Sarah's Marching Ooooooooooon!

January 17, 2011 2:30 PM

The Battle Hymn of Sarah Palin. (SLYTAWESOME)
posted by EarBucket (177 comments total)

USA! USA!
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 2:31 PM on January 17, 2011

This is, by far, Werner Herzog's funniest film.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 2:32 PM on January 17, 2011 [76 favorites]

So, for the reeducation camps, should we just fence off North Dakota or what?
posted by clarknova at 2:34 PM on January 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

We have only ourselves to blame. Merle Haggard wouldn't be reduced to this if we bought his albums instead of pirating them.
posted by griphus at 2:35 PM on January 17, 2011 [7 favorites]

Best SNL sketch ever!

Oh...

I thought you weren't supposed to wear a hat in church?
posted by Marky at 2:35 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wow. I thought this would be satire. I have not the words. My eyes have seen a part of America I didn't think was real.
posted by aclevername at 2:35 PM on January 17, 2011 [7 favorites]

she'll throw 'em all in jail

And by jail, they mean concentration camps, right?
posted by Neekee at 2:36 PM on January 17, 2011 [5 favorites]

American idle.
posted by punkfloyd at 2:36 PM on January 17, 2011 [8 favorites]

How can we know this is for real?
posted by Jody Tresidder at 2:36 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Isn't it rude for gentlemen to wear hats indoors?
posted by marvin at 2:37 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Isn't it rude for gentlemen to wear hats indoors?

What are you? A Harvard lawyer?
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 2:38 PM on January 17, 2011 [67 favorites]

It's been a long day, and this isn't worth snarking on. Here's some good gospel music instead:

Up Above My Head - Sister Rosetta Tharpe
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:39 PM on January 17, 2011 [37 favorites]

*cries*
posted by America at 2:40 PM on January 17, 2011 [61 favorites]

The first YouTube comment is spot-on. It's great for this church to be expressing their right to political advocacy, as long as they are following their responsibility to pay taxes like anyone else. I'm sure the musicians showcased here would agree.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:41 PM on January 17, 2011 [13 favorites]

I clicked the link, saw the first frame of the two old farts, closed the window, and thought, "Well, that one frame told me everything I need to know."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:42 PM on January 17, 2011 [4 favorites]

The Card Cheat is right. This isn't worth watching or commenting on. And that Sister Rosetta Tharpe vid is AWESOME. Thanks very, very much for that, Cheat.
posted by koeselitz at 2:42 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

So, for the reeducation camps, should we just fence off North Dakota or what?

You're assuming this crowd can even find North Dakota on a map...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:43 PM on January 17, 2011

"Drunk" rhymes with "skunk," too, you know. And after listening to that, I think that I should be.
posted by leftcoastbob at 2:44 PM on January 17, 2011

"Sarah has the wisdom to walk through an open door."

Hmm.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 2:44 PM on January 17, 2011 [16 favorites]

This can't be real - I don't see any crosshairs.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 2:45 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

He has a lovely voice, I'll give him that.
posted by tula at 2:45 PM on January 17, 2011 [4 favorites]

"When she gets to Washington, it'll be cold as hell."

Because it will have frozen over.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 2:46 PM on January 17, 2011 [57 favorites]

You're assuming this crowd can even find North Dakota on a map...

They won't be required to find their way. The trains will find it for them.
posted by clarknova at 2:48 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

I give it a 10, Dick! It had a good beat and I could goosestep to it.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:49 PM on January 17, 2011 [27 favorites]

What ... the ...
posted by rosa at 2:51 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Wow, so they've turned Palin into a metaphorical golden calf and are just worshiping right at her feet directly now. Perfect.

The Card Cheat : Here's some good gospel music instead...

I am very vocal in my atheism, but I'm absolutely convinced that religion has made the world. in some small ways, a much better place; Magnificent Catholic architecture and everything about gospel music.
posted by quin at 2:51 PM on January 17, 2011 [14 favorites]

"I'd like to dedicate this to the Tea Party, and all the patriots."

So some of them do understand these can be mutually exclusive concepts?
posted by pedmands at 2:54 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wow, so they've turned Palin into a metaphorical golden calf and are just worshiping right at her feet directly now. Perfect.

You know, I'm hoping that we're not getting to Second Commandment remedies.
posted by neal at 2:54 PM on January 17, 2011 [31 favorites]

I'm going to be honest, my first thought was "They're going to die soon." I think imagined that they're someone's meemaw and pap-pap, or whatever, and felt bad about cheering on their death, but not very bad.
posted by codacorolla at 2:55 PM on January 17, 2011 [4 favorites]

but I'm absolutely convinced that religion has made the world. in some small ways, a much better place; Magnificent Catholic architecture and everything about gospel music.

