October 17, 2011

"Uh, officer... Leave those kids alone... I want them to vote for me."



A juxtaposition at Drudge right now, linking to a Financial Times article titled "Obama extends support for protesters." Excerpt:
On Sunday, Mr Obama honoured Martin Luther King at a dedication to a new memorial on National Mall in Washington. Referring to protests that have spread from Wall Street to London, Rome and elsewhere, Mr Obama said: “Dr King would want us to challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonising those who work there.” Mr Obama had previously said the protests “express the frustration” of ordinary Americans with the financial sector.
So that's what counts as "more support"? It sounds to me as though he's undermining the message of the protesters who are demonizing the Wall Street crowd. Of course, he's got lots of friends among the demons, but he wants the protest kids to feel like they're his friends too. If only they would see how we all need each other, then peace will guide the planets, and love will steer the stars.

38 comments:

gemma said...

I think the demonstrations in Wisconsin and these Occupy things are just dry runs for the chaos the left will put us through when they lose large in 2012 --

Joaquin said...

From Community Organizer in Chief to Community Agitator in Chief.
And we ain't seen nothing yet!

Beta Rube said...

Does Barack endorse the prevalent anti-semitism at these protests?

I'm sure Reverend Wright does.

virgil xenophon said...

Dollars to doughnuts, given her age, Althouse has the original vinyl album "Hair"--I know *I* do--and I wasn't even a hippy, but an officer in the USAF at the time. It's a part of history recording the zeitgeist of the times as much as it is music, and instinctively recognized as such at the time of issue.

Ann Althouse said...

"Dollars to doughnuts, given her age, Althouse has the original vinyl album "Hair"..."

You are wrong. I was typical of my cohort in rejecting "Hair" as a bogus Broadway rip-off of the hippie movement with cheesy songs that were presented as rock but were not rock. I have never owned any "Hair"-related recordings.

I was hyper-vigilant about music that was not really rock getting on the rock stations on the radio. I never accepted anything by the Fifth Dimension and so forth. I was at war against all that middle-of-the-road stuff.

I did consider going to Central Park when they were filming the movie hair when they wanted young people with lots of hair for the crowd scenes, but I couldn't be bothered, and I still thought it was bogus whenever that was (mid 70s?).

Scott M said...

Anyone that's anyone knows the only showtune album worth having is Little Shop Of Horrors followed closely by Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, if only because the odds are good that someone was maimed while producing it.

vet66 said...

One way or another I foresee a swing to the right in this country just as it is happening in Europe. The question is, just how far right it will go.

The oppression of political correctness is in an existentialist fight for its relevance. The left and progressives will be forced to confront a populace that has grown weary of their tactics and message.

The pushback is on low simmer right now. Will it be forced to a boil? Watch Europe as they come to grips with the reality of unassimilated minorities and entitlement addicts.

The so-called "dawning of the age of aquarius" also has a sunset.

Mick said...

The Usurper is owned by the Central Bankers. Obama was installed by them to bring the American Society to it's knees by Cloward Piven strategy, and to usher in a NWO Globalist system.

They picked Obama for this attack on American society specifically to degrade the US Constitution, by installing an ineligible Usurper, whom has not the required Attachment and Allegiance necessary to lead America. Open your eyes.

Bob Ellison said...

You rejected Hair because it was insufficiently hairy and rocky?

Did you also reject Bob Marley, Harry Belefonte, and other artists with dubious or incomplete provenance?

I like some of the music from Hair. I also like the Monkees. The creation myths are unrelated to the music proper.

Ann Althouse said...

Actually, I did have a Broadway cast album at the time that I liked and played: "Camelot."

That doesn't pretend to be rock, of course. Richard Burton, Julie Andrews... loved it!

Scott M said...

I remembered hearing West Side Story for the first time when I was about 9 or so and loved it. Then I remember seeing the movie for the first time...about a week or so after seeing The Warriors at a drive-in.

Talk about deflating...

Ann Althouse said...

"I like some of the music from Hair. I also like the Monkees. The creation myths are unrelated to the music proper."

"Hair" appropriated something that I wanted to believe had an authentic core somewhere that I hoped to find (after I left home). Fortunately, I didn't get into too much trouble, but I went to college with the philosophy "Tune in, turn on, drop out," and I thought the highest calling in life was on some sort of subsistence-farming commune... or as an artist. I ended up in art school and trying to be an artist, because no matter how virtuous it might be in theory, in practice I could not abide living with a group of people.

