24 Comments

1. Scott Jacobs  •  Sep 24, 2009 @9:51 pm
   

   (Or, for that matter, any number of jingoistic post-9/11 country songs.)

   Though to be fair, I'm not aware of kids being instructed by a teacher to sign them. Not so much the "Little Kim" or "Ode to a Black President"

   Note: There exists a line between respect "Hello, Mr President" and deification. Guess which side I feel that song is on…

2. silvermine  •  Sep 24, 2009 @11:02 pm
   

   Um.. I'm thinking that a lot of people who voted for him, like you, just weren't paying attention during the run up to the election. It was cult of personality all over, including bunches of singing children.

3. astonied  •  Sep 25, 2009 @12:14 am
   

   Once again a unnecessary diversion from the really important things. The media is flying with this and it will continue for 4 days just like the bullshit two weeks ago about death panels and in two more weeks it will be something else. It really is a huge leap ( really it is ridiculous ) to have one set of kids from one school singing this song and making it appear that this is the wave of the future in public schools. Now if the President sent out songs like this singing his praises and insisted that they be taught to all public school children that would be something to worry about. Since Bush and his pundits waged an assault of fearfulness on this nation it has become absolutely insane. If you listen to the right we all have to fear the Socialists, and the Communists and little kids singing songs. All this fear mongering is accomplishing just what certain groups in this nation are trying to accomplish. I suggest people read George Lakoff, Prof of Lingusitics book The Political Mind. It is fascinating. You can also listen to him here: http://www.kpfa.org/morning-show-111 the september 24 show

4. Jdog  •  Sep 25, 2009 @2:50 am
   

   Yup. It's creepy. And I'd feel that way even if the visitor were Norman Borlaug, although, granted, it would be a bit less creepy, then. If he were still alive. Now, not so much.

5. Rick H.  •  Sep 25, 2009 @4:48 am
   

   Yes, this whole kerfluffle is a needless distraction from Dear Leader's agenda. The most important things to focus on are whatever Dear Leader is attempting to accomplish at a given moment, and I don't see how your inconvenient complaints can help with these important issues. It's clear that all dissent is being controlled and directed by shadowy, evil interests; but, fortunately, those now wielding federal power are decent, normal folks, beyond reproach. I suggest you read a book by someone who agrees with me.

6. John Kindley  •  Sep 25, 2009 @5:06 am
   

   That reminds me of another ripoff of the Jesus Loves the Little Children song. As a plebe at the U.S. Naval Academy we were led in this marching cadence by a senior:

   Napalm sticks to little children,
   All the children of the world.
   Red and yellow, black and white,
   Flaming torches in the night,
   Napalm sticks to little children of the world.

   Very strangely, later that year the same senior (who was enlisted in the Marines prior to coming to the Naval Academy) engaged me in a conversation in my dorm room. He asked if I could kill a man if I was engaged in a one-on-one fight to the death, either me or him. I said I could and would kill the other man in such a situation. To my utter surprise, the upperclassman said he thought he'd rather just die. A couple months later, he had left (or been kicked out, not sure which) the Naval Academy.

   A couple years later, I had left too.

7. Patrick  •  Sep 25, 2009 @6:02 am
   

   What the adults who organize this stuff fail to realize is that the day Obama actually gets stuck with the tag "Dear Leader" (witness a more hideous attempt here, from Los Angeles – does anyone here know their parents?):

   http://reason.tv/video/show/556.html

   is the day Obama becomes a one-term Jimmy Carter. Since I didn't vote for the man, perhaps I'll have to work that meme a bit.

   I hated Obama's cult before hating Obama's cult was cool. I don't bear any ill will toward Obama at all. I loathe his fan club.

8. Jdog  •  Sep 25, 2009 @6:19 am
   

   Me, too. There's always something a little suspicious about the Great Man syndrome, even when the man is as great as, say, Harry S Truman was. (Not to go off on a riff on Truman, but part of his greatness was his flawed humanity, and the recognition of it by him and others around him.)

   The iconography around Obama was creepy from Day One, as was the promotion of it by His Obamaness and those around him. And I think it's worse, rather than better because, from this distant remove, Barry Obama seems to be a nice enough guy, if nothing all that special — second-rate community organizer promoting himself to second-rate machine politician, but still a family man who likes to spend time with his kids and sneak out for a cigarette when he thinks nobody's watching.

   But, al in all, I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that we're being governed by Poopy Panda.

   And it came to pass than on the Friday after the two-week buildup, in the closing quarter-hour of the Poopy Panda Pals, there was a special film combining live and animated action as they were one.

