Sarah Palin and the Idaho bear

Our colleagues at Across the Pond have been doing a roundup of their favourite election songs.

Here's another contender for best-worst song thus far. After all, kudos has to be given to anyone who can get 'left wing liberal media' to scan. Which is precisely what Hank Williams Jr. does in The McCain-Palin tradition.

But my favourite lyrics? These lines about Palin:

Like a mama bear in Idaho / She'll protect your family's condition / If you mess with her cubs / She's gonna take off the gloves / It's an American female tradition

Who knew bears in Idaho were so fond of their gloves?

(Hat Tip: Marc Ambinder)

Comments

[JOHN CHUCKMAN, TORONTO]

The idiotic words to this are the perfect tribute to Sarah.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NtgXlrcvXZA/SPSejZN364I/AAAAAAAAQsc/joOGFDF2XT4/s1600-h/CHUCKMAN+-+PALIN+-+TOILET+-+BACK+TO+WHERE+SHE+CAME+FROM.jpg

[sfcmac]

Hey Chuck,

Al Yankovic changed some lyric to come up with a perfect classic:
"Don't wanna be a Canadian idiot"

Don't wanna be a Canadian idiot
Don't wanna be some beer swillin' hockey nut
And do I look like some frostbitten hose-head?
I never learned my alphabet from A to Zed

They all live on donuts and moose meat
And they leave the house without packin' heat
Never even bring their guns to the mall
And you know what else is too funny?
Their stupid Monopoly money
Can't take 'em seriously at all

Well maple syrup and snow's what they export
They treat curling just like it's a real sport
They think their silly accent is so cute
Can't understand a thing they're talkin' aboot

Sure they got their national health care
Cheaper meds, low crime rates and clean air
Then again well they got Celine Dion
Eat their weight in Kraft macaroni
And dream of drivin' a Zamboni
All over Saskatchewan

Don't wanna be a Canadian idiot
Won't figure out their temperature in Celsius
See the map, they're hoverin' right over us
Tell you the truth, it makes me kinda nervous

Always hear the same kind of story
Break their nose and they'll just say "soory"
Tell me what kind of freaks are that polite?
It's gotta mean they're all up to somethin'
So quick, before they see it comin'
Time for a pre-emptive strike!

[Andrew]

Who knew Idaho bears were ignorant, racist, demegogue, religious nutbags?

[patrick]

John C: Classy.

[Dean]

Err, uh, I' been in places w' bears b'fore. They told us t' scare 'em off by bangin' our pots loudly.

No joke. That's the best way to deal with bears trying to take your food.

[Leila]

This made me ill.

[Leigh Vernier]

Americans have the right to bear arms.

It now seems they have the right to arm bears.

[Bill Peter]

To answer the question that brought me here. What do they have in common? Their IQ?

[Cllr Ken Tiwari (ndependent)]

Sarah palin have no idea of politics
she is a lucky person, to be where she is, as a governor for that cold&
horrble part of our State?

It's time Ms Plin went to visit her
costituecy for change to know how the other half lives?

[Scott Benowitz]

To date this year, Senator Obama has been endorsed by Pink Floyd/ Roger Waters, The Grateful Dead, by Pearl Jam and by Bob Dylan- Those musician endorsements would look equally as foreign and as alien to the audience which is shown in this You Tube video which Daniel Finklestein has linked to in this article as this looks to the audiences who saw any of those musicians endorse the candidates for the Democrats-

[Canuck Bob]

Ye gods and little fishes. Please let's tear up our alliance with these meatheaded freaks. 'Only in America' would such an idiot like Palin get so close to being head of state. Just like bears, worms and woodlice Palin is so stupid that she doesn't realise she's stupid.

[changeisgood]

Hank Hank, Hank,
What would your daddy think?
Not much of your performance, that's for sure. But what about your common sense?
And what is up with those signs?
Sarah we can trust? We can, can we? I'm crawling back under my bed till 1-20-2009, the end of an error.

[New Hampshire Gene]

"Ye gods and little fishes. Please let's tear up our alliance with these meatheaded freaks"

I agree conpletely, go it alone and rely on your five ship Navy and Boy Scout Army. I'm sure that the major industrial power of Canada doesn't need the US to prosper.

When I think of the billions spent to protect the rest of the world from agression I get sick. You make isolationism very attractive and that taking care of the home front should be priority one. History has shown how well that Europeans have protected freedoms in the past and I for one don't want to see one more American give his life for other countries.

