Doesn’t Anyone Remember Tom Lehrer?

Special to FreeRepublic ^ | January 13, 2004 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

[Gritty]

When Jesse James robbed a bank at gunpoint, was he making an “undocumented withdrawal”?

Nope.

But, in those days, we hanged criminals or threw them in the gaol. In fact, in my town they used to have a "hangin' day". The people merrily gathered for the festivities, spread their blankets, broke out the fried chicken and watched the sheriff give the criminals a short ride on a shorter rope.

Nowadays, we hand out the blankets and fried chicken to the criminals while the politicians pick the pockets of the taxpayer to fund more blankets and fried chicken for the criminals.

It seems it is about time to bring back "hangin' day".

I vote we start with the politicians (you excepted, of course, Congressman) and then move on to cleaning out all the illegals in town (we can find them easy enough) and ship them back where they came from. They get one get-out-of-jail-free card, and then they get to join the politicians as the entertainment if they decide to show up again, uninvited.

This is a serious problem. We need to address it in a serious way or we are in even more serious trouble!

[cardinal4]

"We'll try to stay serene and calm...when Alabama gets the bomb!"

[bootless]

That's Vaughn Meader. I *love* the First Family LP! Whoever did Jackie was right on.

[Darnright]

I wanna go back to Dixie,
Take me back to dear ol' Dixie,
That's the only li'l ol' place for li'l ol' me.
Old times there are not forgotten,
Whuppin' slaves and sellin' cotton,
And waitin' for the Robert E. Lee.
(It was never there on time.)

I'll go back to the Swanee,
Where pellagra makes you scrawny,
And the honeysuckle clutters up the vine.1
I really am a-fixin'
To go home and start a-mixin'
Down below that Mason-Dixon line.

Oh, poll tax2,
How I love ya, how I love ya,
My dear ol' poll tax.

Won'tcha come with me to Alabammy,
Back to the arms of my dear ol' Mammy,
Her cookin's lousy and her hands are clammy,
But what the hell, it's home.

Yes, for paradise the Southland is my nominee.
Jes' give me a ham hock and a grit of hominy.

I wanna go back to Dixie,
I wanna be a Dixie pixie
And eat corn pone3 till it's comin' outta my ears.4
I wanna talk with Southern gentlemen
And put that white sheet on again,5
I ain't seen one good lynchin' in years.

The land of the boll weevil,
Where the laws are medieval,
Is callin' me to come and nevermore roam.
I wanna go back to the Southland,
That "y'all" and "shet-ma-mouth" land,
Be it ever so decadent,
There's no place like home.

[TheMole]

We are the Folk Song Army
Every one of us cares
About poverty, war, and injustice
Unlike the rest of you squares.

One of my favorite Lehrer stanzas. As good today as it was in 1964.

[SAMWolf]

As good today as it was in 1964

Yep. Not much changed has it?

Remember the war against Franco?
That's the kind where each of us belongs.
Though he may have won all the battles,
We had all the good songs.

[Tall_Texan]

Vaughn Meador was supposedly on a plane to Las Vegas on the day JFK was gunned down. As popular as his act was, Meador was a one-trick pony and his entertainment career died in Dallas just as surely as Kennedy's had.

Meador was greeted by someone as he got off the plane. The person asked: "Do you know Kennedy's been shot?"

Thinking it was a joke, Meador used his Kennedy voice to reply "No, but if you'll hum a few bars, I'll try to fake it." Suddenly, nobody wanted to hear anyone cracking jokes with a Hyannisport accent.

Meador's life went all over the map after that from street person to minister until he died a few years ago.

[Lancey Howard]

Thanks for the interesting post.
I had wondered whatever became of Meader.

I have, over the past two years, seen an old Dick Van Dyke episode on TVLand where Dick and the other cast members are entertained by some comedian they know who does Kennedy (and other) imitations for them, cracking jokes. It was filmed in 1963 and it is eerie to watch.

[fnord]

      f       n       o       r       d      

[fnord]

I like his intro to "Folk Song Army", from his album:

"One type of song that is coming to increasing prominence in recent months is the folk song of protest. You have to admire people who sing these songs -- it takes a certain amount of courage to get up in a coffeehouse or a college auditorium and come out in favor of the things that everybody else in the audience is AGAINST -- like peace, justice, and brotherhood, and so on.

But, the nicest thing about a protest song is that it makes you feel so good. I have a song here which, I realize, should be accompanied on a folk instrument (in which category, the piano does not, alas, qualify) -- so, imagine if you will that I am playing an 88-string guitar. "

[MineralMan]

""During the bracero program, women were not permitted in the camps."

Kids under 21 aren't allowed permitted to drink; under 18 not permitted to smoke. Marijuana is illegal, too"

What I meant was that women were not part of the bracero program, just young men.

Later in your post, you are correct. Lots of us have ancestors who entered this country illegally, I'm quite certain.