   And in the special film did Poopy Panda appear enhaloed, and the talented kid performers did do him worship, and Otto Clodd did trip over his feet whilst kneeling, and Jacky Whipple did urge in manly and sincere wise that all the Poopy Panda Pals out there in television-land do likewise, and the enhaloed Poopy Panda did say in his lovable growly voice, Poop-poop-poopy.

   And adoration ascended from thirty-seven million souls.

   —"The Advent on Channel Twelve"

9. Tom Nally  •  Sep 25, 2009 @8:55 am
   

   Ken: I'm glad that you are complaining about this, but I also think you have to own this emerging dystopia which you helped bring about. Both Obama, and his legions of adulants, are doing as we expected. I'm mystified by those who are surprised by the current course of events.

   That's all. Carry on as before.

10. Ken  •  Sep 25, 2009 @9:08 am
    

    Silvermine and Tom, you are welcome to think that of me. But here's the thing — if you voted for, say, McCain, did you do so because you bought in to every message the McCain/Palin campaign issued? Did you buy the way McCain and Palin were marketed, or did you choose them based on a lesser-of-evils approach that was despite of, rather than because of, some of their policies and attributes? If they had won, would you be held responsible for their every decision?

    I voted for Obama based on rather modest hopes and because I could not stomach the opposition. The proposition that I therefore bought into everything that every Obama supporter said is part of the doctrinaire silliness I am talking about. In its own way, it is every bit as scary as the cultlike behavior here.

11. silvermine  •  Sep 25, 2009 @9:54 am
    

    Well, I think there's two things there:
    1) No, I don't expect everyone to agree with everything the person they voted for does. I think the chances of any two people agreeing on everything to be pretty much impossible. The thing is, in a cult of personality, you *are* expected to, no? (And if you're Mussolini or whoever, then you make everyone agree with you, through force.)

    2) I specifically was referring to just his cult of personality. I was just surprised that there were people who voted for him who didn't notice it earlier, that's all. It is one of the top reasons I didn't want to vote for him. Populist, emotional, cult-like nonsense leads to really horrible things. Granted, I'm rather sensitive to that sort of thing, more so than many people, apparently. (Not for any particular reason other than spending a lot of time studying the home fronts of various countries in WWII, as well as learning German, Russian, and Japanese.) I mean, it certainly didn't help when everyone lovingly compared him to FDR….

    Palin was also gathering her own, which put me off. Usually I vote for a third party as a "none of the above" protest vote and/or whoever is the opposite party of the people who are expected to control the legislature. The idea of dem majorities, a dem president, and a cult? No… no no nonono. So yeah, I voted McCain/Palin, and felt very dirty afterward. At one point in my struggle to figure out who I wanted to vote for (because it was so shockingly painful) I begged for the illegitimate child of Ron Paul and Hillary.

    So no, I'm not criticizing or anything. I just find it weird to think people are just noticing now, is all. And you know, maybe wish we had a ton of gridlock instead of Pelosi and the gang trying to remake America they way FDR and Wilson would have loved.

12. Ezra  •  Sep 25, 2009 @11:35 am
    

    FDR > Truman.

    OK, now on topic.. I am (as readers will know) not an Obama fan. And this singing bit definitely qualifies for "I'd sure be annoyed if Shrub did it" status. But, I tend to agree with Astonied that if I'm gonna rag on Obama it's not gonna be because some wacky teacher is creating hymnals to him, it's gonna be because he is crapping all over the campaign promises that made me vote for him.

    What the candidates and politicians say is far more important to me than what other people say about them.

13. Ken  •  Sep 25, 2009 @11:38 am
    

    Ezra, where in the post did I crap on Obama over this, as opposed to crapping on people who orchestrate such things and think they are appropriate for schoolkids?

    I have no patience whatsoever for the "how can you discuss this when there are children starving in Ethiopia" school of argument. There is not a limited supply of hot air on the internet. And this is a blog. Do you think that if I had not discussed this because it irked me, that we would have made progress on steel tariffs or something?

14. Ezra  •  Sep 25, 2009 @12:09 pm
    

    Ken, that was actually more in response to comments like those of Rick H.

15. astonied  •  Sep 25, 2009 @12:51 pm
    

    It is just ludicrous to think that because you voted for Obama you are part of the vast conspiracy cult. I did vote for Obama but usually vote third party so it is hardly a case of the personality cult that those on the other side attribute it to. That said, I am not happy with many of the continuation of practices implemented in the Bush era that Obama has chosen to keep in place. But this constant push of anything that happens in the USA under Obama is a vast Socialist conspiracy and indoctrination is just silliness. I find the cult of Palin even worse. It just amazes me that it was okay to rush through the Patriot Act and eliminate basic historical assumed and legally recognized rights, that we dumped money into companies instead of let capitalism work its "magic" in policies begun by the Bush administration and we didn't hear the words Socialism. Yet now an administration is in place practicing the same policies and word is being slung around to promote fear and distrust. Rick would that book be by Rush or Coulter?