We don't expect other countries to bow down to the US for it's past help but then again we don't deserve all the crap that we've been getting lately. Why is it that so many people in other countries have so much to say about OUR elections? We don't stick our nose in their internal affairs. The average European has very little knowledge about affairs in the US other than what it reads in the Herald Tribune International which is left wing and bashes Americanisn as much as it can.

As one who has visited Europe many times in the past and love the history and traditions there, I think that it's time to spend my money in my own country and See America First. I'm sure that the Europeans will be only too happy not to have to put up with Americans anymore. We have enough left wing nuts here in the US without finding more outside the country. You take care of your own countries and we'll take care of the USA. Deal?

[melkquelk]

This video is weird: all people shown in there wear dark sunglasses. Looks like the blindspeople convention or so. Or that they're scared to look straight at one. Totally weird.

[Jeff]

Why does this not surprise me. A man with no talent, no skill, living on his daddy's name. Does this sound like someone else we know?

[aubrey leahy]

Hank's daddy must be turning in his mausoleum........

Failin' Palin.

[Joel Summerhayes]

I trust this is some form of weird US sense of humour and not representative of general US sentiment - the song and the Yankovic lyrics.

What's so awful about being Canadian? Or, put the other way, what's so great about being American?

[John]

> When I think of the billions spent to protect the rest of the world from agression I get sick. You make isolationism very attractive and that taking care of the home front should be priority one.

Yes, please, please! Stop protecting the world, mind your own business instead! Nobody wants you to 'help them', except a handful of puppets you've installed over the years.

[Dan - The Hamptons, UK.]

New Hampshire Gene: First off, you don't speak for the entire US. Less "We" please, unless you mean "we on the right". Furthermore, the average European is a heck of a lot more knowledgeable about affairs in the US than the other way around and far more likely to get their news from more than one source. The billions you refer to were spent to protect American interests and have very little to do with altruism. You speak of Europe as if it's one country. Heads up, sherlock. It's not.

You want to talk about protecting freedoms? Britain got involved in WWII straight away to try and protect the freedom of other countries that were being invaded. The US stayed out of it, watching Europe burn for a couple of years while making money trading with the Nazis. It took Pearl Harbour to get you involved, and even then it was Germany that declared war on the US first, not the other way around. While I'm thankful that US involvement shortened the war and grateful for those who gave their lives, it does not give you a monopoly on war dead or a free pass on anything.

As to your comment about America not sticking it's nose into the affairs of other countries, you must be joking. (And it's something of a sick joke at that). As to tourism, you think Europeans don't bring lots of revenue into the US as well? Something tells me you would not have vented if you were getting pro-Republican comments, hmmm?. By all means, see America. It's a great country in many ways. Perhaps you should be looking to take care of it by helping to unite it, not divide it further. Maybe if more left-wing nuts and right-wing whackjobs spoke to each other, you might meet in the middle and realise how much you're both getting shafted by the ultra-rich on either side whose time at the public trough so depends on putting you firmly in one camp or the other.

[Caroline Kennedy]

Insulting to the bear.

[Scott Benowitz]

Many of you Europeans probably think that all Americans sound alike, but believe it or not we also have some very distinct regional accents here too- The ability to make the word "think" rhyme with "Hank" is only possible in certain rural regions in the southern and also the western states- I do not like to play into stereotypes about how peoples' personal values, their perception of the world around them and hence their views on domestic as well as foreign policy issues can SOMETIMES be indicated by the way they speak, but the fact that Mr. Williams (Jr.) receives applause after he sings his line in which "think" rhymes with "Hank" can potentially say A LOT about this audience, perhaps more than the image of a bear wearing gloves- I wonder if the staff writers for a British newspaper and the readers of a newspaper in Europe will pick up on potentially just how much that can say about the audience shown in this video-

[Mike]

So many warm, compansionate and well thought comments from the party that cares?

So the economy isn't the topic, no policy issues brought up, I thought these were what everyone wanted to talk about however great energy is spent attempting to come up with the best slam against Sarah Palin?

