Why did Biden use "Hail to the Chief" as a prelude to what was a hardcore political speech?

I'll post separately about the speech. I mean, I can sum it up in 7 words: We the People, but not you people. 

But first, I want to talk about the use of "Hail to the Chief," which struck me as a violation of protocol. Was that inspired by Nancy Pelosi? Here she is on August 13th:

 

Biden used to have a self-effacing attitude about "Hail to the Chief." At a CNN town hall in July 2021, he said the first time it was played for him, "I went, 'Where is he?' It’s a great tune but you feel a little self-conscious."

That was last year. Now, he and/or his people have decided to forefront the grandiose tune. Why?

The tune, Wikipedia tells us, was originally the musical setting to some lines from Sir Walter Scott's "Lady of the Lake." A character named Roderick Dhu arrived by boat and was hailed as "the evergreen pine" — "Heaven send it happy dew/Earth lend it sap anew."

"whiffling."

The hardest word to remember when memorizing (and retaining the memorization of) "Jabberwocky."

Your experience may vary. Indeed,  you may have chosen to memorize some other poem. But if, like me, you chose "Jabberwocky," as you go back and check to see if you still have the memorization down, isn't "whiffling" the hardest word to remember?

Interestingly enough, "whiffle," unlike some other words in "Jabberwocky," is a real English word — and not just a word that became a word because of "Jabberwocky."*

It means (according to the OED), "To blow in puffs or slight gusts; hence, to veer or shift about... To vacillate, to be variable or evasive.... To move lightly as if blown by a puff of air; to flicker or flutter as if stirred by the wind."

There's writing of "wyffling windes" way back in 1568. And The Nation wrote (in 1881), "Who like a manly man, will not whiffle, or quibble, or evade."

And the OED takes note of "Whiffle ball," "n. (a proprietary name for) a light, hollow, perforated ball used to play a variety of baseball." Example from 1970, a caption in Time: "[David Eisenhower] passing the afternoon playing wiffle ball on the south lawn of his father-in-law's White House." In happier times.**

David Eisenhower was 22 and he was the "Fortunate Son" of the Creedence Clearwater recording that played on the radio as he whiffled on the lawn.


_____________________

* The prime example is "chortle," the word I saw just now, which prompted me to check once again to see if my memorization had deteriorated. I saw the word in the comments this morning, in "The 'Elizabeth Warren can't get any traction' conversation at Meadhouse," when Nobody said:

I think she lost because she chortled while telling miners to learn to code.

Other words with OED entries that originated in "Jabberwocky":

"Bandersnatch" — "A fleet, furious, fuming, fabulous creature, of dangerous propensities, immune to bribery and too fast to flee from; later, used vaguely to suggest any creature with such qualities." Used by C.S. Lewis: "Always, at the critical moment, a strange knight, a swift ship, a bandersnatch or a boojum, breaks in."

"Galumph" — "Originally: to march on exultingly with irregular bounding movements. Now usually: to gallop heavily; to bound or move clumsily or noisily." Later example: "In the hall was a galumphing lass with a lot of jerseys and a po face," from "Friends in Low Places," a 1965 novel by Simon Raven. And I thought Garth Brooks thought up the bon mot "friends in low places." That's a riff on "friends in high places," which has been a stock phrase since the 17th century.

"Mimsy" — that's defined as "Unhappy" and appearing "Only in Carroll and later allusions," so it doesn't really belong on the list. It's no "chortle," that's for sure. But I'd like to suggest "Mimsy" as a name for Harry and Meghan's new baby. I heard they wanted something unusual. I know, Mimsy seems like a girl's name, but I heard they were looking for something gender neutral. So... just an idea for the Prince who can be President! Prince Mimsy! President Mimsy W. Windsor!

** Less mimsy times.

Weekly Standard bellyaches...

... about the Creedence song "Fortunate Son" getting played at the "Concert for Valor" (a televised Veterans Day event on the National Mall). The song is termed a "famously anti-war anthem," "an anti-war screed," and "an anti-draft song." The latter is most accurate, but the Weekly Standard author says that makes it "a particularly terrible choice," since the concert was "was largely organized to honor" those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and these people were all volunteers.

It seems to me that an anti-draft song is a good choice to honor the volunteers. Read the lyrics here. The singer complains that he has to do the fighting because the sons of the men who decide when wars will be fought manage to evade the draft. I don't see how that's generically anti-war. What it's against is a particular political dysfunction that has been corrected. So it's a complaint that doesn't hold up anymore. You don't have to be a "fortunate son" to avoid the military. You can do what you want. Every single person who serves chose to serve.

Now, some people think that's also a dysfunction, and they'd like to correct that by bringing back the draft so people in general would have more of a stake in avoiding unnecessary war. But I don't know any songs about that.

I couldn't watch the clip at the first link. I can't stand Bruce Springsteen, and much as I dislike the Weekly Standard's bellyaching, it's not as bad as listening to Bruce straining histrionically. I have to concede that it's possible that Bruce thinks — and somehow conveyed — that those who volunteer today are doing so because it's their best option in the limited array of choices they have because they are not rich or well-connected. If that's the message, then it really is a rotten thing to say to our American volunteers.