16. silvermine  •  Sep 25, 2009 @1:03 pm
    

    Actually, when the bailout happened, I heard an awful lot of people pointing out how it was privitizing success and socializing failure. Did you not also hear that? I called and wrote to every representative I have. Polls I read indicated that a majority of the voting public did not want it. But our precious "elites" know better.

17. Mike  •  Sep 25, 2009 @1:42 pm
    

    we dumped money into companies instead of let capitalism work its “magic” in policies begun by the Bush administration and we didn’t hear the words Socialism.

    Myside bias. You only pay attention when people attack "your" side. It's a favorite cognitive bias; most of us don't even know we have it. Because we are all fair and impartial judges – even when judging people on our side.

    Anyhow, run a Googlse search for: [privatize gain, socialize loss bush paulson]

18. Rick H.  •  Sep 25, 2009 @1:42 pm
    

    astonied, I've been screaming about the bailouts, the Patriot Act, secrecy, preemptive war, torture, the War on Substances, etc. for longer than nine years. I despised Bush to my bones, and all my liberal friends were right there sharing the groovy hate vibes with me. But suddenly, it's unpatriotic, uncool and "distracting" to criticize anything the administration does… clearly the result of manipulation by FOX News. Rick would that book be by Rush or Coulter? – see what I mean?

    Silvermine is correct. Lots of people know a shitty policy when they see it.

    However, the fan club cheers Obama with the mindless zeal of Republicans circa 2003. It seems that this administration is just not responsible for anything unpopular. It was that dastardly monkey in the flight suit. He did it!

19. Jdog  •  Sep 25, 2009 @1:46 pm
    

    There are people who believe that FDR > Truman; they're entitled to be wrong.

    As to why Obama should be criticized when some bozo public school teacher is teaching children to worship him, that's easy: he's encouraged, as part of his campaign and personal narrative, something that is, at least, very close to that; the use of that created iconography is precisely how an undistinguished Chicago organizer and machine politician of no great accoplishment skipped himself like a stone across the pond of public consciousness and into the White House.

    Certainly: not every Obama voter or even Obama supporter has bought into the myth that is being mocked, daily, by the middle and Right (and occasionally by the rational left — wasn't it Jeralyn Merrit who coined a term something like "11 dimension chess" for the Obamaworshippers' belief that a political act or lack thereof is brilliant simply because, all evidence to the contrary, it's being done by or at the behest of His Obamaness?) — but it is a very real, and utterly creepy, phenomenon.

20. Patrick  •  Sep 25, 2009 @1:49 pm
    

    Well to be fair to Obama, he was handed an awful mess by the monkey in the flight suit, not to mention the dwarf in the Ayn Rand fan club.

    But he wanted the mess, so he owns it now.

21. astonied  •  Sep 25, 2009 @2:03 pm
    

    Rick: I don't think it is unpatriotic to criticize the Obama administration at all. It needs to be done for his an all administrations and believe me I have done my fair share of it. But it is nuts to get all worked up about something he did not do nor control. Like I said, if the White House sent out OUR WONDERFUL leader songs to all the public schools and said sing them then it would be worth protesting about and should be protested. When people use their own brains or lack thereof to have kids sing glory songs about the President and then for the right or FOX or anyone else to grab that and try to attribute this to the president then it is crossing a line that should not be.

22. Lizard Brain  •  Sep 26, 2009 @2:18 am
    

    Why do people (including the author of this article) act so surprised at the antics of this President's supporters? It's been a power-grab from day-one. How do you think Obama got elected? Ask Hillary Clinton!
    Obama and those currently in power are all about control. Substitue the word "fairness" with "control" and the whole thing will make sense to you.
    Fairness Doctrine = Control Doctrine
    Fair Pay = Controlled Pay
    If you love being controlled by the state and desire fairness over freedom just keep on voting for these clowns.

23. John David Galt  •  Sep 26, 2009 @9:58 am
    

    Surely I can't be the only person who notices that this song is just the kind of thing Stalin and Mao and Kim Jong-Il constantly had school children do for them. Brrrr!!!

24. Jdog  •  Sep 27, 2009 @2:36 pm
    

    Don't call me Shirley. But, no, you're not the only person to notice; the comparisons have been rife throughout the rightosphere.

    That said, as creepy as it is, this was just one school, and Obama worship is not, and is unlikely to, become a state religion; it's just a marketing ploy.

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