he's too dumb to eat pretzles

December 17, 2003 11:22 AM

THE IDIOT SON OF AN ASSHOLE !!!.. catchy, marvelous. spot on.
posted by Peter H (51 comments total)

You don't visit MetaTalk a lot do you?
posted by biffa at 11:29 AM on December 17, 2003

Bravo!
posted by wsg at 11:40 AM on December 17, 2003

biffa is referring to this very recent meta thread about either ceasing political bush-baiting links or creating political FPP's that are more thought-provoking and many-sided than insular and insulting. That's the gist of a 190 comment thread, IMO.
posted by ashbury at 11:40 AM on December 17, 2003

Well, if you're going to do an obvious Hate Bush link, at least do one with music and Flash animation...
posted by wendell at 11:49 AM on December 17, 2003

But this isn't another link to a CNN article or NYTimes op-ed. I thought the song was over-the-top but amusing, and the use of flash was interesting.

Now I want to see a Dean-bashing song and flash movie too.
posted by mathowie at 11:50 AM on December 17, 2003

For those who are curious, the band in question is NOFX. They really don't like George Bush. They also put out a flash video on their last cd that I can't seem to locate online. Here is a windows media (?) copy of it.
posted by toothless joe at 11:57 AM on December 17, 2003

It is a fun song..I heard that one of the bush girls (the yale one) actually was at one of the band's performances.
posted by amberglow at 11:59 AM on December 17, 2003

HA HA BUSH SI EVLI, I AM SO CLEVAR
posted by kavasa at 12:01 PM on December 17, 2003

Rhyming and melody isn't their forte, is it?
posted by madman at 12:01 PM on December 17, 2003

COUGH!!! good god my eyes want to bleed after scanning through that metatalk thread. (sobbing) why did you lead me there?! what is wrong with you people?

(p.s. i love metafilter, but yack yack yack!)
posted by Peter H at 12:03 PM on December 17, 2003

And here is an mpg version of the Franco-Unamerican video. It's 25 megs but the server is fast. I can't imagine why people don't just put the flash version online, though.
posted by toothless joe at 12:05 PM on December 17, 2003

Brutal, yet toe-tappin!
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:07 PM on December 17, 2003

They can't rhyme, but at least there are no badgers in it.
posted by tommasz at 12:11 PM on December 17, 2003

To the other silly point about this post being lumped in with news-posts. Come now, this is music, not news. I merely provide this posted link as an objective statement about the ruler of the free world and his father. I get a sense that alot of people who complain about criticizing Bush on metafilter are likely family-values focused people. Come now, lovers of families, this song is about families! A song about a son and his father! It's the holidays, people. We should all sing songs, afterall. SING! DANCE! sing and dance. rinse, repeat.

I only wanted ... to give you music.
posted by Peter H at 12:19 PM on December 17, 2003

Music then! Is rhyming necessary, tommasz and madman, or just helpful?
posted by hackly_fracture at 12:40 PM on December 17, 2003

The poor sound quality is unfortunate, but the song sounded fantastic when they played it at the Avalon (SF) earlier this year.

And, as a matter of fact, these guys are smart and clever. They also have a sense of humor, i.e., don't take themselves too seriously. Check out Punk Voter, developed by Fat Mike (I believe).
posted by caseymcg at 12:42 PM on December 17, 2003

Fat Mike from NOFX started PunkVoter.com a while ago. Sure beats the hell out of the mainstream Rock the Vote campaign - which seems more concerned with what trucker hat to wear to the polls.
posted by bk at 12:43 PM on December 17, 2003

And they're dumb enough to fall for a stupid hoax. Another stupid band with nothing better to say, and another stupid axe-grinding post unfit for MeFi.
posted by gyc at 12:47 PM on December 17, 2003

Some people really don't like Blumrich's animations.
posted by homunculus at 1:01 PM on December 17, 2003

I think it's well-reported that photoshop manipulated that bush-reads-a-book image, gyc, but thanks for the expose. The image is still hilarious because of the truth it communicates, tho, and that was probably their reasoning in using it. Photoshop can not be argued for the fact that he is an unread idiot son of an asshole, tho. imho.