Don't forget the civil rights movement and liberation theology (for as long as that lasted).
posted by clarknova at 2:55 PM on January 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

Reading this thread while watching the other SLYT that was just posted is much more entertaining.
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email at 2:55 PM on January 17, 2011

I think I'm going to leave.
posted by Pecinpah at 2:55 PM on January 17, 2011

It's great for this church to be expressing their right to political advocacy, as long as they are following their responsibility to pay taxes like anyone else.

To be fair, she's not a candidate for office, an office holder, or a party representative, so I'm not sure that actually applies here. As far as I know, merely endorsing someone who's heavily involved in politics isn't enough. I could be wrong, though.
posted by jedicus at 2:56 PM on January 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

Hey, didn't they criticize us for supposedly worshiping Obama?
posted by crunchland at 2:56 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

she'll throw 'em all in jail

No, no. They rhymed that with "hell," so clearly the line is, "She'll throw them all in gel."
posted by Sys Rq at 2:59 PM on January 17, 2011 [4 favorites]

Needs more cow bell.
posted by binturong at 3:00 PM on January 17, 2011 [5 favorites]

1. The gent in the hat actually has a pretty cool voice.
2. The pedal steel solo is really quite nice.
3. Holy shit, this exists.
posted by COBRA! at 3:00 PM on January 17, 2011 [10 favorites]

Hey, didn't they criticize us for supposedly worshiping Obama?

It's called group fantasy projection. Everything they accuse straw men of is what they're doing, or what they desire.
posted by clarknova at 3:01 PM on January 17, 2011 [7 favorites]

He has a lovely voice, I'll give him that.

1. The gent in the hat actually has a pretty cool voice.

Not to be all "NO HE DOESNT" but the main voice you're hearing... that's not the guy in the hat. That's some other dude who made the recording for him.
posted by kingbenny at 3:06 PM on January 17, 2011

Sarah has been rendered speechless by this tribute.
posted by madamjujujive at 3:06 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

320 views and more than 700 dislikes?
posted by curuinor at 3:08 PM on January 17, 2011

It makes me sad. The man (or whoever is actually singing -- a weird thing happens at the spoken word point that makes me wonder whether he's lip synching) has a wonderful voice, and they look like pleasant enough people. More to the point they are not young people, and this is the place that decades of life have brought them to. It seems like a waste of years and talent.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:08 PM on January 17, 2011 [4 favorites]

Buzz and buzz and keep it up,
Our cares and needs he’s toting,
You are a most ungrateful pup,
Unless for Buzz you’re voting!
posted by tyllwin at 3:08 PM on January 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

Sarah has been rendered speechless by this tribute.

This video is uncomfortably erotic.
posted by griphus at 3:10 PM on January 17, 2011 [5 favorites]

Only if you watch it in the back of a Beetle.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 3:12 PM on January 17, 2011 [4 favorites]

On the one hand... wow.

On the other hand... people make music praising political figures all the time. will.i.am, etc. So I can't exactly snark too hard, people do weird things when they get caught up in something.
posted by BungaDunga at 3:13 PM on January 17, 2011

I now have a perverse urge to try and rewrite Dixie as an Obama campaign song. I doubt my talents are up to the task though.
posted by Grimgrin at 3:14 PM on January 17, 2011 [9 favorites]

Did he dedicate this to the tea party and all the pastriots? That's SMART. Next level pastry maneuver.
posted by fleetmouse at 3:14 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

320 views and more than 700 dislikes?

Number of views don't update automatically but likes and dislikes do.
posted by waitingtoderail at 3:16 PM on January 17, 2011

SCANSION IS JUST A SOCIALIST ENTITLEMENT DESIGNED TO STEAL AND REDISTRIBUTE THE HARD-EARNED WEALTH OF METERLESS CACOPHONY PRODUCED BY TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOTS TO THE UNDESERVING, UNWASHED PROLETARIAT. FREEEEEEEDOOOOOM!
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 3:17 PM on January 17, 2011 [8 favorites]

Oh lord, Mawmaw and Peepaw done got into the corn squeezins agin. No no, just let 'em go, they'll wind down and then we can git back to Wednesday night Bible study. Y'all I am SO sorry about this. I tole Myrna to leave 'em in the car with the windows cracked, but she don't never listen.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:19 PM on January 17, 2011 [34 favorites]

and everything about gospel music.

Everything? Because. much liek you, I am a-religious but can find some redeeming characteristics here and there, and I love me some Sister Tharpe, and some Blind Boys of Alabama.. but christ almighty jumping up and down on a RAM chip with a pogo stick there is some godawful gospel out there (shudder) and I've venture to say that most gospel is mediocre at best.

And this? Palin can go piss off to lala land, guess they have found their false idol and all.
posted by edgeways at 3:20 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

I now have a perverse urge to try and rewrite Dixie as an Obama campaign song. I doubt my talents are up to the task though.

