Friday, April 20, 2007

Bringing Back an Old Parody

I never thought I would say this, but I agree with John McCain.

Unless you haven't turned on a television in the last 48 hours, you know that U.S. Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain brought back an old parody song on Wednesday called, "Bomb Iran" - - a take-off on the old Beach Boys song, "Barbara Ann."

I might be one of five people who actually remember this parody song. There have been many updates of the parody, but it originated in 1979 after the hostage crisis at the American embassy in Iran.




My family owned a copy of "Bomb Iran" on a 45.


If you don't know what a 45 is or was, lick me where I can't reach.



This is what happened.

Sen. McCain was speaking to a group of veterans at the Murrells Inlet VFW Hall. A man in the audience asked the question, "How many times do we have to prove that these people are blowing up people now, never mind if they get a nuclear weapon, when do we send 'em an airmail message to Tehran?"

The rest of the audience applauded.

Sen. McCain replied by saying, "That old, eh, that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran."

The crowd chuckled.

Then, McCain gently sang, "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, anyway... "

The audience laughed.

As the International Herald Tribune reported, "After his joke, McCain said that he agrees with President George W. Bush that the United States must protect Israel from Iran and work to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. McCain has long said that the military option should not be taken off the table but that it should be used only as a last resort."

The media is having a field day showing McCain singing about bombing Iran. When asked for his response to the negative reactions some people are having to his joke, McCain had this to say...

"Please, I was talking to some of my old veterans friends.

My response is,

'Lighten up and get a life.'"


That is what I agree with. The "Get a life" part.

Do I want the U.S. to bomb Iran? No.

Is McCain calling for the U.S. to bomb Iran? No.

Do I admire someone for finally standing behind what he said and not backing down because someone didn't agree with it or it hurt someone's feelings? Abso-fucking-lutely!

The YouTube clips is below. Notice that it cuts off right before McCain responds seriously to the question.

This is happening over and over again. For example, Republicans are calling for Rosie O'Donnell's dismissal from THE VIEW because they falsely accuse her of blaming the President for 9/11. Rosie never said that. What she said was that the collapse of Tower 7 is a mystery since steel does not melt at the temperature it was exposed to on 9/11. She then asked for experts to come on the show and explain it to her. It's not even a conspiracy theory from Rosie - - it's a question.

Yet, with Rosie and with McCain, the ever lovin' American sound byte wins all. The news no longer presents us with the facts, it presents us with a subjective version of the facts.

I feel like inundating the news rooms of America with a never-ending clip from DRAGNET that keeps repeating the phrase, "Just the facts, ma'am."

But more than that, I commend Sen. McCain for standing up for what he said and what he did. No tears. No apology. No meeting with the leaders of this or that. And thank God, no rehab.

I may not agree with Sen. McCain's politics, but I admire him for principles.


2 comments:

whimsical brainpan said...

What ever happened to peoples' sense of humor?

Stephen R. said...

Whim - I couldn't agree with you more!