(incidentally, and this is off-topic since it isn't about music, but I'm sure that a whole lot of Photoshop is being used in the Information-pamphlets the idiot son of an asshole is using in his pamphleting of biased propaganda to iraq - but that is off-topic, so forgive me)
posted by Peter H at 1:02 PM on December 17, 2003

(homunculus - WHOA)
posted by Peter H at 1:04 PM on December 17, 2003

I really liked that.
posted by adampsyche at 1:05 PM on December 17, 2003

Maybe it means that I hate America but I really enjoyed the song and video. Thanks.
posted by victors at 1:07 PM on December 17, 2003

Cool and amusing, in a fruity-fresh way, but very old. I thought I'd originally found it here...guess not. SE maybe.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:07 PM on December 17, 2003

too dumb to eat pretzles?

maybe he can spell them tho ;-)

or then again maybe not ...

just kiddin ...
posted by carter at 1:16 PM on December 17, 2003

Maybe I was just a bit rash in condeming this post, but you can see why some people can take this as more evidence of MeFi's supposed bias. Still, isn't it better to attack the message than the messenger?
posted by gyc at 1:27 PM on December 17, 2003

> I think it's well-reported that photoshop manipulated that bush-reads-a-book
> image, gyc, but thanks for the expose. The image is still hilarious because
> of the truth it communicates, tho,

Glad you like my work. It was supported by a grant from the Republican National Committee, it's all part of our plot to persuade our enemies that GWB is a lobotomized sock puppet so they can't take him seriously and he can do whatever he likes. We also created PETA to discredit Shirley-MacLaine progressivism and we're bankrolling our magnificant senior agent-provocateur Noam Chomsky who is tasked with making the serious Left comical. And you're completely taken in, you think it's all nightmarish coincidences and bad luck, you can't see how you've been fiendishly outmaneuvered at every turn by geniuses. We meet every midnight in the Reichsbunker to plot your next debacle and howl over your last one. I can even spell it out for you like this and you still won't believe. WE ARE INVISIBLE! WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE. HAR HAR HAR, ARRR! Now go back and play with our little animation that you can snigger over and imagine you're making a difference.
posted by jfuller at 2:13 PM on December 17, 2003

Fat Mike from NOFX started PunkVoter.com a while ago. Sure beats the hell out of the mainstream Rock the Vote campaign - which seems more concerned with what trucker hat to wear to the polls.

I'm waiting for Disco Voter myself.

Election Night Fever (night feverrrrr....;)
posted by inpHilltr8r at 2:21 PM on December 17, 2003

Now I want to see a Dean-bashing song and flash movie too.

Just go to the website of any other Democrat. Not being Dean is all they've got.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 2:23 PM on December 17, 2003

Well, I guess it's open season on Bush-bashing flash jams... mathowie seems to have liked it, finding enough value in it to keep it on the front page.

I give up. I admit, I just don't get it anymore.
posted by Witty at 3:03 PM on December 17, 2003

Fat Mike from NOFX started PunkVoter.com a while ago.

I'm just hoping we won't need Punk'dVoter.com in 2004.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 3:32 PM on December 17, 2003

Bitch, bitch, moan. All of you. Really, it's a frickin' ephemeral Web page, not the front page of an actual legitmate newspaper. Get over it.
posted by Down10 at 3:34 PM on December 17, 2003

I thought it was fun. Thanks, Peter H.
posted by swerve at 4:26 PM on December 17, 2003

It's disgusting - period. Musically, it's no better or worse than 90% of all the crap out there. Politically, it's just inane. Emotionally, it's about as mature as a whiny 2-year old brat. Philosophically, it's about as sophisticated as a pile of dung.

And if President Bush is re-elected, I'll come back to visit this thread and laugh. Mightily.
posted by davidmsc at 4:26 PM on December 17, 2003

Not being Dean is all they've got.

Oh come on! Kucinich is HOT!
posted by inpHilltr8r at 4:26 PM on December 17, 2003

President of the Apes! [Quicktime, AVI versions here.]
posted by homunculus at 4:38 PM on December 17, 2003

when it comes to music, NOFX is just not where it's at.
posted by mcsweetie at 5:58 PM on December 17, 2003

"Now I want to see a Dean-bashing song and flash movie too."

just ask Joe Lieberman?
I'm sure he'll pull another "Dean is Saddam" stunt out of his ass pretty soon as NH gets closer

no, seriously, since we're already bashing Bush I'd add an interesting little story I read in the Prospect:

Phoenix Rising
Tucked away in the recent Iraqi appropriation was $3 billlion for a new paramilitary unit. Close students of Vietnam may see similarities.
By Robert Dreyfuss
Issue Date: 1.1.04
With the 2004 electoral clock ticking amid growing public concern about U.S. casualties and chaos in Iraq, the Bush administration's hawks are upping the ante militarily. To those familiar with the CIA's Phoenix assassination program in Vietnam, Latin America's death squads or Israel's official policy of targeted murders of Palestinian activists, the results are likely to look chillingly familiar.
The Prospect has learned that part of a secret $3 billion in new funds—tucked away in the $87 billion Iraq appropriation that Congress approved in early November—will go toward the creation of a paramilitary unit manned by militiamen associated with former Iraqi exile groups. Experts say it could lead to a wave of extrajudicial killings, not only of armed rebels but of nationalists, other opponents of the U.S. occupation and thousands of civilian Baathists—up to 120,000 of the estimated 2.5 million former Baath Party members in Iraq.
posted by matteo at 6:07 PM on December 17, 2003

I have something new to hum at work today. Beats those Christmas songs going round and round.
posted by planetkyoto at 6:08 PM on December 17, 2003

And if President Bush is re-elected, I'll come back to visit this thread and laugh. Mightily.