Anachronistic suck-up movie trailer.

Last night at the movies — we were seeing the fabulous movie "A Serious Man" — they showed a trailer for "Pirate Radio," which was seemingly tailor-made for 60s freaks like me. See if you notice what is crashingly anachronistic:



ADDED: If you watch this featurette about the movie, with some of the same material from the trailer, the difference should pop out.

AND: "A Serious Man" also has a big anachronism problem:

Although the film is plainly set in the summertime, the only reference to the year in which the film is set is a scene in which a calendar can be seen -- it shows the months of June and July 1967. One of the sub-plots in the film involves a representative from the Columbia Record Club calling Gopnik at his office regarding non-payment for record albums that were sent to him. The record club representative attempts to explain to Gopnik how the club works and goes on to mention that the club's current monthly selections are Santana's Abraxas and Cosmo's Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival. These albums were released, respectively, in September and July 1970.

Link to Wikipedia, which you shouldn't read if you haven't seen the movie. It's full of spoilers.

Passing through Lodi.

I drive straight north to Lodi, Wisconsin, which I don't think is the Lodi that Creedence Clearwater Revival was stuck in. There's a Lodi in New Jersey, too, and I've always assumed that's the one that Creedence meant to just pass through. [ADDED: Read through to the update before emailing me!] I didn't ride in on the Greyhound, I drove my new Audi TT Coupe. Here's Main Street with Silvio....

I admired the roof lines of the buildings that were built in the late 1800s....

I stopped to photograph the Palmer Tree, which the plaque on the rock said was a Burr Oak, that dated back to 1848, when the town was settled....

There were some more recent signs, but these seemed not to be from the present but from the 1970s...

In the middle of Main Street there is a break in the storefronts where the sidewalk crosses over a brook...

An archway proclaims it "Home of Susie," and a sign explains that in 1948 Susie the duck endeared herself to the Lodi townsfolk when she laid her eggs in a masonry flower basket, to which she returned each year. The duck received "national media attention," perhaps the most attention ever paid to Lodi....

Back to the car, parked in front of Galaxy Pizza...

Driving home I stop at Lodi Marsh, at a segment of Wisconsin's "Ice Age Trail." Some views of the marsh...

UPDATE: An amazing number of people have emailed to say that Creedence was talking about Lodi, California. Is "Lodi" like "Springfield" -- a name that comes up as a town name in every state? I happened to drive home through Springfield, Wisconsin today. Googling "Lodi," California comes up first, followed by New Jersey. Third is Italy, which must be the source for the name. Here's a Lodi, Wisconsin website.

UPDATE 2: Sorry, the photos that were once here are lost forever. My mac.com homepage was destroyed by Apple, and my workaround of using archive.org isn't working. Oh, it's just as well! There were so many photos here. It would have been a lot of trouble restoring them all. And who would see this old post? I'm writing this in May 2019, the day I decided I needed a "Creedence" tag and found all the old posts that mentioned Creedence. I tend to the archive like that, adding new tags retrospectively. Maybe I only do it for myself, but if you are reading this, hi.

A little convention simulblogging.

I don't really want to watch the phony display that is a political party convention, but others in my household have turned it on, as I sit here with my laptop. So I'm blogging by accident. Al Gore just spoke in his strange, overheated way. I say he reminds me of the kind of guy in an old movie who would be trying to marry W.C. Fields's daughter. Og Oggilby. John says you should blog that. I'm thinking, who thinks about Og Oggilby?

Next, there's a horrid version of "Proud Mary" (the Tina Turner version, not the Creedence Clearwater version), with terrible new words: "working for the people every night and day," etc.

Now, they've lined up all the women. Barbara Mikulski is yelling out the words on the teleprompter, while every other Democratic woman Senator, including Hillary Clinton, stands in a line behind her. Nearly all wear colorful pantsuits and clasp their hands in front of them. Why must people--like Mikulski right now--speaking in a large auditorium always use an oratorical yell, as if there were no microphones? It's so irritating when you're sitting at home. When women seek power, by the way, it's not about power for themselves, it's about power to make a difference, here at home ... and abroad!

Now a huge group of children, making no effort to sing in tune, sing "This Land Is Your Land." The Senate women are still on stage, because, of course, what goes with children better than women? They clap along with the kids and smile and smile.

Time for seniors now. An elderly woman doctor, piped in from Little Rock, enunciates her way through a teleprompter speech. Kerry will be great for seniors because he'll help with a prescription drug benefit.

More music, and once again it's back to the sixties: "Everyday People." At least they don't change the words this time:

I am no better and neither are you
We are the same whatever we do
You love me you hate me you know me and then
You can't figure out the bag I'm in.

Yes, that's right: you were for the war, and then you were against the war. I can't figure out the bag you're in. And what a comfort it is to go back to the good old days when we did apply our mental efforts to the determination of what bag people were in.