Neither were theirs, and that didn't stop them...
posted by Skeptic at 3:22 PM on January 17, 2011

Ohia – Soul
posted by Cantdosleepy at 3:24 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Especially on MLK day, let's remember the original lyrics:

John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, but his soul is marching on.

posted by The White Hat at 3:24 PM on January 17, 2011 [16 favorites]

Did he dedicate this to the tea party and all the pastriots? That's SMART. Next level pastry maneuver.

Pastry War.
posted by ovvl at 3:24 PM on January 17, 2011

The lyrics are full of eliminationist rhetoric.
posted by defenestration at 3:28 PM on January 17, 2011

Thanks card cheat, very cleansing. How about a rinse with some heroin gospel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y46r_jPdjL0
posted by yaxu at 3:34 PM on January 17, 2011

Carpastryian.
posted by Rat Spatula at 3:34 PM on January 17, 2011

"What do you think?"
posted by hellojed at 3:35 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Damn, got to learn to look at the preview. That heroin gospel.
posted by yaxu at 3:35 PM on January 17, 2011

She's gonna take it back? Like Randal was takin' it back in Clerks 2?
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 3:41 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Don't worry, I'm betting that when she wins in 2012 she won't be able to get any laws passed either.
posted by Ad hominem at 3:49 PM on January 17, 2011

It's like a Willis Caswell outtake.
posted by rhizome at 3:52 PM on January 17, 2011

Sarah Palin: 'Awesome'! [video | 04:46].
posted by ericb at 3:54 PM on January 17, 2011

It's even better if you squint your eyes -- they become Tex and Edna Boil.
posted by Capt. Renault at 3:55 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

My new verse:

My ears have not stopped bleeding from her syntax and her pitch
even Wiccans cringe when you suggest she is a witch
But she put a spell on poor McCain, and now she’s getting rich
The Moose is marching on.

She quit her job as Governor , now she works for Fox TV
Survivalists and rednecks all tune in religiously
They really hate Obama cuz he “ Ain’t like you and me !”
The noose is marching on.

Sarah, Sarah Yehaw Booya !
Here’s a pit bull that’ll school ya !
Reds from Harvard want to fool ya
The Goose Step marches on
posted by lobstah at 3:55 PM on January 17, 2011 [31 favorites]

I'm not listening to this, cause the Battle Hymn Of the Republic is my Spirit Animal and I refuse to let my enjoyment of it be possibly ruined.
posted by The Whelk at 3:56 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

It really doesn't feel like satire... But how could they sing the "When she gets to Washington, it'll be as cold as hell" line without realizing the "when hell freezes over" implications?
posted by meese at 3:59 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Normally, I'm sick to death of Sarah Palin posts, but this was actually pretty great. I keep trying to come up with wacky make-em-ups to make light of it, but no, nothing's funnier than the reality it presents. Nothing, except how much I'm farting right now.
posted by Sticherbeast at 3:59 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Is there really much more of a point to this than SARAH-EVER-LOVIN' RED-STATE YOKELS HURF DURF?
posted by blucevalo at 4:01 PM on January 17, 2011

I now have a perverse urge to try and rewrite Dixie as an Obama campaign song. I doubt my talents are up to the task though.

Oh, he was born in a land of surfin'/
Or in Kenya if you're Birthin'
posted by Bookhouse at 4:02 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Oh wow, a new preview for Bioshock Infinite! This one is less steampunk but way more likely to go viral.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:02 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wait - this was not a parody?
what
posted by Namlit at 4:04 PM on January 17, 2011

i am afraid
posted by clavdivs at 4:10 PM on January 17, 2011

Is there really much more of a point to this than SARAH-EVER-LOVIN' RED-STATE YOKELS HURF DURF?

nope.
posted by wilful at 4:17 PM on January 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

"Shara has the wisdom to walk though an open door"

I believe she's also adept at staircases, both up and down.
posted by the noob at 4:17 PM on January 17, 2011 [6 favorites]

I just threw up a little, in my mouth.
posted by Catblack at 4:18 PM on January 17, 2011

Once upon a time I worked for a nice non-profit research institute. The man who ran the show invited a politician to come and speak to us curiously near election season. Comments were made that we could risk losing our tax exempt status because we could be construed as promoting a politician. The guy in charge said that this wasn't a political event and that we shouldn't worry. Of course it WAS a political speech, but I'm now sort of more aware that tax exempt entities should be awfully careful about what they put out there. Like this church and its promotion of a political figure, Sarah Palin. Of course she's not a politician these days.

(also, I'm watching Jeopardy right now and one of the things was "What is muffin top" referring to the thing involved with pants, not baking.)
posted by sciencegeek at 4:19 PM on January 17, 2011

It's even better if you squint your eyes -- they become Tex and Edna Boil.