That said, I loved The Monkees from day 1 and I still do. "We're just trying to be friendly..." Good plan!

Crimso said...

"If only they would see how we all need each other, then peace will guide the planets, and love will steer the stars."

I'd rather it be life to more reliable things like gravity and inertia. Imagine the toll divorce would take on star-steerage.

Ann Althouse said...

My sister had the original cast album of "West Side Story" and I loved that too, but she wouldn't let me play it very often. She was an older sister, and I probably would have scratched it.

Scott M said...

You know what's funny about my West Side Story love back then was my mother saw it as an opportunity and started pelting me with Rogers And Hammerstein. The only one that stuck was Oklahoma!

Back then, I couldn't quite figure out why my father was none so pleased about my listening to Broadway musicals over and over again. That must be why he bought me Kiss' "Destroyer".

Paddy O said...

It's fairly paternalistic, with Obama sounding entirely not politically threatened, so he doesn't want to discipline them, and as long as they don't break something or say something too men to the nice men wearing suits, those crazy kids can throw their tantrum as long as they want to. And Wall St. knows exactly which side Obama is on, the side he's always been on, the side with money and power.

Bob Ellison said...

Scott M, I had similar issues, though neither of my parents ever stepped in to question my musical preferences. I remember walking down a gym stairwell in college humming one of my favorite Broadway tunes, "At the Ballet" from A Chorus Line, when another guy stopped me to discuss how great that music was. He was pretty obviously gay, and I was not. We shared honest enthusiasm for the sound and story.

Hmm. Maybe my love of show tunes would provide me enough legitimacy to start singing in cabarets. But I don't sing well...

Chip S. said...

You guys are so upbeat it's inspiring.

This morning's Drudgery made me think of a B'way musical, too. Unfortunately, it was Evita.

Ann Althouse said...

"That must be why he bought me Kiss' "Destroyer"."

So... men in makeup. Mimes... that'll man him up.

Scott M said...

I think he was bridging the gap between Broadway and rock. It worked. I grew up to be a rock radio dj and I really can't stand much musical theater without a strong desire to find the nearest Kevorkian booth.

Scott M said...

And just occured to me that The Wiz was on HBO all the time during this period as well. I had recorded it on cassette with one of those little hand-helds and listened to it all the time.

Ouch.

Curious George said...

This is just a CYA move by Obama for when these asshats dial this to 11.

SecondComingOfBast said...

The neonazi group Stormfront just recently announced its official support of OWS, other socialist groups and organized labor have been there practically from the beginning, and the Iranian regime has even expressed its support. So who's next?

Obama, of course.

Bob Ellison said...

Darn, Scott M. I thought we were all having a moment. I'll just crawl back to Grooveshark.com by myself now.

Anonymous said...

One way or another I foresee a swing to the right in this country just as it is happening in Europe. The question is, just how far right it will go.

But, do you see a swing to right-liberatarian, or right-social conservative? These could be very different things. Right-liberatarian seems ripe, but these swings can be quite unpredictable.

************

I own Hair- the soundtrack in 2 mediums (cassette and CD), and a DVD of the movie. But, as a teen int the '90's, I never had any delusions of authenticity or meaning in the culture, I just liked it. (Now I really wish I could go back to look for Althouse in the crowd scenes.)

virgil xenophon said...

"The creation myths are unrelated to the music proper."

EXACTLY, Bob Elison, which is why I bought the album in the first place--as a bit of important historical memorabilla representing the zeitgeist of the times despite the fact that its content championed EVERYTHING I stood in opposition to as a dyed-in-the-wool conservative in my early 20s. and a serving officer in the USAF.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

If only they would see how we all need each other, then peace will guide the planets, and love will steer the stars.

HA HA

I love snark in the morning!! Haven't even had my first cup of coffee yet.

"Dollars to doughnuts, given her age, Althouse has the original vinyl album "Hair"..."

LOL. I do.

My 'boyfriend' in high school invited me to see it in San Francisco. Center 4th row seats. (For some reason, his parents drove us from the South Bay to The City and picked us up. I don't think he had a driver's license.)

Anonymous said...

Althouse said: but I went to college with the philosophy "Tune in, turn on, drop out," and I thought the highest calling in life was on some sort of subsistence-farming commune... or as an artist.

You know, the more conservative among us give Althouse a lot of flack for some of her more liberal leanings, but I'll say, we've got to give her some credit for improvement from where she started out. Althouse, you've come a long way, baby.

Bob Ellison said...