Whoops, now it's "Tennessee Waltz." Because we want the votes of the pre-Boomers too. Or is it the rural voters we're trying to extend a hand to now? Or is it just Tennessee, that state Al Gore so famously lost last time around?

Governor Richardson now. Another speaker who seems not to notice there is a microphone. His attempt to shout to the last row makes his voice unpleasantly harsh. John (my son) says: "It's not just the tone of his voice. He sounds like the school principal giving a speech."

A little film about Carter. Carter in the flesh emerges. He served in the military, he informs us, and I slip back into my semi-coma, as it's clear where this is going. He served under two Presidents, Truman and Eisenhower, who had themselves served in the military, and because of this they had the proper judgment about how to use the military, judgment that is sorely lacking now under Bush. And presumably under Clinton, but let's not mention that. (And was Carter for Dole?) And let's not even think about what we would say about this principle of military service if a woman candidate seeks the Presidency some time in the future. This year, the principle will be treated as an eternal verity.

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, wearing a hot pink suit jacket, takes the podium, and reminds me of how everyone who has spoken tonight has delivered a sequence of stock phrases. Has there been one fresh expression? Did you know that we want an America that is stronger and more united? Did you happen to realize that we should seize the promise of the future?

They play the original Chuck Berry recording of Johnny B. Goode. Happy people in the audience dance and clap as if rock 'n roll was invented yesterday.

Tammy Baldwin! A cheer goes up in Madison. The local kids are gathered in the Nitty Gritty restaurant to watch her on TV together. [Someone who attended comes in wearing a button that says: "Dated Dean, Married Kerry."] Tammy looks pretty and emotes her way through the speech like Reese Witherspoon in "Election."

Rep. Bob Menendez is speaking. Someone who wasn't in the room back when John made that comment about Gov. Richardson observes, "That guy sounds like the school principal." Menendez pronounces "nuclear" "nucular."

Glenn Close is called upon to talk about 9/11, Hollywood-style: "It all began on an ordinary, cloudless day ..." A mother of a 9/11 victim reads a speech from a piece of paper. There are shots of people looking appropriately grief-stricken in the audience. A sixteen-year-old boy plays "Amazing Grace" beautifully on the violin and everyone in the crowd holds up a cigarette lighter flame.

Rev. David Alson, who served in the military with Kerry, gives a rousing speech. He wears a striped suit that has a wicked moiré effect on TV.

Hillary Clinton arrives as a saxophone plays "New York State of Mind." She's wearing a light yellow pantsuit and the official jewelry of the Democratic Convention: a pearl choker. Blah blah blah health care blah blah drug prices blah blah stem cell research. She highlights the names of the wives of Kerry and Edwards. She talks about 9/11 in terms of its effect on her. I thought she was only going to speak for 5 minutes. I guess she's caught some of Bill's tendency to run overtime.

And out comes Bill Clinton, and the Fleetwood Mac music kicks in, so people can feel fully nostalgically thrilled to get that old 1992 feeling again. Bill looks slim and well-tanned and has a neat short haircut that has been tinted blond. (Are people noticing this? It's quite clear. You can see he's left some white at the temples, and the contrast is clear. He's gone blond!) Ah! Clinton is an immensely engaging speaker. (Is Al Gore still there, watching in some back room or back at his hotel? Is he regretting not using Clinton in his own campaign?) The most interesting thing Clinton says is that he's jealous of Edwards. He sees himself in Edwards.

Oh, enough of all this. Time to watch "The Daily Show." No, it's a rerun. We'll have to wait until tomorrow for their convention coverage. Time to shut off the TV. End of post. Really.

P.S. Thanks to Instapundit for linking to this while I was still in the middle of writing it!

Ooh, cool new color tones at Technorati!

A nice change to go along with the beginning of its Democratic Convention blogging coverage. (Crazy typo just corrected: "Demoncratic.") Now, if only Technorati could get itself to work consistently and at a decent speed!

Yes, yes, why am I checking out Technorati instead of doing that editing project? I just relocated to a State Street café to do the edit. I've got my large cappucino, I'm checking out the new art exhibit, and just trying to settle in. They're playing Creedence Clearwater Revival here. "Fortunate Son." No, not some kind of Madison Bush-bashing effort to mark Day 1 of the Convention. They're playing the whole album. No, not "Willy and the Poorboys," unfortunately. Some greatest hits thing. This one. I would never have thought, back when I used to listen to "Willy and the Poorboys" in my college dorm room, that the kids in 2004 would be listening to this. Well, I'd "better run through the jungle" of my law review edit now.

UPDATE: Ah! Editing project completed. The "track changes" function on Microsoft Word really makes going over the changes in a law review article much easier! Some law reviews still send out paper copies by FedEx for the author to mark up and FedEx back. I really can't understand why. Quite aside from the trouble and expense of using FedEx instead of email, the process of clicking through the changes works to keep you focused on the task of getting through the document. Maybe it's the clicking itself that creates a pace, like a metronome.