Come on down to Tex and Edna Boil's Organ Emporium....
posted by edgeways at 4:19 PM on January 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

You people are all so glass half empty.

Consider this - not so long ago, most of y'all wouldn't have credited her supporters with supporting a woman at all, because, you know - she's a woman.
posted by IndigoJones at 4:22 PM on January 17, 2011

Skip the clip, folks. When it comes to singin' and praisin', nobody does it better than the sacred steel slide guitars of The Campbell Brothers.
posted by Mike D at 4:24 PM on January 17, 2011 [4 favorites]

No. No words. No words to describe it. They should've sent a poet.
posted by Ratio at 4:27 PM on January 17, 2011 [12 favorites]

Is "hunting skunk" dog-whistle code for something?
posted by AceRock at 4:32 PM on January 17, 2011

Allow me to join the smugfest mocking these people and their political beliefs!
posted by Nelson at 4:36 PM on January 17, 2011

Is "hunting skunk" dog-whistle code for something?

maybe it's like "hunting coon" only it fits the rhyme scheme?
posted by ennui.bz at 4:43 PM on January 17, 2011

"It really doesn't feel like satire... But how could they sing the "When she gets to Washington, it'll be as cold as hell" line without realizing the "when hell freezes over" implications?"

I think it's more of a magical thing. Being an avatar of a northern state, she has the ability to bring the snows and freezing winds of Alaska down to cushy Washington to freeze the fatcats.
posted by Kevin Street at 4:46 PM on January 17, 2011

Rebuttal.
posted by GodricVT at 4:49 PM on January 17, 2011

They rhymed that with "hell," so clearly the line is, "She'll throw them all in gel."

i'll have you know that there are areas of the country in which hell does rhyme with jail
posted by pyramid termite at 4:49 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think it's more of a magical thing. Being an avatar of a northern state

When Palin arrives it is winter but never christmas.
posted by The Whelk at 4:53 PM on January 17, 2011 [26 favorites]

Rather than mock, I'll follow the example of some others here and post something that leaves me speechless: Farther Along.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:54 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Janet Greene!
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:55 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Janet Green has a better understanding of Fascism then any of these clowns.
posted by The Whelk at 4:56 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm pretty sure this is a tape that they are singing along with. I wish that really were his voice.
posted by andlee210 at 4:58 PM on January 17, 2011

There'll be spectral men on horses when she comes
The Beast go'n pull yo teeth right out yo gums
Wormwood fallin' from the sky
All yo chillun's gots to die
All the rivers turned to crimson when she comes
posted by obiwanwasabi at 5:00 PM on January 17, 2011 [9 favorites]

Dead skunk in the middle of the road... stinkin' to high heaven.
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:02 PM on January 17, 2011

The universe is not only more perverse than you imagine, it is more perverse than you can imagine.
posted by localroger at 5:05 PM on January 17, 2011 [6 favorites]

pyramid termite - also with "nail"?
posted by russm at 5:16 PM on January 17, 2011

>>"When she gets to Washington, it'll be cold as hell."

>Because it will have frozen over.

That comment came waaaay later than I thought it would.
posted by spock at 5:21 PM on January 17, 2011

I can't respect anyone who admires Sarah Palin. The first thing most of us heard from her--"I told Congress thanks, but no thanks, on that bridge to nowhere"--was a lie. She's a hypocrite, claiming to be a pit bull with lipstick but crying martyr at the slightest criticism. She's a quitter, leaving after half a term as governor of Alaska. (I'd say when the going got tough, she got going, but was the going really that tough?) Honesty. Integrity. Steadfastness. These are values that conservatives claim for themselves, but they won't hold her to them.

It's great for this church to be expressing their right to political advocacy, as long as they are following their responsibility to pay taxes like anyone else. I'm sure the musicians showcased here would agree.

Especially given the Tea Party's longstanding concern about the deficit, which dates back to when President Bush turned an all-time surplus into an all-time deficit when a black guy became president. Similarly, they sing about their rights slipping away, when they've been doing since President Bush imprisoned Jose Padilla, an American citizen arrested in the United States.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:21 PM on January 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

I have the feeling that Sarah Palin is the right's equiv. of Ralph Nadar.
posted by spock at 5:23 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Wow, and then after posting the perversity comment I clicked on fiasco de gama's Janet Greene link. And then, because I couldn't stop the bleeding from my eyes and ears, poked around and found Conelrad's bio of her. Just ... so ... wrong ...
posted by localroger at 5:24 PM on January 17, 2011

How sure are we that this isn't really satire? Until I read the comments here, I was sure that they were making fun of her. When she gets to Washington, it'll be as cold as hell, ... hunting skunks ..., Throw 'em all in jail, the "seriousness" on the old lady's face in the first few frames.

It's a joke... right?
posted by Simon Barclay at 5:28 PM on January 17, 2011

Ratio: "No. No words. No words to describe it. They should've sent a poet."

