of obtaining power in order to distract from my larger point: and you know it.

"Hey, look over there!" may work elsewhere, but it just exposes your lack of willingness or ability to actually address the point I was making.

The totalitarian methodologies are all on full display in the Obama campaign. But again, you know that too. They intentionally encourage the elevation of personality over ideology. They attempt to crush dissent either violently (as in St. Paul), legally (the truth squads), or by brute force (the brownshirts).

I don't need to go through the entire litany of the Leftist "Rules for Radicals" they're attempting to execute because you're not even arguing in good faith: you're hoping the clock runs out before people catch on to the game.

When you have a good faith argument to make instead of trying to distract from the subject, then perhaps we'll have something to discuss. But, until then, it's pretty safe to assume that your lack of responsiveness on the subject is a tacit admission of its accuracy.

Jim said...

garage -

Contrast that with scientists with thermomers in their hands taking readings around the globe and measuring ice flows receding, and at least I can see why they would go with the scientists.

If it was as cut and dried science as you claim it is, then why won't Hanson reveal the numbers or methodology that supposedly proves it?

If you really want to make this about global warming, I'd be happy to destroy your arguments. There is a big difference between "global warming" and "man-caused global warming" and there has never been a single verifiable data point that showed that man was the cause.

The truth is that if you actually cared about global warming as anything other than some sort of meaningless political talking point, then you'd have studied solar activity and you'd know that
the global variations in temperature (including the cooling that has taken place over the last few years) can be tracked exactly with solar activity.

I really hate when clueless people think that because they've read some propaganda piece that they even have the faintest idea how much the numbers have been played with, data points intentionally excluded, reports that consist of lies from start to finish [Try looking up what's really happening with Arctic Ice - it's not melting, it actually increased. It only increased by a smaller percentage than in previous years.]

This is the problem when you get your news from the MSM and Daily Kos. You don't get the actual science. Please don't return the topic until you've bothered to actually educate yourself about it...

Unknown said...

Jim,

Where does one begin? I know, maybe you should go take your meds like a good boy and then we can reconvene this conversation when we're all chemically balanced. Until then, I'm afraid (for my safety) to engage any further.

Peter V. Bella said...

You know what scares me? My Pentecostal co-worker, who homeschools his kids because the pulbic schools expose his kids to "demons." And teaches his kids that Palestinians don't have souls and according to the bible, all of the West Bank belongs to Israel, and that to take it, Israel should simply slaughter every living Palestinian.

And your point is? Last time I looked, this was still the USA, we still had a constitution that allowed people to believe and express what they want, even if it is extreme. Or does the First Amendment only apply to certain authorized people? You know, Brownshirts like you.

Anonymous said...

What is creepy here is the realization that people actually teach impressionable children things extremely derivative, such as political candidates and political issues.

How about teaching kids to be honest, work hard, and treat others with respect.

For me, the film reinforces the proposition that the left has turned politics into a religion, complete with priesthood, orthodoxy, and excommunication.

One can almost sense the next “lesson” to the kids, on how to turn in their parents for not reducing their carbon footprint, so the parents can be reeducated.

Jim said...

mixalhs -

Thanks for reinforcing my point that you don't have anything to actually refute my original post.

Cults of personality inevitably lead to dangerous ends - whether religious or pseudo-religious/political. The end result is always the same.

blake said...

Sure there is. Thousands of year old vague texts open to interpretation versus measuring instruments.

Which most AGW-promoters have no concept of.

Which, actually, puts them way behind Christians who are serious students of their religion.

Unknown said...

Everyone is missing two obvious ponits. I assume this is on purpose:

(1) Only the little girl in the beginning actually mentions Obama. All she says is "he's going to lead 'em." She and the rest of the kids are clear: WE are going change things. Nothing bad about that message.

(2) Obama and Mao/Hitler/Stalin/et al. have a huge difference that cripples your (Jim, this goes out to you) analogies to them. Obama isn't spewing hatred. He's not uniting the country based on a preceived superiority to Jews or advocating the overthrow of the bourgeoisie. He's advocating getting GW Bush -- our history's worse president by any measure -- out of office.

KCFleming said...

"Only the little girl in the beginning actually mentions Obama."

Pay no attention to the GIANT OBAMA POSTER behind them.

"Obama isn't spewing hatred."
All personality cult leaders speak of their love for their followers.
This is news?

kimsch said...

wow! Neal E. Boyd.

Mark Daniels said...

This creeps me out.

miller said...

It creeps me out because it's stupid and crass.

amba said...

Remind anybody of "Up With People"? I'd forgotten about that till just now. Or were they older?

Rose said...

There's been enough criticism that apparently the Obama folks have pulled that video AD down.

No word yet on how much the kids were paid or whether the labor laws were complied with. Those laws are strict. They came about after the Twilight Zone filming disaster - they are designed to protect the kids, make sure they don't work too many hours in a row, make sure they are fed and that there is someone there for them.

The law is very strict - EVEN IF YOU OWN A BUSINESS AND WANT TO USE YOUR OWN KID IN THE FILMING OF A COMMERCIAL you MUST get them a work permit. they must have a doctor's ok. They must be PAID. There must be a studio teacher on set unless one is unavailable - and in the area where this one was shot, there would have been one available. Up where I am there aren't any, or weren't a few years ago. the studio teacher must have, as I recall, both a primary and secondary teaching credential.