[Aretha Blue State Franklin]

Where are the Anthropologists? When the media say Palin appeals to the Republican base, this video exemplifies what they mean: the basest, most under-educated, bumpkin, firearm obsessed, fried cheese eating, insular, rural white American. They wrap all this stuff up in the American flag, repeatedly chant U-S-A, and call themselves patriots. They are ever fearful, sure that terrorists are about to blow up outhouses in the backwoods they reside in. When discussing Obama, they begin their sentences with 'Um not prejudice or nuttin' but..." They have limited thinking capacities, hence the adoration of Palin, whose convoluted sentences peppered with buzzwords - terrorist, 9/11, patriot, un-American, taxes - and fourth grade command of language they view as intelligent and authoritative. They are overall frightening curiosities. If one were to read this, they would be surprised that English is spoken in England.

[mitch]

Joel - yes, the Canadian jokes are a wierd sense of U.S. humor (more like dark humor). Basically, its satire. Most people in the US really have nothing bad to say about Canada so Americans will sometimes ¨pretend¨to have a problem with them. The best example is seen in South Park The Movie. Its not taken seriously by most people in the US. I have travelled extensively in Western Canada and don´t really see a huge difference between, say Albertans and Oregonians. Of course many Canadians might disagree. The book, ¨America¨by John Stewart has a (contrived)Canadian view point and asks, ¨How do Canadians define being a Canadian? By listing the ways they are not like Americans.¨ :) Just my two cents.

[DJ]

Hank Williams Jr. is a genius. I wish I knew how to bait that many jackasses into giving me their money. Maybe then I could make enough to pretend McCain's tax plan is fair.

[Amasea]

Andrew, everyone in Idaho knows that. That's what makes it the reddest state in the country; even the bears vote Republican here.

[Geraldine Hitherto]

I'm really upset. I so hoped McCain will win but it doesn't look that way. The last thing the world needs is a stronger America only to be taken over by the neo-cons once more, giving them the opportunity to play their silly little new world order war games. With McCain in charge America would be weaker than ever and the worlds many economies would have no choice but to learn how to operate without the Dollars influence. Oil will then be traded in Euros, US military bases dotted around the world will cease to exist and we'd all live happily ever after. Amen.

[Organised Chaos]

@ New Hampshire Gene: 'We don't stick our nose in their internal affairs' - Ahem, 1 word, 'IRAQ'- if that isn't sticking your nose in, what is???

[Geedafotus]

After reading the comments I can't believe there are that many stupid socialists in the world, I actually gave people more credit than they deserve.

[Gwenda - Australia]

New Hampshire Gene
Please,please,please, do what you threaten to do - isolate yourself. We don't need US 'protection', US 'democracy', US 'diplomacy' and least of all US 'capitalism'. Go home and take you ball with you.
Yours faithfully - The Rest of the World.

[Clifric, Hua Hin. Thailand (ex-pat UK)]

New Hamshire Gene - Europe is that country on the other side of the pond. Hey, you travelled there remember? - Except that because we have no border controls you thought it was one. Shame. Even Football Mom knows where Canada and Russia are!
Just think that all the countries that had civil wars that other countries didn't get involved in ended up as relatively peaceful democracies - USA, England, Spain,France........ We British have no claim to be free of guilt - who kicked the Palestinians out of Palestine to make way for the state of Israel? Who leached the wealth of the Commonwealth? Who imposed rule in Ireland? etc etc. So, yes, stay at home and watch the world evolve without you. If self-sufficiency in oil production is the goal of your Presidents in waiting then you will have no cause. And then the fanatics will have no cause to hate you either.
Peace cousin!

[Joel]

Mitch - thanks for the heads up regarding the Yankovic Canadian joke lyrics. I did think it was a little out of place.
A little more knowledge gained. I remember Weird Al from the 80's (oops) and was just a little surprised by his sentiment.
And of course satire is an intrinsic element of British humour too (and we have a tradition of extracting the Michael out of the Irish)
Regards.

[Greg]

ANSWER:

Neither are qualified to be President.

[Lever]

@geedafotus

If you're talking about the collection of staunch individualists who by default end up being a bunch of nationalist socialists without even realising it, then I agree with you.

Otherwise, if you're jabbing at the intelligent moderates who, by the perceived polarity of the extreme end of the American populace, are always going to be on "the left" then no. No cookie. No cigar. No certificate. No change there then...

[juls]

Canadians are nothing like Americans Mitch!

Have you ever seen anywhere in the US as racially and religiously merged as Toronto or Vancouver ? Most immigrants are proud to be Canadian, even the British - never met an immigrant in the US who would feel comfortable calling themselves American.

(Lived in Canada, got a Canadian family, just came back to the UK a year ago - also went to high school in the US - good base for comparison)