Cannot type anything snarky myself, laughing too hard at this. Scared the cats.
posted by theredpen at 5:30 PM on January 17, 2011

I have the feeling that Sarah Palin is the right's equiv. of Ralph Nadar.

not fair - whatever you think of his presidential aspirations, ralph's done some useful and good things

and yes, russm, rhymes with nail - haaaaill, yes
posted by pyramid termite at 5:34 PM on January 17, 2011

What, no Mahalia Jackson?
posted by orrnyereg at 5:36 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

"Shara has the wisdom to walk though an open door"

I believe she's also adept at staircases, both up and down.

That was referencing her quote that god would show her the open door, when asked if she'd run in 2012. Though I think she said she'd "plow through" it, not walk through it...

This video is pretty depressing from where I sit, but hopefully it's just a tiny weird minority who find it appealing. I do get scared sometimes, though.
posted by mdn at 5:46 PM on January 17, 2011

Shorter these people: "The President is a Demy-craaat!"
posted by Atom Eyes at 5:51 PM on January 17, 2011

This is beyond snark.
posted by ColdChef at 6:23 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

thanks again, john mccain. this is your fault.
posted by RockyChrysler at 6:33 PM on January 17, 2011 [10 favorites]

"These folks must have kept the whole trailer park awake practicing this one."

That was the best YouTube comment. . .
posted by Danf at 6:38 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

So, for the reeducation camps, should we just fence off North Dakota or what?

No thank you. We'd prefer it if the southern folks stayed in the south. Besides they'd never last the winter.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 6:42 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

The sad fact is these people have been duped by an opportunist who, after having been elected to a Governorship, abandoned that responsibility to enrich herself.

Using heated political rhetoric to confuse and swindle the benighted among us she reaps reward while these folks write paeans to her and probably contribute to her wealth in some kind of misguided belief that she actually gives a damn.
posted by Max Power at 6:48 PM on January 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

I thought the open door reference was a sly liberal dig at W who has form. Still doesn't qualify her for anything though. I'm looking at you John McCain, blame lays squarely at your door.


Can I just say that the inline video player is fantastic. I can't play video links without VPN thanks to the bamboo firewall, but the inline links work! Thank you mods!
posted by arcticseal at 6:53 PM on January 17, 2011

I can't believe this is for real. I know it is, but...I still can't believe it.
posted by wv kay in ga at 7:02 PM on January 17, 2011

It's just like those miserable psalms, always so depressing. Now knock it off!
posted by squalor at 7:13 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

We'd prefer it if the southern folks stayed in the south. Besides they'd never last the winter.

It's not a bug, it's a feature!
posted by jammer at 7:22 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Is there really much more of a point to this than SARAH-EVER-LOVIN' RED-STATE YOKELS HURF DURF?

If there is one thing the USA is in need of, it is more mockery of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, et al. No one should be taking those people seriously. They do not have serious information, ideas, or opinions.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:30 PM on January 17, 2011 [14 favorites]

I have a strange feeling these two folks are on some for of government assistance, be it Social Security or Medicare.

So it must suck that they have to spend all that postage money on returning their government checks to sender every month. No way these two patriots could possibly be leeches on the system!
posted by bardic at 7:47 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

The flavor of coarseness, possibly of irreverence lead me to feel uncomfortable with the lyrics.
posted by unliteral at 8:04 PM on January 17, 2011

Meanwhile, Sarah Palin defends her use of the phrase 'blood libel."
posted by crunchland at 8:05 PM on January 17, 2011

Said Palin: "It isn't about me personally, but it is about the message. I know that a lot on the left hate my message, and they will do all that they can to stop me because they don't like the message. They'll do what they can to destroy the message and the messenger."

Said added: "I am not ready to make an announcement about what my political future is going to be. But I will tell you ... I am not going to sit down. I am not going to shut up." -- Political Wire
posted by crunchland at 8:09 PM on January 17, 2011

The new Billy Bragg. I have seen it. I can't un-see it.

Nice voice. I read the lyrics here. I worry that in a hundred years, Mrs. Palin will be this century's Andrew Jackson. The problem is: She's just acting. She's no Old Hickory.

I think the system has failed Gary McVey and Tom Dempsey. Instead of a tough populist, they have to get in line behind someone who is so very not made of that stern stuff. Mrs. Palin still thinks she can triangulate enough to get support beyond a subset of disillusioned politically adrift. She won't be fighting any duels, or even brook any challenging press conferences.
posted by graftole at 8:18 PM on January 17, 2011

The US Right are non compos mentis now. It's like watching Nixon's
Silent Majority finally discovering LSD.

posted by The Whelk at 8:31 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

That definitely isn't North Dakota - that's at least a thousand miles SE.
posted by Ber at 8:40 PM on January 17, 2011

This is beyond snark.