I think you're missing the point here, davidmsc. Let me break it down for you, point by point:

• Bush is bad, see.
• And he's dumb, too!
• And his daddy was a major-league doody-head!

Golly, you gotta explain everything to kids these days.

Still, you did get that

• NOFX kinda sucks a bit.

so it's not a complete wash.

Seriously though, if Bush is re-elected, I'll be laughing at you, my friend (between the tears, kinda like a sad, sad clown), because what can you say about the fools who re-elect the republic-destroying idiot son of an asshole? Not nice things, certainly.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:24 PM on December 17, 2003

interesting analysis of vituperation, polarization in politics, politeness and Bill O'Reilly by Michael Wolff

I have a Bill O’Reilly story that I may have dreamed (except that my wife shares the story). I do not know when this occurred. I do not quite even remember where I saw this. Or who else was in the interview. But it’s O’Reilly and somebody. O’Reilly is out of character. Relaxed. Riffing. He’s going on about George Bush and Texas and capital punishment. And how he had asked Bush what Jesus Christ would have thought about capital punishment and how Bush had responded with the biblical eye-for-an-eye bromide. And as how O’Reilly had then asked Bush if he didn’t think Jesus might have had a different attitude considering how he had been a victim of capital punishment.
This is, of course, not the Bill O’Reilly on Fox every weekday night. That O’Reilly is stubborn and tendentious and unfunny. And yet—I believe it is important to defend anybody who makes a Jesus joke—the O’Reilly of my dream show certainly has an admirable sort of vituperation in his heart, and he has brought a form of it to mainstream television.
Now, vituperation—abuse, invective, scorn—has, I would argue, in its ideal state, no necessary political ax to grind. The desire to verbally rough somebody up is not a partisan impulse.
Of course, that’s far from where we are. We’re in a left/right world rather than a funny/not-funny world. A savvy producer wouldn’t position Bill O’Reilly with half a gimlet eye, or Ann Coulter as a girl with a shtick—half a comedienne.
Indeed, polarization, or the pretense of polarization, is the only thing that seems to provide a socially acceptable excuse for vituperation. It just may be that as a function of American uptightness and verbal correctness, we’re forced to invent a political excuse to say something unkind. The end of civility, this corrosive discourse, the taking up of opposite sides is perhaps just a smoke screen under which we can express the natural desire to be impolite.
We may not be so left and right. But rather, more generally, and diffusely, we’re dissatisfied, ambivalent, annoyed, bored. Instead of left and right, we just don’t like the bland, blah-blah, pointless, and point-of-view-less media we’re getting. Hence, the restless quest for newer, more interesting, more radical forms.
posted by matteo at 6:53 PM on December 17, 2003

Oh, Stav...thank you ever so much for explaining The Way Things Are to me. And I very much appreciate your pre-emptive pity.

No, really.

No hard feelings, tho...like Matt says, "We're all in this together."
posted by davidmsc at 6:56 PM on December 17, 2003

Indeedy!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:19 PM on December 17, 2003

davidmsc: It's disgusting - period. Musically, it's no better or worse than 90% of all the crap out there. Politically, it's just inane. Emotionally, it's about as mature as a whiny 2-year old brat. Philosophically, it's about as sophisticated as a pile of dung.

So in other words, what you're saying is that it's the ultimate punk song?
posted by UKnowForKids at 11:17 PM on December 17, 2003

I don't NOFX calling Bush Sr. and asshole until his son got elected.

Smacks of song-writing opportunism to me.
posted by Dagobert at 1:08 AM on December 18, 2003

He's from Bush descent!
posted by shoos at 2:30 AM on December 18, 2003

I never thought his dad was an asshole. /half-opinion dangling
posted by Dick Paris at 6:04 AM on December 18, 2003

he he he

The idiot son of an asshole

I'll be singing it all day. The fact that it is offensive to some of the reactionaries here on Metafilter just makes it all the more funny to me.

he he he

The idiot son of an asshole


It doesn't have "make a difference" in politics, Bush getting elected again or not, its just funny.

he he he.

The idiot son of an asshole

Oh and I'll be singing it during Saddam's crimes against humanity trials, when they mention how the Idiot's Asshole father gave 1 billion dollars in aid to Saddam, AFTER the 1988 gassing of the Kurds in Halbja.


he he he.

The idiot son of an asshole


Indeed.

!
posted by sic at 8:04 AM on December 18, 2003

NoFX are amazing. WOW.
posted by Satapher at 2:34 PM on December 18, 2003

and by amazing i mean terrible.
posted by Satapher at 7:21 PM on December 30, 2003

you were thinking about it for 12 days?
posted by amberglow at 7:49 PM on December 30, 2003