Epic Banality

I was trying to figure out how to open this entry and I thought, “Eh, just skip trying. Let’s just dive into the meat.” So, for your viewing displeasure, I submit to you the following music video by Dennis Madalone:

The self-proclaimed “most downloaded Music Video on the internet.”

I’m sure, if you wasted the 5 minutes necessary to ingest this monstrosity, you’re thinking something similar to what I though: “What the hell?” This was followed by, “I should kill Boas for sending me this, but… misery loves company.” I would have done the same, as I’m doing right now by sharing this with you, so I guess I can’t actually strangle him.

(For the record, if I know you and you found yourself inspired in any way aside from thinking, “Well, see, this video proves retards can follow their dreams,” or something similar, I don’t think that we can be friends anymore.)

Before I jump into my rant about modern American patriotism I want to point something out concerning what being “most downloaded” means. There is this phenomenon known as an Internet meme. Those of us who have been junkies of the world wide web for a while are painfully aware of what these are. We know that these memes are never a good thing. I mean, they’re often weird and hilarious, but they’re never anything that the creator should announce in public, “Yeah, that was me.” Is it really a honor to be in the same category as the Hamster Dance or Rickrolling?

The Internet was simply not designed for items of substance to get wide coverage. It was designed for things like All Your Base Are Belong To Us. So, even if Mr. Madalone’s claim is true, is this even a good thing? No. Not even a little bit.

With all of that said, let’s move on the actual reason I started writing.

America is a fascist state. There, I said it. I realize that since the end of World War II, those of us on the winning side deluded ourselves into believing the following:

1. We defeated fascism.
2. We’re not fascists.
3. Fascism is obvious.

None of these statements are true. It’s hard for many to grasp but, yes Virginia, there really is fascism after Hitler. America is testament to that. All one must do to see it is drive around and see the endless waves of “God Bless America” and “The Power of Pride” bumper stickers along with the myriad yellow ribbons that say, “Support Our Troops.” Or worse, the fact that the term “hero” has become entirely synonymous with four different groups in the US: soldiers, police officers, fire fighters and athletes. Actual heroes—like voices of descent and reason—are merely vilified as cowards and unpatriotic.

One could say the following is an appropriate mantra for America these days: “Heroes do their duty! They don’t ask questions!”

Since 9/11, Americans have largely become gluttons for nationalist behavior. I’d also say we’ve become warmongers, but you can’t become something you already are. Videos like this typify one the biggest problems with America, the idea among many that America itself is synonymous with the virtues most us actually believe are good and proper. Despite what Superman may tell you, truth, justice and the American way don’t really go together at all. Blindly equating good ideas and the country as an entity creates a serious dilemma.

“America is a free country.” It’s just accepted in the minds and homes of people in every city and every state in the USA. No matter what our government does, we’re a free country and thus any action taken by our government is a reflection of a what a free country is and should be. This, of course, isn’t true and people possessing a modicum of reason know this. Unfortunately, people possessing reason do not make up more than a small minority of the voting population.

This delusion is further compounded by the following “thinking”: “When they start carrying people away to concentration camps, then you can tell me we’re fascists and we’re not free.” Lemme tell you what folks, if you’re waiting for A photo copy of Nazi Germany before you decide you’ve had enough and it’s time to do something, it’s too late. Either that, or you’re not paying attention. Where’s the line where we become the Nazis? Is when the government has secret police? Is it when the government starts spying on regular citizens in the name of hunting down foreign boogymen? Is when our rights are suspended or outright traded for the government’s promise of protection? Hasn’t all of this happened? Exactly what aspect of the Nazi state has to happen before people realize, “Oh no, we’re them!”?

Do you think the average German citizen at the time of World War II hated Hitler or that they were opposed to the policies? They were a country whipped up into a nationalistic frenzy, just like most fascist and imperial states. They could do no wrong, their soldiers were worshipped in propaganda and abused in reality and they were the good guys who were simply protecting and expanding their way of life. I seem to forget if I’m talking about Germany 1942 or America 2008 all of a sudden.

The religious veneration of troops and fire fighters in this video is downright disturbing, as is Mr. Madalone’s hair and lyrical skills. It’s filled with the personal and national narcissism that blights this country at every turn. This is the first song that’s come close (not quite, but close) to displacing my supreme hatred for Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA. I don’t think there will ever be a song written that instills me with more contempt, but America We Stand As One comes pretty close.

Here’s a quote from the video:

America We Stand As One, is a dedication to our brave heros [sic] and all our Loved-Ones who have passed away. This new American Rock-Anthem fills you full of hope and comforts you with a spiritual message from our Loved-Ones, that they’re still with us, but in a different way. Have faith and believe and they will always be with us.

This is very American in the sense that Madalone is telling me how I feel as if there is no option for feeling anything else but his particular vision of what the song should do. The song does not comfort me. I don’t find that it’s full of hope. In fact, I feel ill watching it but, like a train wreck, I have to share it with others.

At least the Nazis got really cool uniforms. I mean, they’ve become the poster children for the tyrannical regime. There are few, regardless of how they feel about Hitler and Nazi Germany in general, that can argue that these guys didn’t have a sense of style in their oppression. The uniforms were cool and the symbols inspired dread. What do we get here in America? George W. Bush, Lee Greenwood and Dennis Madalone. How humiliating. Fascism in Germany wore black and skulls, here it wears cheap Wal-Mart clothing and bad hair.

If you ask me, the worst thing Hitler did was convince the world he was the be all end all of political monsters and the face of true evil in the world, so much so that no one else will ever compare and thus will be ignored, despite their own evils.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 7:39 pm and is filed under Politics, Rant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.