Agreed. This is like Patton Oswalt's alternate reality, where we live in a perpetual Dukes of Hazard episode.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:20 PM on January 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

Horace Rumpole: ""When she gets to Washington, it'll be cold as hell."

Because it will have frozen over"

OK, seriously, what *did* they mean? I don't get it. It quite obviously ties to hell freezing over. Nothing else comes close to making sense.

Did they mean 'cold as hell' ironically, like she'd be bringing righteous fires down upon those greedy pols? Or because Alaska is cold and that's where she is from?
posted by graventy at 10:17 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

The latter, I think. Like Kevin Street says. Palin's a mystical figure of the frozen North.


Also… can we maybe cut it out with the extermination-camp jokes? I know you're just riffing on the Right's persecution fantasy, but joking about shipping your political enemies off en masse to death camps is kind of over the line for me.
posted by hattifattener at 10:38 PM on January 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Mock all you want, but these folks vote. Probably more often than most of you.
posted by Rhaomi at 10:42 PM on January 17, 2011

Yeah, I agree with Kevin Street's interpretation. They start off singing about how she's "a cold blast from the North," so my guess is that the songwriter is trying to establish some image of her as a cleansing frosty wind of truth... maybe in opposition to the "hot air"?

"When she gets to Washington, it'll be cold as Hell" certainly evokes hell freezing over for anyone familiar with the phrase, but the words aren't arranged properly; as written, it either means Washington will be very cold, or very warm (depending on whether the word "Hell" is meant colloquially as an intensifier or literally as a point of reference).

Either way, it's clumsy songwriting.

BEAN LEVELS... INCREASING... PLATE NOW OPERATING AT 113% NOMINAL CAPACITY...
posted by Rat Spatula at 10:48 PM on January 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

OK, seriously, what *did* they mean? I don't get it. It quite obviously ties to hell freezing over. Nothing else comes close to making sense.

Could just be some mystical Alaska ice queen thing like everyone's suggesting, but one other vague notion I had was maybe they meant "cold" as in stone cold killer. Or like Val Kilmer as Iceman in Top Gun - that's the way she conquers Washington, ice cold, no mistakes.

I don't have a strong sense one way or the other, but I do know that when it comes to Sarah Palin and the deranged blood libel mama grizzly hockey mom pitbull maverick stream of metaphorical consciousness that swirls around her, pretty near anything's possible.
posted by gompa at 10:50 PM on January 17, 2011

If she's an avatar, I'd rather be a smurf. I knew we gave James Cameron too much budget.
posted by arcticseal at 11:09 PM on January 17, 2011

January 20th is likely to be pretty cold in Washington any given year, maybe especially so in 2013...? Somebody check the Farmer's Almanac....
And what an odd sensation to look at the OP video and Rosetta Tharpe (thanks, The Card Cheat) one after the other. Why am I crying?
posted by zoinks at 11:09 PM on January 17, 2011

"These folks must have kept the whole trailer park awake practicing this one."

That was the best YouTube comment. . .
posted by Danf

I know. Classism always brings about great debate, amirite?
posted by justgary at 11:17 PM on January 17, 2011

I thought "cold as hell" meant that since the inauguration of a new president takes place in January, it generally is cold as hell in Washington. Although, sadly, the lyrics are contradictory. Putting them "in jail," and hunting "skunks" . . . makes one wonder if Sarah's supporters are telegraphing a plan to violently overthrow the government, not duly elect her.

But, that would be as crazy as worrying that publicizing a map with crosshairs over your congressional district might have dangerous consequences.
posted by Euphorbia at 11:29 PM on January 17, 2011

>Mock all you want, but these folks vote.

Or they will work the election and can be provided usb keys to slip into the Diebold computers or claim early alzheimer's on boxes of paper ballots... Who'd suspect a sweet old couple like that, right? Why their so old they must have fought in WWII or something... what a couple of patriots!
posted by Catblack at 1:15 AM on January 18, 2011

> It's been a long day, and this isn't worth snarking on. Here's some good gospel music instead:

Up Above My Head - Sister Rosetta Tharpe yt
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:39 PM

Sitting through the excruciating agony that was the first 15 seconds of this Sarah Palin idiocy was absolutely worth it because of this link. Thank you, Card Cheat.

I am a big, fat atheist and a militant, outspoken one when necessary (and only when necessary, because I try not to be a hypocritical dick about such things), but there are few things I enjoy more than great gospel. This is some of the best I've ever heard or seen.

Seriously, thank you. This made my day. And to think that I'd have never discovered it if it hadn't been for Sarah Palin!

On second thought, maybe I should resent you for giving me something to be grateful to her for.
posted by perilous at 1:17 AM on January 18, 2011

There is a tile shop near my house called TILES EXPO. There is a major annual sex convention in Perth called SEXPO.

