"Atomic Dog"
Yeah, this is a story of a famous dog
For the dog that chases its tail will be dizzy
These are clapping dogs, rhythmic dogs
Harmonic dogs, house dogs, street dogs
Dog of the world unite
Dancin' dogs
Yeah
Countin' dogs, funky dogs…
Nasty dogs (Dog)
Why must I feel like that
Why must I chase the cat
Nothin' but the dog in me
Who would have thought that George Clinton and the Funkadelics’ “Atomic Dog” (AD) would have so masterfully foreshadowed the Pavlovian response of republicans to all things President Obama, and to all things from the Democratic Party? But such is the case. It doesn’t matter if they are the “countin’ dogs” who now decry the bailout as fiscally irresponsible. It doesn’t matter if they are “clapping dogs” who now genuflect to Reagan era references. And it doesn’t matter if they are “nasty dogs” who appear daily on news shows to serve-up leftovers as if they have been freshly baked. They are all “atomic dogs” who are unable to handle their instinctual responses to change: “Why must I feel like that/ Why must I chase the cat / Nothin but the dog in me.”
Watching the always tanned John Boehner (Ohio’s 8th District Congressman and the minority leader in the House) on camera, perspiration sprouting from his upper lip as he pontificates opposition to the stimulus plan, changing the health care system, stem sell research—all things President Obama, all things democrat—I saw a man who can’t help himself. Watch his eyes as he talks: they are simultaneously vacant and searching. He is speaking from a place of instinct. He has to fight—his conditioning tells him that unhinged negativity is the hallmark of responsibility.
Like the boys / When they're out there walkin' the streets/ May compete / Nothin' but the dog in ya / Ruff / Ruff / Ruff: Yet a strain of rationality randomly bubbles up from some reservoir of possibility to disturb Boehner’s instinct. This is tough, but Boehner does not stand alone: symbolically assembled on a dais from which any republican speaks are a host of zombies, less gory than their role models in “Night of the Living Dead,” but no less limited. The “Night of the Living Dead” zombies seek to devour the flesh of the living so that they, the dead, may continue their zombie lives. The republican zombies consume possibility, devour the future in order to try again to build foundations on shifting sand.
House-trained dogs / Wild dogs: Michael Steele and Big Rush Limbaugh both know that regardless of the PR spin attached to it, death is not an alternative to life. Still they try to associate death (as in zombie ideas and actions) with life through gestures, verbiage, and theatrics derived from hip-hop culture. Big Rush fist-bumping at the CPAC; he also threw some weird salute coupled with a peace sign (Crips or Bloods?), and, of course, there was Big Rush doing his best imitation of Kriss-Kross who “make you jump, jump.” You’ll remember “Kriss-Kross” as the teenage duo who famously wore their pants backwards (more “moonwalking”) as they implored their audience to “Jump! Jump!” And I’ve blogged previously about Steele’s “off the hook” plans for the Republican Party.
Do the dogcatcher, dogcatcher / Do the dogcatcher / Do you wanna do the dogcatcher / Well, baby, why don't you do it again for me: The Republican Party is giving canines and canine lovers a bad name. It is time for them to be rounded up and sent to an obedience school so that they may learn to engage in civil and constructive conversation intended to move America forward.
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