When in small groups, I sometimes propose a game: "most embarassing song I like". (Doesn't have to be a song; can be a movie, a book, etc.) Each contestant has to name something that he/she is perhaps embarassed to admit he/she likes, and when all players have submitted, they vote on the most embarassing submission/admission.

I like the song contest, because I hold a trump card.

Anonymous said...

How are the OWS crowd "demonizing" people who work on wall street? Thinking the system is rigged and rotten and not real capitalism = hating traders? That's ridiculous.

I'm not convinced you are familiar with Martin Luther King's stance on economic inequality. He would definitely be part of this movement. If he were alive today he'd be tarred by the right as a socialist/traitor.

madAsHell said...

these Occupy things are just dry runs for the chaos

It all stops when the entitlements run out!

Tim said...

"It sounds to me as though he's undermining the message of the protesters who are demonizing the Wall Street crowd. Of course, he's got lots of friends among the demons, but he wants the protest kids to feel like they're his friends too."

This is a smart play by Obama. After all, who knows better how dumb his voters are? 90-95% of the dopes who voted for him in '08 will do so again, too stupid to do otherwise, or stuck on the vanity of being the kind of person who voted for Obama.

So America's future will be flushed down the toilet by mass idiocy and narcissism, drowning in a swirling mess of debt and anti-business regulations.

Congratulations in advance - they'll have accomplished what the British, confederacy, Nazi's, Japanese and Soviets couldn't.

David said...

Speaking of rock opera, shouldn't the title of this post be: Hey! Officer! Leave them kids alone!

Chip S. said...

How are the OWS crowd "demonizing" people who work on wall street?

Good question
.

edutcher said...

OTOH, Breitbart posts an article which supports Drudge's contention, that GodZero is fighting for the 99%.

Ann Althouse said...

You are wrong. I was typical of my cohort in rejecting "Hair" as a bogus Broadway rip-off of the hippie movement with cheesy songs that were presented as rock but were not rock. I have never owned any "Hair"-related recordings.

I was hyper-vigilant about music that was not really rock getting on the rock stations on the radio. I never accepted anything by the Fifth Dimension and so forth. I was at war against all that middle-of-the-road stuff.


Nice to see you've lightened up.

Or have you?

franglo said...

How are the OWS crowd "demonizing" people who work on wall street? Thinking the system is rigged and rotten and not real capitalism = hating traders? That's ridiculous.

Oh, all that stuff about evil Jew bankers.

But, of course, that doesn't count.

I'm not convinced you are familiar with Martin Luther King's stance on economic inequality. He would definitely be part of this movement. If he were alive today he'd be tarred by the right as a socialist/traitor.

King was under heavy pressure from the Leftists, who were starting to view him as an Uncle Tom. They demanded he oppose the Vietnam War and get a more activist agenda.

IIRC, this was more the work of Joseph Lowery.

Thorley Winston said...

One way or another I foresee a swing to the right in this country just as it is happening in Europe. The question is, just how far right it will go.

It depends on what you mean by “far right” as what constitutes “right wing” in the United States differs pretty greatly from Europe or the rest of the World.

In the United States, “right wing” might mean favoring a strong national defense and reigning in the federal government’s power on domestic issues whereas in Europe it seems to pretty much mean they want the same Nanny State and economic policies as the left, just with fewer benefits going to immigrants. To be fair, there is a definite political movement in favor of securing America’s borders which is part of the conservative coalition but also one in favor of economic liberalization (at least at the domestic level) and decentralization of political power that isn’t as prominent in other countries.

kimsch said...

For Camelot I think of the movie with Richard Harris (Arthur), Franco Nero (Lancelot), and Vanessa Redgrave (Gwenivere).

The Richard Burton/Julie Andrews threw me.

Speaking of Julie Andrews - it's the 45th anniversary of Sound Of Music...

Cedarford said...

The protests are spreading globally. Have no doubt that the anger against the economic Elites, gut national industries and send them to China, "masters of the universe banker" sorts - is quite real.
Yes, various leftist groups are trying to tap into that anger to advance their own interests. Yes, many of the protestors are socialist idiots.

But I would say that at present - the message of Right wingers isn't going over well:

1. None of these hero captains of finance and industry did anything wrong! No one amongst our friends and valued political donors should go to jail. None of them that gave PAC money to the Left ought to, either!
2. You are just envious of smarter people that figured out how to destroy middle class jobs to line their wallets under globalism. If you were as sharp as them, you would be doing the same thing!
3. What The Jobs Creators of Wall Street and other financial centers need is more taxpayer bailouts and LESS dang gummint regulation!