Cop that, Amerikkka.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 1:37 AM on January 18, 2011

Oh yes indeed, Sister Rosetta turns it out. Like nobody's business. And what a delight that others have followed Card Cheat's lead and posted links to good gospel. Unless I missed it, though, no one has linked to any Aretha, so it's definitely time to remedy that... Precious Lord, Take My Hand.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:19 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

It sounds like the original voices were dubbed over but not fully erased. You can hear the actual old guy's voice under than nicer one, and then at the end when he dedicates the song.
posted by cman at 4:19 AM on January 18, 2011

We have only ourselves to blame. Merle Haggard wouldn't be reduced to this if we bought his albums instead of pirating them.

This is, of course, a joke (and a funny one!), but just in the wee little tiny chance that anyone out there (perhaps some of you without much knowledge of country music) are thinking that the recording really is is by Merle Haggard... it's not.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:22 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Palin's a mystical figure of the frozen North.

She's a Yeti?
posted by New England Cultist at 4:43 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

I worry that in a hundred years, Mrs. Palin will be this century's Andrew Jackson

That was my thought as well, although the figure that popped into my head was Davy Crockett. The real Sarah Palin has little resemblance to the myth-- the Palin that these people worship is smarter, tougher, more powerful, and more dedicated. If it wasn't Sarah P. it would be a sports figure or a religious leader-- some folk just need heros to make life seem bigger, brighter, and more sensible.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:07 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

More to the point they are not young people, and this is the place that decades of life have brought them to. It seems like a waste of years and talent

No, these are the young people of the sixties and seventies who thought then that we hippies were unnatural creatures. They were fossilized then and are fossilized now.

I didn't realize that there were so many of them.
posted by francesca too at 5:33 AM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

some folk just need heros to make life seem bigger, brighter, and more sensible.

Or in this case, smaller, darker and more insane.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:43 AM on January 18, 2011

The Card Cheat is right. This isn't worth watching or commenting on.

It's worth it for the part near the end where the podium guy hangs his head when something goes wrong with the sound, as if to say: "No you fucking idiots, you're ruining everything!"
posted by odinsdream at 6:17 AM on January 18, 2011

i think it is really telling of these people's psyches how the video itself is a fake: that's not the guy's real voice but the voice he wishes to have. just like Sarah Palin.
posted by liza at 6:33 AM on January 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

It would be very interesting to find more information on the original recording. I'd wager there is a mini-industry cranking these things out. Collect the entire set!

Neil Postman said in "Amusing Ourselves to Death" that the major theological criticism of televangelism was that it was a form of idolatry that set up false gods.

The Janet Greene repository over at CONELRAD is an evil trip down memory lane. Fred Schwartz was the real deal back then: Christian Constitutionalist Anti-communism. Note her song "Fascist Threat" merges fascism into communism (since they are varieties of socialism.)

I'll have to remember to show this little ode to Palin to my friends who say things like "The teaparty can't really be sincere? Can they?" As if something outside of their frame of reference could only be inauthentic.
posted by warbaby at 6:52 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

I don't suppose there's any chance these people will finally see Palin as the moneygrubbing quitter she is, instead of the noble warrior they want her to be? No? Ok then. How sad.
posted by harriet vane at 6:52 AM on January 18, 2011

Does anyone have a clue what the weird gesticulating towards the end is supposed to be all about?
posted by crunchland at 7:05 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

thank you, EarBucket, for this post. I need my Palin mockery on. I am not joking. The humor that arises from her existence is the only beneficial part of her existence. Much like the Daily Show during the 2004 election salvaged some pretty fucking funny stuff out of the results.
posted by angrycat at 7:07 AM on January 18, 2011

AElfwine Evenstar: "So, for the reeducation camps, should we just fence off North Dakota or what?

No thank you. We'd prefer it if the southern folks stayed in the south. Besides they'd never last the winter."

Sounds like a feature, not a bug....
posted by JMOZ at 7:21 AM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

If we're headed towards a Palin-über-alles-style regime, I wish the music, entertainment and fashion were better. At least the Nazis had Hugo Boss, the Olympics and Wagner. We get American Idol, NASCAR and popped collars. Fucking hell.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:25 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Palin will never hold elected office again.
posted by Burhanistan at 7:27 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Frankly, why would she want to? She's making millions being a provocateur for Fox.
posted by crunchland at 7:33 AM on January 18, 2011

Does anyone have a clue what the weird gesticulating towards the end is supposed to be all about?