The Labor Board guys are VERY hep to enforce this - I sure hope they do it in this case.

amba said...

all designed to mimic the often-invisible cocoon of support and nurturance that follows middle-class and upper-middle-class kids through their childhoods.

That description of "Baby College" and all-day pre-K is taken verbatim from an article by Paul Tough in the September 5, 2008 New York Times Magazine about Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone, which attempts to envelop education reform with a sort of remedial cultural/nurturant upgrade, the notion being that improving schools is not enough to get poor kids to achieve in school and break out of poverty. (Tough's book on the subject, Whatever It Takes, just came out.)

It's the kind of thing that might be better (certainly cheaper) done by churches than by the government.

Also relevant is Chris Gardner, author of The Pursuit of Happyness, whom I heard in the van on Michelle Martin's "Tell Me More" NPR show. He's the guy who was homeless with his son and went on to be a successful stockbroker. He has a deep, velvety, infectious laugh, and he basically said that he made a choice to be a committed father as a child, inspired by the tenacity and commitment of his single mother. He could have ended up like his father, he said, an alcoholic family deserter, and people would have said, "Look where he came from, he couldn't help it." And he basically said, "Bull. You have a choice."

amba said...

Obama has pledged to replicate the Harlem Children’s Zone in 20 cities across the country. “The philosophy behind the project is simple,” Obama said in a speech last year announcing his plan. “If poverty is a disease that infects an entire community in the form of unemployment and violence, failing schools and broken homes, then we can’t just treat those symptoms in isolation. We have to heal that entire community. And we have to focus on what actually works.”

Obama has proposed that these replication projects, which he has labeled Promise Neighborhoods, be run as private/public partnerships, with the federal government providing half the funds and the rest being raised by local governments and private philanthropies and businesses. It would cost the federal government “a few billion dollars a year,” he acknowledged in his speech. “But we will find the money to do this, because we can’t afford not to.”

amba said...

For anyone who still has a sense of humor, there's Springtime for Obama.

Jim said...

mixalhs -

You evidently are not a student of history in any way, shape or form. You also hasn't been paying attention to Obama's campaign if you think he isn't spewing hate.

No hate? Really? I suppose all the Axelrod AstroTurfing is "peace and love"? The very personal and very intimate savaging of Sarah Palin - not as a candidate, but as a human being - by he and his surrogates isn't hate?

Fostering racial division and heightening tensions to near breaking-point by playing the race card any time one of his positions or his inexperience is questioned isn't hate?

I suppose exhorting crowds to "get in their face" was some sort of twisted way to encourage deeper understanding between his supporters and their political opponents?

You think playing to very deep and pathological hatred in the both Kos and DU crowds and sending out text messages to go attack his critics in mass numbers isn't exactly the same sort of tactic practiced by these other cult leaders?

Have you seriously ever even read a history book?

Capitalizing on the prejudices (in this case against Republicans - or even the uncoverted Hillary Democrats - who are just stand-ins for the "bourgoise") and fears of the willing and "useful idiots" like michael, Alpha, yourself and others is exactly how these cult leaders worked in the past and it's how Obama works today.

If you've read his books, you know that he admits to having steeped himself in Marxist and Leftist ideology as well as being a student of Saul Alinsky. Would actually reading his books be too much to ask of someone who claims to know so much about his tactics?

Making specious claims that basically amount to "they haven't managed to actually kill anyone yet, so quit complaining" are some of the most ridiculous I have ever heard.

Seriously, you should be embarrassed to even make these sorts of defenses: you only display your utter ignorance further every time you decide to re-engage on the topic.

Jim said...

mixalhs -

And to further correct your last post: Obama isn't running to get Bush out of office.

News flash! Bush is term-limited and will be leaving office in January no matter what.

He would have left office if Obama had never run at all, so you can call your boss Axelrod back and tell him that he and Obama can pack it up and go home: mission accomplished.

Floridan said...

A.C.: " . . . a nine-week parenting program that encourages parents to choose alternatives to corporal punishment and to read and talk more with their children. "

Obama supports this? How anti-American!

I say ignore the little brats unless you're beating them.

Henry said...

Well this is very late addendum to this post, but I've come up with some better lyrics for the next Obama anthem.

You all know the tune.

The sun'll shine on
Obama
Bet your bottom dollar
That Obama
is the one!

Just thinkin' about
Obama
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck with a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh!

The sun'll shine on
Obama
So ya gotta hang on
for Obama
Come what may
Obama! Obama!
I love ya Obama!
You're always
A day
A way!

Anonymous said...

Reminds me not so much of North Korea, as the evening news.

Unknown said...

Jim,

It would be easier to respond to you if your posts contained at least some facts. I think you are a clinically insane, conspiracy theorist.

Question to everyone who is actually taking his or her meds:

How is Jim's psycho babble any differen than the conspiracy theory that George W. Bush planned and orchestrated 9-11?

Oh, I know. It's a conservative conspriacy theory, so it's immune from the nasty label "loony" or "wacky" that is reserved solely for liberals.