They're singing along to a karaoke CD or something. Something unplanned happened during the part that's a musical solo in the video. It likely wasn't supposed to be a musical solo.
posted by odinsdream at 7:34 AM on January 18, 2011

Exactly, she has about three years left on her gravy train, then she'll really have to hustle for speaking gigs and the occasional guest spot. After the 2012 election, she'll probably have alienated everyone except for her crazy base, which will continue to crank out odes such as this one.
posted by Burhanistan at 7:35 AM on January 18, 2011

Well, like Cheney (the Undead), who still gurgles to the surface every now and then, I don't think Sarah is going to be going away for a good long time, Fox contract or not. The good news is that she not only energizes her own base, but she also energizes the other 90% of the population for opposite reasons.
posted by crunchland at 7:45 AM on January 18, 2011

Palin will never hold elected office again.
Exactly, she has about three years left on her gravy train, then she'll really have to hustle for speaking gigs and the occasional guest spot. After the 2012 election, she'll probably have alienated everyone except for her crazy base, which will continue to crank out odes such as this one.

You think it's that simple? I'm wondering if they're going to have all the crazies rally around her, and if she doesn't run for office herself (pres/vice pres), she will continue to rally the crazies off to the side during the 2012 election, whip them into a fury shortly before election day, and then make all manner of "the world is going to end hint hint nudge nudge unless you kill the other side or vote for THIS person - now!!!"

And then that person who gets elected will immediately put her in a position of authority somewhere.

I really don't know why people think she's just going to flounder and disappear. I'd love for it to happen, but from what I can tell, there is some planning and preparation going on, and the next elections are going to be flat out nasty.

The video isn't funny, it's scary. With a mix of words, imagery and plausible deniability, Palin will send these folks off to do underhanded, violent and deadly things. Don't sleep.
posted by cashman at 9:14 AM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

They laughed at Hitler, said he'd never amount to anything.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:06 AM on January 18, 2011

Why Sarah Palin Is a Goddess
posted by homunculus at 10:16 AM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

With supporters like these, LaRouche better watch his back, Sarah is angling in on his turf.
posted by [citation needed] at 10:17 AM on January 18, 2011

Gingrich: Palin Has To ‘Be More Careful’ And ‘Think Through What She’s Saying’.
posted by ericb at 12:18 PM on January 18, 2011

Conservative David Frum: “She Should Stop Talking Now.”

Conservative Joe Scarborough: Palin’s “political career is over” ... “She is now putting herself in the league with Mark Levin and talk radio hosts. … And I think that about says it all.”
posted by ericb at 12:23 PM on January 18, 2011

Gingrich: Palin Has To ‘Be More Careful’ And ‘Think Through What She’s Saying’.

Wait ...what universe am I in again? This is the one with few bees or far too many bees?
posted by The Whelk at 12:43 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

No ... this is the universe where, according to wingnut Cindy Jacobs, all of the recent mass bird deaths are being caused by the repeal of 'DADT.' *
posted by ericb at 12:52 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh I hate this one, I'm going to the Ur-Cupcake world for a lie down.
posted by The Whelk at 12:55 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

wingnut Cindy Jacobs

You know, if you are going to say crazy things and want them to be taken seriously, you should probably not dress up like Eddie Izzard.
posted by ob at 1:42 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

You know, if you are going to say crazy things and want them to be taken seriously, you should probably not dress up like Eddie Izzard.

Unless you are, in fact, Eddie Izzard.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 3:16 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Since I wasn't able to watch more than 5 seconds of the video, I wandered and came across :
http://jewsforsarah.com/
I am amused by the Why We Support Her section. Clicking on the Fiscal Responsibility link results in :
Coming soon.
Same with the Family Values link. The supporters of Sarah can't quite follow what is going on and so, I assume, create the image that makes them feel good. Of course my images do track reality.
posted by llc at 4:54 PM on January 18, 2011

Unless you are, in fact, Eddie Izzard.

Yeah, he has a free pass.
posted by ob at 4:58 PM on January 18, 2011

flapjax at midnite - SLoG said "seem bigger, brighter, and more sensible"

crunchland - he's gesturing to the sound guy.
posted by russm at 5:26 PM on January 18, 2011

And then that person who gets elected will immediately put her in a position of authority somewhere.

Would she take it? It'd mean doing actual work, instead of just whipping crowds into a frenzy with media appearances and tweeting and so on.
posted by harriet vane at 11:52 PM on January 18, 2011

Sorry, I meant to add: I think she's more interested in the *offer* of a prestigious job, which she can then gracefully decline in favour of "serving her country" some other way that doesn't involve too much thinking or planning.
posted by harriet vane at 11:54 PM on January 18, 2011

Enter, the Disco Remix
posted by timsteil at 6:10 AM on January 19, 2011

This is absolutely terrifying.

They are in a church, it seems.

And what's that little twitch he has at the end before dedicating the song to "the TEA Party and all the patriots"?
posted by MHPlost at 10:32 PM on January 19, 2011

"THE BALLAD OF SARAH PALIN by LADY BUNNY"
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:52 PM on January 26, 2011